Friday nights, IndieWire After Dark It makes a feature-length hit to honor fringe cinema in the streaming age.

In October 2024 we are: Midnight Movie Monster Mash Just in time for Halloween, with movies that challenge our understanding of evil characters and creatures.

Read without spoilers first. BAIT: a weird and wonderful selection from any time film. come back later TO BITE: A breakdown of all the spoiler-filled items you’ll want to unpack when leaving a movie theater.

There comes a time in every internet writer’s life when he or she must make that dreaded Public Apology. This is the day for me and I apologize on behalf of my dear After Dark loyal followers. I’m sorry I didn’t cry on camera, but the tragedy of reality is too much to bear: “Popcorn” stream is unavailable.

This 1991 cult classic, as charming as it is absurd, was on Shudder in the spring, and when I programmed After Dark’s October Monster Mash seriesI was absolutely sure it was available on VOD. Maybe he it was Was it broadcast somewhere when I made my selections last month and was this selection removed in the meantime? Or maybe I got overexcited thinking about my favorite American meta-slasher (filmed entirely in Jamaica!) and made a mistake? Neither is a satisfactory explanation, and I won’t belittle either with excuses. What a mess. What a stupid move! Cancel me today.

However, in the spirit of good old-fashioned PR, I’ll wax poetic about this utterly brilliant fringe movie – WHAT YOU CAN TECHNICALLY FIND *WINK* – and still the editorial jump scare I gave myself. “Popcorn” is worth watching in 2024, especially on a Friday night the weekend before Halloween. And perhaps it will be more useful to those who endure the process of finding a way to see it as they navigate the depths of the niche.

IndieWire After Dark was created last year as a means to commemorate genre films that routinely disappear from streaming. This might be the conspiracy theorist in my speech, but media re-releases happen for a reason, and when “Popcorn” came to Blu-ray in 2017, there was a reason for so many genre lovers to rejoice. Directed by Mark Herrier and the uncredited Alan Ormsby (more on that later), this ode to midnight movie culture follows screenwriting student and final girl Maggie Butler (Jill Schoelen) with her friends for an all-night horror movie and film screening . department fundraiser at a condemned movie theater. It’s a movie worth paying your nose for, either by purchasing tickets to see it in the theater or having a physical release.

For years, Jill has been having strange dreams about a little girl, a menacing man, and a swirling blue vortex of smoke and fire. He doesn’t sleep much – hey girl, tell that to nancy – but he plans to use his dreams as inspiration for his first feature film.

“I wonder if Orson Welles dreamed of ‘Citizen Kane’ first?” he wonders.

Jill’s classmates are even more insufferable at times, but Toby (Tom Villard), Mark (Derek Rydall), Bud (Malcolm Danare), Cheryl (Kelly Jo Minter), Joanie (Ivette Soler), Tina (Freddie Marie Simpson), Leon (Elliot Hurst) and their professor Mr. Davis (Tony Roberts). As Gonzo moviegoers begin to prepare for their festival, an endlessly catchy reggae song titled “Saturday Night at the Movies” flies over an iconic make-up scene about the joys of preparing a screening. You can be sure: You will remember the song and the scene for years to come.

Every great midnight moviegoing event needs a gimmick, but this one-off engagement at the ruined Dreamland Theater is fly. The film students’ frightening series consists of one movie and several films: “Attack of the Incredible Electric Man,” “The Mosquito” and “Bad Odor.” We learn that each one premiered in theaters with different goofy jokes (like smell-vision, 3D glasses, and electric bells hidden in the seats), and the class will resurrect them to give their festival the edge. TV legend Ray Walston, the delightfully wacky Dr. He appears in the role of M. The local moviegoer tries to teach the students how to “turn those wilted turkeys into an unforgettable movie feast,” but it isn’t long before a sinister force turns bad B-movies into a literally deadly night out.

With a strong cast of suspects and some ridiculous mosquito animatronics waiting in the background, “Popcorn” combines crime story, creature feature, supernatural freak show and more to celebrate the genre in a uniquely silly and stylish way. The film is flawed in tone and pacing, which makes sense given its troubled production history. Still, Mitchell Smith’s story, Tod Hackett’s script, and the resulting ridiculous final product are worth revisiting. This is especially true of the geeky types who, to my annoying consternation, would go to the trouble of looking for it.

Best enjoyed with a salty snack, this special After Dark screening is a reminder that even in the absence of “Popcorn,” how we watch something can often connect us as much as the thing itself. Sit back, kick back, and (assuming you’re at your own personal risk of 100 percent!) take revenge on the authorities: Nobody said starting a cult classic had to be easy.

Technically, “Popcorn” can be streamed on YouTube.

The Bite: Smell-O-See Excuse or Midnight Culture Sniff Test?

Check back for a full-length review… Watching “Popcorn”? Somewhere? …Anywhere?

IndieWire After Dark posts midnight movie recommendations every Friday night at 9:30pm ET. Read more of our unbalanced recommendations…