By: Joseph Perry
Joseph Perry cohosts the Uphill Both Ways podcast — part of the When It Was Cool family of podcasts — with Mike Imboden (ubwpodcast.com/). Joseph also writes for the websites Gruesome Magazine (gruesomemagazine.com), The Scariest Things (scariesthings.com), Horror Fuel (horrorfuel.com), B&S About Movies (bandsaboutmovies.com), and film magazines Phantom of the Movies’ VideoScope (videoscopemag.com) and Drive-In Asylum (etsy.com/shop/GroovyDoom). You can also find previous reviews and articles of his at The Good, the Bad, and the Verdict (gbvreviews.com) and Diabolique Magazine (diaboliquemagazine.com).
Film Review: Screamplay (1984) (Fantastic Fest 2026)
Official synopsis: A detective investigating a series of murders discovers that they are similar to the slayings that occur in the new script of a Hollywood screenwriter.
New 4K restoration by Muscle Distribution in association with Matchbox Cine.
There are several genre chillers about writers’ fictitious actions blending in with their real lives, but none are quite like director/cowriter (with Ed Greenberg)/star Rufus Butler Seder’s black-and-white feature Screamplay. It’s a mischievous mash-up of silent horror, old-school B-movie shockers and detective flicks, and newcomer-to-Hollywood dramas, with no shortage of arch humor.
Seder plays Edgar Allan, the classic archetype of a young person with big dreams who moves to Hollywood. He wants to be a screenwriter, but his revenge fantasies may be connected to real-life murders.
The black-and-white visuals include German Expressionism shots and Conrad Veidt/Dwight Frye-style mugging. Seder is obviously a lover of classic genre cinema, and it shows in his framing, lighting, and other homage styles.
The cast is obviously having a ball, including filmmaker George Kuchar as Edgar’s no-goodnik landlord and Katy Bolger as Edgar’s actress neighbor Holly, who dreams of being a starlet but doubts her own talent.
I’m a big Guy Maddin fan, and Screamplay boasts several of the trappings of his offbeat fare such as Tales from the Gimli Hospital. Devotees of that quirky style of cinema, and those of unusual fare and homage to the different sources I have discussed here, should find Screamplay to be a fun, daffy watch.
You can view the official trailer at https://www.instagram.com/reel/DdpH5FTBOIK/
Screamplay screened as part of Fantastic Fest, which ran September 17–24, 2026 in Austin, Texas. It is currently playing in U.S. cinemas.
Joseph Perry cohosts the Uphill Both Ways podcast — part of the When It Was Cool family of podcasts — with Mike Imboden (ubwpodcast.com/). Joseph also writes for the websites Gruesome Magazine (gruesomemagazine.com), The Scariest Things (scariesthings.com), Horror Fuel (horrorfuel.com), B&S About Movies (bandsaboutmovies.com), and film magazines Phantom of the Movies’ VideoScope (videoscopemag.com) and Drive-In Asylum (etsy.com/shop/GroovyDoom). You can also find previous reviews and articles of his at The Good, the Bad, and the Verdict (gbvreviews.com) and Diabolique Magazine (diaboliquemagazine.com).
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