Going to preface this by saying I have no issues with IPs going public domain, even if not all of the subsequent usage is top-tier or maintains the same age-appropriateness of the original creation. Many classic movies and stories are "reskins" of even older movies and stories, and many classic elements are reused even more frequently. I'd rather see a world where we have the opportunity for that to continue happening freely than one where we impose arbitrary restrictions on the "quality" of a production before allowing it to continue (that type of filtering already kind of exists in the form of trying to get major studio backing, but thankfully doesn't impact indie films)
We watched this movie the other day, and it was... well, I think it was a pretty bad movie. Plot was all over the place and yet going nowhere, characters were shallow, creature effects were bad, etc... It was clearly done in an effort to say "I did it first!" after the IP went public domain.
But what I can give it props for was that it was all done on a roughly $100,000 budget, had some disproportionately decent gore effects for such a crummy movie, and was primarily written, directed, produced, and edited by one guy, which is no small feat. He intends to take the profits and turn them into more "dark" interpretations of classic characters as they enter public domain, presumably with higher budgets if they keep turning a profit.
And I can respect that. It takes a lot of work to produce even amateur grade film. I think it would be kinda cool if the creator gains some traction and goes on to make more schlocky horror flicks in this weird, niche genre. Like a trashier Hammer studio or Full Moon Features.
So, oddly enough, I didn't particularly enjoy the film at face value, but I enjoyed that the production team seemed to enjoy themselves, and I look forward to more awfulness in the future.
