DIMENSION STILL BACKS SLASHER-LITE WRITER

[Scott W. Davis]

There are a lot of horror writers and directors who have gotten no respect from Dimension Films. But Kevin Williamson is still a golden boy. He will write yet another script for the studio, a film called BACKWATER.



You may remember Kevin Williamson as the guy who really made Dimension a force to be reckoned with. He single-handedly started the teen slasher resurgence in the 90s, a movement I like to call "slasher-lite." He wrote all three SCREAM films, the pretty good I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER and the really good THE FACULTY. Then, he branched out and we saw that he sadly thought like a teenager all the time - like John Hughes but without the charm. He gave us the TV series DAWSON'S CREEK which was a big hit for the WB. Dimension didn't handle that one but they did not want to lose their meal ticket. They gave Williamson a directing gig - the maligned TEACHING MRS. TINGLE. Williamson tried to build a small screen empire for the studio and the result was two costly flops, WASTELAND and GLORY DAYS. His latest project for the studio has been CURSED. Buzz on that is good, but if it pays off it won't be without a long and painful production.



Kevin Williamson's latest production for the studio has already started shooting. According to Variety, BACKWATER is "a voodoo horror tale in which teens run for their lives through the swamps of Louisiana."



The film will mark the reunion between Williamson and director Jim Gillespie. They last worked together on I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER. I admit I'm happy to see Gillespie back in action, because he seemed to get a raw deal first time around. After SUMMER, he directed a Sylvester Stallone film which like so many others, was delayed again and again before finally heading straight-to-video as EYE SEE YOU. Outside the U.S., people had an easier time tracking the film down as D-TOX. It's the only feature-length project Gillespie has directed since his $ 70+ million hit.



The cast is made up of a familar array of young and noticable faces, even if they aren't all actors in the strictest sense of the word. BACKWATER stars Agnes Brucknew (MURDER BY NUMBERS), Jonathan Jackson (TUCK EVERLASTING), Method Man (HOW HIGH, SOUL PLANE), Bijou Phillips (BULLY) and D.J. Controna (the cancelled series SKIN).



Dimension hasn't mentioned when they plan to release this film, but we're sure it will be delayed somewhere along the line.



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