The Big Scare

Should giant-screen movies be strictly educational? Ben Stassen doesn’t think so. Stassen’s latest 3-D film, “Haunted Castle,” opening Friday at the Imax theater at Universal City Cinemas and 24 large-format (LF) commercial theaters in the U.S., is the first computer-generated narrative 3-D film in the giant-screen medium.

“Haunted Castle” has been criticized by the Imax Corp. for “violent episodes contained in the film” that it feels “could be degrading to our brand.”

On Dec. 5, after attending a private screening of “Haunted Castle,” Mary Pat Ryan, president of Imax’s theater network group, sent a fax to all theaters owning or leasing an Imax projection system, more than 200 LF theaters worldwide. Ryan’s fax states that Imax interests are “not well served by the exhibition of this film” and objects specifically to scenes “which depict torture and violence.”

“Haunted Castle,” written and directed by Stassen for NWave Pictures, has been rated PG (“for some frightening sensations and horror images”) and is the story of a young musician (Jasper Steverlinck) who inherits a castle from his mother, a deceased rock star. The castle is inhabited by the devil, “Mr. D,” and his skeletal henchman Mephisto (both characters voiced by Harry Shearer). Almost the entire film is computer-generated and told from the point of view of the young musician as he moves through the castle.

‘Timid Appeals’ to the Audience

The specific scenes Imax found objectionable take place in a dungeon, where revolving windows depict chained skeletal victims receiving various forms of electric shock while shrieking in pain.

Stassen characterizes such scenes as “timid appeals” to the commercial moviegoing audience and says the level of violence is on a par with a ride through the fun house at the county fair.

But Imax finds such scenes at odds with the “family friendly” image the company has cultivated for the venues that feature its usual fare. “There are themes in ‘Haunted Castle’ that have explicit violence, torture and beheading, and those were the ones we objected to,” Ryan says.

In addition to giant-screen auditoriums recently included in newer urban multiplexes, the large-format network is made up of institutional theaters housed at natural history museums, space and science centers and amusement parks. Of all theaters using Imax hardware, only 10 are owned and operated by Imax.

“If ‘Haunted Castle’ is degrading to the brand,” says Stassen, “then why did Imax sell 3-D systems to commercial exhibitors in the first place? ‘Haunted Castle’ is a purely commercial film.” Stassen has said he doesn’t believe in crossover LF films for both the institutional and commercial markets, but with his first two films, “Thrill Ride” (1997, in 2-D) and “3-D Mania: Encounters in the Third Dimension” (1998), he attempted to create them.

“ ‘Thrill Ride,’ NWave’s first film, failed absolutely in commercial venues,” says Stassen, “but it did really well” in institutions.

“Thrill Ride” is a 40-minute history of the ride film (like Disneyland’s Star Tours attraction and the Back to the Future ride at Universal Studios) and special-effects magic in the movies. “We’ve [grossed] $30 million with ‘Thrill Ride’ so far,” says Stassen.

His second film, “3-D Mania: Encounters in the Third Dimension,” a history of 3-D technology from 1850 to the present, has proved a hard sell for Stassen.

“I felt that ‘Encounters in the Third Dimension’ was a perfect crossover film. It’s a comedy entertainment that tells a lot of hard facts about 3-D. But it’s been tough to license it to institutions,” says Stassen. “A lot of them were not happy with the appearance of Elvira.” Stassen is referring to the fact that for years the TV horror hostess, who appeared in his film, has served as U.S. Postal Service spokeswoman at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla.

Stassen’s third effort, “Alien Adventure in 3-D” (1999), a story of extraterrestrials who land by accident at a roller-coaster park, is a pure entertainment with a series of four ride-film sequences that demonstrate his belief that with large-format films, 3-D audiences want “to be transported into the filmic space.” He points out that institutional theaters have booked “Alien Adventure.”

“Why?” he asks. “Because the theaters run programs in the evening and they run programs on the weekend. And they are doing so poorly anyway, [they need to attract more customers] like everyone else.”

The large-format film industry, like that of conventional cinema, has been hit hard by declining admissions. Imax stock plummeted in the last year from a high of nearly $30 a share in February 2000 to $4 a share by December. Many large-format theaters have started screening conventional 35mm fare on evenings and weekends to fill seats.

From their inception in 1970, large-screen theaters concentrated on documentary films geared to a family audience. The public came to identify the large-screen experience with science-based or natural history films. But by 2001, half the 222 large-format theaters worldwide are commercial venues.

“Our industry needs a new identity,” says Stassen. “The lack of diversity in the large-format industry is hurting us.”

Imax’s Ryan says, “Our objective was simply to advise customers that there are things in [‘Haunted Castle’] that you are not used to seeing from Imax.”

For theaters that are exhibiting “Haunted Castle,” Imax suggests that prominent content warnings appear in all advertising. In its system lease agreements, Imax reserves the right to bar the exhibition of films it believes will harm the brand, though it has not exercised that right with “Castle.”

“I find it thrilling to make 3-D films for the giant screen,” says Stassen. “As for Imax, I would say, let the audiences decide. The moviegoers will tell us what they want by paying to see the films they like.”