As you may recall, we told you about Snapper: The Man-Eating Turtle Movie That Never Got Made a few months back, a new documentary from writer/director John Campopiano (Unearthed & Untold: The Path to Pet Sematary, Pennywise: The Story of IT) that uncovers lost footage from a creature feature that never came to be, telling the tale of two friends in Massachusetts and the killer turtle they *almost* brought to life in the early ’90s.
We’ve now learned that Snapper is getting an official VHS release (yes, VHS!), fitting given the fact that the movie probably would’ve been a hit with horror fans on VHS if it was made!
Snapper will have its official VHS release via LUNCHMEAT on October 26 during the Music Box Theater’s MUSIC BOX OF HORRORS: DAWN OF THE DRIVE-IN event in Chicago, presented by Shudder. Any remaining copies of the Snapper VHS release will be available online at LunchmeatVHS.com in early November, we’re being told this week.
Josh Schafer of Lunchmeat says, “This is a film that, if it were completed, would have made its name via home video and video store rentals, so it only seems proper to give it the VHS treatment. And of course we wanted to give them some killer shells, so we created some cool colors for that extra bit of bite!”
Snapper is a limited press of 50 copies:
- 10 Shell Yeah Composite Videocassettes (Green with Brown Top Flap) – Releasing at the event
- 20 Mean Green Videocassettes
- 20 Classic Black Videocassettes
Showtimes and tickets for Music Box of Horrors are available here.
The filmmakers behind Snapper, Mark Veau and Mike Savino (Attack of the Killer Refrigerator), were interviewed for Campopiano’s documentary, along with special effects artist Scott Andrews. As the team explains, they were inspired by Jaws and various ’80s slasher films, with Snapper intended to be a gory lakeside creature feature centered on a giant killer turtle.
The documentary features never-before-seen footage from the never-before-seen movie, while also serving as a short and sweet love letter to independent filmmaking. Particularly, of course, indie filmmaking in the horror space, with the documentary taking us back to a time when creative ambition, wild concepts, and cool practical effects were all you really needed.
Alas, not every passion project ends up coming to life…
