Tom Holland, who made Child’s Play and Fright Night, is returning to his favourite genre with a new movie that sounds intriguing despite its title. Rock Paper Dead is about a serial killer who’s released from an asylum after 20 years and returns to his former home, where the ghosts of his dark past await.
That sounds a lot like another Holland movie: Psycho II, in which a supposedly cured Norman Bates heads back to the ramshackle house behind the Bates Motel, which turns out to be the worst after-care plan ever. But Rock Paper Dead also has echoes of Child’s Play, since the killer’s nom de murder is “The Doll Maker”.
The co-writer on Rock Paper Dead is Victor Miller, who knows a thing or two about serial killers, having penned the original Friday the 13th. But the Deadline article that broke the news puts special emphasis on Rock Paper Dead‘s special effects, which will be by Vincent Guastini, who learned his trade from the legendary Dick Smith:
Guastini, who is a co-producer on the film, will provide the special makeup effects, including a line of serial killer-inspired dolls and masks based on the film. The dolls will be from the the Doll Maker’s collection of victim dolls and represent each of the serial killer’s victims shown in the film.
He also will create death masks that will be seen in the film. These items are then going to be part of an entire line of film-inspired merchandise items that will be available in stores around the time of the film’s expected release in theatres right before Halloween 2017.
That is some eager merchandising right there.
But… it sounds like what we have here is an old-school horror director teaming up with an old-school horror scriptwriter, with practical effects by a guy who learned the old-school way. Even without any casting announcements, those three factors make Rock Paper Dead worthy of adding to the radar.