Papertrail | |
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Directed by | Damian Lee |
Written by |
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Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Nicholas Josef von Sternberg |
Edited by | Paul G. Day |
Music by | Electronic Dream Factory |
Production company | Noble House Entertainment [1] |
Distributed by | Avalanche Home Entertainment (Canada, U.S.) |
Release date |
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Running time | 89 minutes |
Country | Canada |
Language | English |
Papertrail is a 1998 Canadian thriller film produced, co-written and directed by Damian Lee, starring Chris Penn, Michael Madsen and Chad McQueen (who is also credited as executive producer). In it, a loner detective is brought back to the unsolved serial killer case that once destroyed his social life, when he is asked to attend a therapy group whose psychiatrist has been receiving phone calls from the perpetrator. On North American home video, the film was renamed Trail of a Serial Killer, while it is known as Serial Cops in the U.K.
This article needs an improved plot summary.(September 2024) |
The film was originally known under the working title of Fear. [2] It was co-written by Joseph O'Brien, a future writer for the Canadian horror film magazine Rue Morgue . O'Brien was displeased with the finished product, calling it "atrocious" and humorously noting that he tried to avoid conversations about it. [3] It was the first and only film directed by Damian Lee for the original incarnation of Noble House Entertainment, a short-lived company born of the merger of his existing production outfit, Richmond House, with Canadian distributor United Media (although Lee would later revive the Noble House brand with different investors). [4] Michelle Johnson, who starred in several of Lee's works around that time, was attached to the project late into pre-production, but does not appear. [2]
Photography took place in the Toronto metropolitan area during parts of November and December 1996, under the title of Papertrail. [2] [5] Scenes from the final set piece involving a wounded Chris Penn were filmed on the city's major artery of Yonge Street. [6] In a Toronto Star article published ahead of release, the actor playing the serial killer mentioned feeling uncomfortable during the shoot due to the nature of the role, revealing part of the ending. [7]
The film was promoted to industry professionals at the 1997 Cannes Film Market by Noble House, [1] and at the 1997 MIFED in Milan, Italy, where its sales representative was the fledgling Shoreline Entertainment. [8]
Papertrail opened in limited release in Toronto on September 11, 1998, through Cineplex Odeon. [9]
In the U.S., the film premiered on VHS and DVD on 29 September 1998. [10] [11] [12] On Canadian and U.S. home video, the film was published by Lions Gate Entertainment via their Avalanche Home Entertainment label, and the title was changed to Trail of a Serial Killer. [12] [13]
Papertrail has received mixed reviews. Robert Cettl, author of the book Serial Killer Cinema: An Analytical Filmography, described the film as a marriage of the group therapy setting seen in Color of Night , Schizoid and Canada's Phobia , with aesthetics drawn from Seven . He granted that, while not up to the genre's best, it was "stylish in the expected brooding manner of such derivative works as Bone Daddy [in which Hawkes has a minor role] and Resurrection ." [14] Canadian media watchdog Mediafilm was along the same lines. It deemed that the film boasted "average performances and direction", while offering "a well-maintained suspense, but a botched finale" and "the usual cliches". [15]
The film's score was composed by Toronto-based industrial rock band Electronic Dream Factory, who had already contributed the score to the Lee production Specimen .
Lee's 2007 film King of Sorrow takes place in the same narrative universe, and Chris Penn makes makes a supporting appearance, returning as his character Jason Enola. On Canadian home video, the film was released as Trail of a Serial Killer II: King of Sorrow. [16]
Loews Cineplex Entertainment, also known as Loews Incorporated, was an American theater chain operating in North America.
Cineplex Odeon Corporation was one of North America's largest movie theatre operators and live theatre, with theatres in its home country of Canada and the United States. The Cineplex Odeon brand is still being used by Cineplex Entertainment at some theatres that were once owned by the Cineplex Odeon Corporation, with newer theatres using the Cineplex Cinemas brand. The company was the result of Cineplex Corporation in 1984 purchasing and merging with Canadian Odeon Theatres, which itself was the result of a merger between Canadian Theatres and Odeon Theatres of Canada in 1978.
Cineplex Odeon Films was the film distribution unit of the Canadian cinema chain Cineplex Odeon Corporation. The company was originally named Pan-Canadian Film Distributors. In 1998, the company was purchased by Alliance Communications, whose film unit was merged into Alliance Atlantis, split from the company in 2007 as Alliance Films, and folded into Entertainment One, currently a subsidiary of Lionsgate Studios Corp.
The Ed Mirvish Theatre is a historic performing arts theatre in Toronto, Ontario, located near Yonge–Dundas Square. Owned and operated by Mirvish Productions, the theatre has approximately 2,300 seats across two levels. There are two entrances to the theatre, located at 263 Yonge Street and 244 Victoria Street.
Cineplex Inc. is a Canadian operator of movie theater and family entertainment centers, headquartered in Toronto. It is the largest cinema chain in Canada; as of 2019, it operated 165 locations, and accounted for 75% of the domestic box office.
Famous Players Limited Partnership was a Canadian-based subsidiary of Cineplex Entertainment. As an independent company, it existed as a film exhibitor and cable television service provider. Famous Players operated numerous movie theatre locations in Canada from British Columbia to Newfoundland and Labrador. The company was owned by Viacom Canada but was sold to Cineplex Galaxy LP in 2005.
Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe is a 1991 science fiction film written and directed by Damian Lee, starring Jesse Ventura, Sven-Ole Thorsen and Marjorie Bransfield. Ventura plays an extraterrestrial cop seeking to protect a child prodigy from his father, a fellow alien who has virginally conceived him with a human woman to solve the advanced equation that will grant him absolute powers. Jim Belushi has a cameo in the film.
King of Sorrow is a 2007 Canadian television film starring Kim Coates and Lara Daans; it was written, produced, and directed by Damian Lee. A psychological thriller and love story, it features the final filmed performance by Chris Penn.
No Exit is a 1995 Canadian action film directed by Damian Lee, starring Jeff Wincott, Sven-Ole Thorsen, Richard Fitzpatrick, Joseph Di Mambro and Guylaine St-Onge. Wincott stars as an anti-violence academic who ends up killing a man responsible for the loss of his unborn child, and is abducted by a millionaire to star in his illegal, fight-to-the-death TV program. In the U.S., the film was re-titled Fatal Combat.
Damian Lee is a Canadian film director and producer. A former competitive skier, he transitioned to televised sports events, and later to feature films. A fixture of low-budget genre movies during much of the 1980s and 1990s, Lee re-emerged as a director of more dramatic fare in the mid-2000s.
Deadly Heroes is a 1993 Israeli–Canadian action film directed by Menahem Golan, starring Michael Paré, Jan-Michael Vincent and Billy Drago. Paré stars as a former Navy SEAL trying to rescue his wife from a terrorist group who fled with her to North Africa after he attempted to thwart their attack on a Greek airport. Available date listings suggest that Deadly Heroes was the last 21st Century Film Corporation production released during the company's existence, although Crime and Punishment was belatedly released in 2002 by another entity.
Tiger Claws is a 1992 film directed by Kelly Makin. It is notable for being the film that, according to Canuxploitation.com, introduced the world to Film One Productions, a company started by Jalal Merhi who also co-starred in the film, although Fearless Tiger, another Film One production, was released the previous year in Canada, but would not be released in the United States until 1994.
Crackerjack is a 1994 Canadian action film directed by Michael Mazo, and starring Thomas Ian Griffith, Nastassja Kinski and Christopher Plummer. In it, a troubled cop (Griffith) and a tour guide (Kinski) attempt to prevent a high-stakes robber (Plummer) from burying the mountain hotel hosting a wealthy mobster—whom both cop and robber are after—in an avalanche. The film was part of a wave of 1990s Die Hard imitators, and is often regarded as one of the better-made independent efforts in that subgenre.
Time Runner is a 1993 Canadian science fiction film directed by Michael Mazo, starring Mark Hamill, Rae Dawn Chong and Brion James. Hamill plays a 21st century soldier who is unwittingly teleported to 1992, and teams up with a scientist (Chong) to prevent an alien race from gaining an advantage in its future war against mankind.
Sharon, Lois & Bram are a Canadian children's music group founded in Toronto, Ontario, 1978. The group's original lineup consisted of Sharon Hampson, Lois Ada Lilienstein, and Bramwell "Bram" Morrison.
Bone Daddy is a 1998 Canadian–American crime thriller film directed by Mario Azzopardi and starring Rutger Hauer and Barbara Williams. In it, a forensics expert turned novelist is challenged by the perpetrator of the real-life crimes he used for inspiration, a serial killer who robs his victims of their bones while they are still alive. In Canada, the film was released as Palmer's Bones. It was commissioned by HBO for broadcast as part of its "Friday World Premiere" collection in the U.S.
Hostage Train, known as Crackerjack 2 in most international markets, is a 1997 Czech–Canadian action film directed by Robert Lee, starring Judge Reinhold, Carol Alt, Michael Sarrazin and Karel Roden. It is a loose sequel to the 1994 film Crackerjack. Reinhold plays a damaged widower cop trying to save train passengers—among them his new girlfriend (Alt)—trapped inside a tunnel by a group of international terrorists, which includes his wife's killer (Roden) and a mysterious overlord (Sarrazin).
Rose & Ruby Productions, also known as Rose and Ruby Pictures, was a Canadian sports promotion and film production company founded in 1977. It was one of the country's notable producers of televised sports programming before establishing itself as a purveyor of genre movies in the 1980s and early 1990s. For much of its history, the company was anchored by directors Damian Lee and David Mitchell.
Law of the Jungle, also known as Jungle Law, is a 1995 Canadian-American martial arts film film written, produced and directed by Damian Lee, starring Jeff Wincott, Paco Christian Prieto and Christina Cox. Wincott stars as a lawyer who has fallen on hard times, and must fight in underground tournaments organized by a mobster (Prieto) who was once his childhood friend. The film was retitled Street Law for its U.S. release.