When I was in junior high, one of my classmates decided they were going to make a movie using their dad’s Super8 film camera. He had an idea for a men on a mission movie starring a few classmates. While it took him a little bit of time to make it all happen, eventually he showed up in English class with his projector and a precious tiny reel with his finished project. There wasn’t much to the film since it was short and silent. My classmate didn’t go on to win an Oscar later in life. But we were impressed that he’d made it happen. I was in awe that he got his father to let him use the camera, shot film and process it. My dad screamed if we moved out of the shot when he was filming us. While we enjoyed the short film, none of us considered that you could do an entire feature film on the tiny format. Years later quite a few enterprising low budget filmmakers realized that that Super8 movies didn’t look that bad when transferred to VHS tapes. There became a market for these movies from fans who didn’t care about 70mm resolution. The filmmakers behind The Wrong Door realized how much money they could save by shooting Super8 instead of 16mm.
Ted (Matt Felmlee) by day is a student at a major university. He’s taking a class in sound production and gets his assignment to make a radio play. He’s expecting to pull an all nighter to get the project done. But then his night time job calls. He’s a singing telegraph employee. He puts on his colorful jester uniform and drives off to the address of his tuneful delivery. When he shows up at an apartment building, he initially goes to the wrong door. He tries to find the right person for his message. When enters one apartment, he discovers the occupant is dead. He fears the killer is still in the room and flees for his life. He gets neighbors to show them her corpse except there’s no body in the apartment. Ted finally gets back to his car, drives off and checks the mirror. The body is sitting in the backseat. Ted spends the night fearing that the killer is coming after him. He’s never going to get his class project done. The professor already said he won’t take anything late. Ted seems destined to be dead in more than one way. He’s also stuck in his jester uniform so anyone can hear him coming with his jingle bells.
The Wrong Door is a lot better than many of the goofy films that came out during this era of Super8 productions. The film isn’t too outrageous. They also didn’t get too naughty either. There are no characters lacking wardrobe. It’s a straightforward thriller.
The movie is best appreciated knowing what it took to make it. The fact that they pulled out a feature film on a Super8 format is pheromonal. It looks as good as a few low budget 35mm films that weren’t shot properly. There’s a lot of night shooting so the darkness is all around the production. There were a lot of badly mastered VHS taped in the ’90s so viewers probably had no idea that The Wrong Door wasn’t done in 35mm. Even on Blu-ray, the movie’s Super8 has the grain that gives it a good feeling on the HDTV screen. Matt Felmlee makes a convincing Ted. He looks like the kind of guy who would be stuck in a jester’s outfit on such a night. The film has a superb twist at the end. The Wrong Door is a low budget film that puts a super in Super8.
The Video is 1.33:1 full frame. The 2K was made from original Super 8 film elements. The image doesn’t look too bad on the Blu-ray. The Audio is DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo. The sound is rather good in the scenes for a Super 8 production. The movie is subtitled in English.
Commentary with directors Bill Weiss and Shawn Korby has two of the directors remembering what happened when they shot at the end of the ’80s. They handled cinematography, working with actors and the music.
Commentary with director James Groetsch and producer John Schonebaum has the two filmmaker who editing and handled production. They explain how they had to do the credits in 35mm and transfer them to video to go with the film at the end of post-production.
Men Make Movie, If Not Million$ (43:29) has director James Groetsch point out the creative genesis came with the idea of what would you do if you find a dead body in the back of your car. He made the movie because he wanted to see the movie. He breaks down how three directors wrote and directed the film. They get into why they went with Super 8 film instead of 16mm. They show off the Super 8 package they bought to make the film happen. The film cost about $2,500 grand to happen. The auditioned University of Minnesota students. They even cut it on Super 8 before transferring final cut to video for a master tape. They get into the journey of getting the movie distributed on VHS.
James Groetsch Interview (29:43) has one of the writer/directors talk about how they shot the movie on 8mm after hearing the success of other straight to video films that used the format. They thought they’d make a decent return. He explains how that went. James Groetsch ended up working on the editing crew for Drop Dead Fred.
Shawn Korby Interview (20:48) is another of the four directors. He also did the music. He and Bill Weiss were teenage friends. They shot films on Super 8 in their youth. He talks about making the step up to making a feature film.
Bill Weiss Interview (36:42) has him talk about being the cinematographer as well as director, producer and screenwriter like his pals. He talks about finding the Super 8 solution for shooting a feature film. They were lured by the low budget of Super 8 and a chance to make a major profit on VHS release.
Actor Matt Felmlee Interview (20:41) gives us a Ted talk. Matt answered an ad to audition for the film in Minneapolis. He had a great experience learning how to act for the camera even if the camera is smaller. He did a lot of theater work afterward. He did a lot of training films for the army. This was his only Super 8 film.
Distributing The Wrong Door: Chris Gore Interview (13:33) has the publisher of Film Threat magazine explain how he helped get small indie films distributed.
Alternate Director’s Cut of The Wrong Door (66:33) was cut in 2019. Not sure which of the directors supervised the edit.
Super 8 short: Raiders of the Lost Bark (1:41) is a silent film about two kids recreating the opening scene of the big budget movie. This was shot in 1983.
Super 8 short: The Pizza Man (8:19) is Barry Weiss’s longer short from 1988. This one has sound. A delivery boy for Flunky’s pizza is under the gun to deliver his pie within an hour. This was a real guarantee at the time until a few drivers got into serious wrecks.
TV Episode: The Gale Whitman Show (21:55) is a show sponsored by bird calls and portable bathrooms. It’s about a son who comes back to Minnesota to help his dad make his outdoor show. Dad watches his film thesis project.
Original unedited Muther Video VHS intros (16:31) has the distributor’s spokesperson Muther introduce the film. She’s not a fan. The audio is messed up although you can hear the video crew clearly. There’s a cute dog in the outro scenes.
Image Gallery (1:41) has behind the scenes shots and press photos.
Original Storyboards Gallery (3:17) has them carefully construct the film.
Film Threat Review has the cover, review and the full page ad when the VHS came out.
Now Hiring Trailer (1:06) is the film from within Gale Whitman about the kids working at the movie theater.
The Wrong Door Trailer (0:45) sets up the strangeness of a dead body in the back of a car.
Collectible folded poster suitable for framing.
Stick Your Own’ VHS Sticker Set to make your disc box look like it’s on the shelf at the Video Bar.
Limited Edition Slipcase is only for the first pressing.
Limited Edition Door Hanger to keep the wrong people out of your room. This is only part of the first pressing.
Video Vengeance and Wild Eye Releasing present The Wrong Door. Directed by Bill Weiss, Shawn Korby & James Groetsch. Screenplay by Bill Weiss, Shawn Korby & James Groetsch. Starring Matt Felmlee, Loreal Steiner, Jeff Tatum, Jeannine Bourdaghs, James Bullock, James Groetsch, Chris Hall & Robin Keller. Running Time: 74 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: November 28, 2023.
