It was Midnight Madness 2006. We'd had quite a ride already, between the infamous aborted Borat screening on Thursday and the North American premiere of Bong Joon-ho's creature feature The Host on Friday. Some of the audience had already been introduced to the Borat character via Da Ali G Show, and we'd all been hearing about The Host since its Cannes premiere the previous May. But Saturday night brought a total question mark. All the Boys Love Mandy Lane had no poster, no trailer and no familiar cast or crew. All we knew was that Midnight Madness programmer Colin Geddes had granted it the coveted opening weekend Saturday slot.
In the Festival note, a fired up Geddes wrote, "Taking a hammer to the polished image of Hollywood teen horror, All the Boys Love Mandy Lane rips apart all the glossy mallrat stereotypes. Welcome to the post-Columbine world of dead teenagers as envisioned in this impaled, slashed and twisted take on the genre." The only image the Festival book offered was a close-up of the title character:
What the capacity crowd at the Ryerson got that Saturday was a unique take on the teen slasher genre that I won't spoil in case you (like many) have not yet had an opportunity to see the film. What I will say is that the film received a robust Midnight Madness approval from the audience. The following morning brought news that the film had already locked North American distribution via sale to the Weinstein Company. The future looked bright for Mandy Lane. And then, well, nothing happened. Or really, all this happened:
The Wall Street Journal: "Why It Took 7 Years to See 'Mandy Lane'"
Now that Mandy Lane is finally coming out, the Wall Street Journal has detailed every twist and turn that kept the film without a North American release for the past seven years. It's required reading for all Midnight Madness fanatics.
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