This week in The Cutting Room we’re looking forward to a collaboration between a couple of legends…
The Sandman
The Sandman tells the story of Nathan, a young student in the city who struggles to forget his childhood trauma at the hands of the serial killer dubbed “The Sandman”. Nathan killed The Sandman years ago, on Christmas Eve, after he witnessed the murder of his mother…until he sees the beautiful woman who lives in the apartment across the way dying at the hands of that same masked killer. This brutal murder plunges Nathan into an odyssey into the night country of his past, his dreams…and the buried secrets of The Sandman. Christmas is coming, and so is The Sandman.
Why we’re looking forward to this: If the name Dario Argento doesn’t at least give you a clue as to why this is piquing our interest, then this may not be the horror website that you’re looking for. Seriously though, Argento is a bona fide genre legend, and while he’s had more misses than hits in the last two decades or so (the less said about 2012’s Dracula 3D the better), the fact remains that he was responsible for the likes of Opera, Deep Red, Suspiria, Tenebrae and had his uncredited black gloved hands all over George A Romero’s seminal Dawn of the Dead.
If that’s not enough to whet your appetite for a new giallo from Master of Horror Argento, then how about adding Iggy Pop into the mix as the titular Sandman. If anybody can play menacing and deranged, then it’s Iggy and the thought of these two icons working together is very tantalising to say the least.
Even more interesting about The Sandman is that it’s being crowd funded, and as you read this should be fast approaching reaching it’s goal of raising $165,000 (as I write this about a week in advance of publication the film is 90% funded with nearly three weeks to go). If you’re quick, and so inclined, being a part of the funding could bag you a whole variety of rewards, including lunch or dinner with Iggy and/or Aregento, props from the movie, an invitation to the premiere and even the chance to be an extra.
We’re hoping that Agrento reaches his target because not only will it ensure that The Sandman is made, but because it’s self funded it also means that he won’t be at the mercy of financial backers who may want to tone down his no doubt twisted and brutal vision. This, of course, is the best news of all for those of us who long for Argento to return to his bloody roots so we’re keeping our fingers and toes crossed for this one.
The Sandman will hopefully go into production very shortly after reaching its funding goal.
RICHARD COSGROVE
