| Messages Deleted | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Rob Cowan |
| Written by | Larry Cohen |
| Produced by | Rob Cowan |
| Starring | Matthew Lillard Deborah Kara Unger Gina Holden Serge Houde |
Release date |
|
Running time | 92 mins |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
Messages Deleted is a 2009 Canadian horror thriller film starring Matthew Lillard, with a screenplay by Larry Cohen, the last Cohen screenplay to be filmed before his death in 2019. [1]
A screenwriting teacher is forced to live out the plot of a screenplay idea he stole from an anonymous character, who now seeks revenge.
Plans to create the film were first announced around September 2004. [2] Filming took place in Vancouver. Larry Cohen was paid $3 million for the script, [3] which he completed in 2004. [4] Multiple changes were made to the script prior to filming, one of which was to change the killer's gender from male to female. [5] The film marked Cohen's last screenplay before his death in 2019. [6]
Messages Deleted was released straight to video in 2009. Per Cohen, prior to its release the movie was leaked online, causing the producers to lose $4 million dollars in investments. [7] This contributed to the production company's bankruptcy and eventual closure. [3]
Tony Williams criticized the film's script, noting that the edition released in England "contains too many superfluous elements that could have been eliminated making it a much more tightly constructed film". [5] David Nusair reviewed the film for ReelFilm, writing that "there does reach a point at which Messages Deleted effectively becomes just a little too slick and calculating for its own good. This is despite an unexpectedly strong turn from star Lillard and the inclusion of a few genuinely suspenseful sequences (ie Joel is forced to watch helplessly as a loved one is murdered), with the all-too-brief glimpses into what could have been only confirming the film's place as a disappointing missed opportunity." [8]
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