Draft:Arbor Day (1991 film)

Arbor Day is a 1990 satire of low-budget slasher films of the 1980s. Promoted as Jason Get's Aboard Airplane, the American film produced by Colossal Mountain Productions parodied the rash of holiday horror movies at the time. Though a cult comedy, the film was the first feature by documentarian Joseph Sikorski (TOWER TO THE PEOPLE - Tesla's Dream at Wardenclyffe, INVISIBLE THREADS - From Wireless to War). It starred Janine Carney, William Walsh and Timmy Oshaugnessy. While spoofing the exploitive and gratuitous shock horror genre, Arbor Day also paid homage to motion picture classics like Citizen Kane and The Wizard of Oz.

Plot

While planting a tree as part of an Arbor Day celebration, Elmer Jacobs witnesses the horrifying slaughter of his parents by a grizzly bear. Catatonic for 20 years, he is taunted by apathetic doctors and a cruel hospital staff when he finally snaps like the branch of a tree, and begins a vengeful slaughter, reaping a crop of victims using gardening tools.

Unaware of Elmer's rampage, a group of teens party in his abandoned house only to be chopped down one by one (despite the warning from a high-strung Cassandra figure). Among the group are the stereotypical victims, including an oafish stoner, a promiscuous temptress, fat clown and undeserving hero Rachel, whose little brother Bobby is a boy genius. Pursued by a sloppy, no-nonsense detective, Elmer shows both his brutal and softer sides throughout his murderous ordeal. Through multiple contests of strength the two battle, with Elmer proving invincible time after time until his past finally comes back to haunt him for the final time.

Cast

• William Walsh as Elmer
• Janine Carney as Rachel
• Timmy O'Shaugnessy as Bobby
• Michael Calomino as Detective
• Nicholas Riccuiti as Young Elmer
• Christopher Calmonio as Pitbull
• Lynn A. Smith as Jennifer
• John Dorcic as Charlie
• Dawn Graziano as Stacey
• Scott Bradshaw as Mr. Jacobs
• Dan Walsh as Briggs
• Paul Walsh as Mr. Cassandra
• Sir Nigel Rivendale III as El Diablo
• Laurie Ann Garcia as the Nurse
• Joseph Sikorski as the Park Ranger
• Harry Bowmaster as the Junkie

Production

Arbor Day, began as a half-hour parody of commercials that were to be interrupted periodically by a feature film, which was to be a nameless cheesy TV horror film. The film sections began to grow and started evolving into its own entity. The producers realized they could expand to a feature length project and get away with an extremely low budget, by satirizing a low-budget genre rather than spoofing commercials that would require a more polished, Madison-Avenue look. The finished film was completed for around forty-thousand dollars.

Production of Arbor Day began on the hottest day of June, 1988, in a Long Island attic without electricity. Extension chords were daisy-chained to power the high-wattage lights, which added to the stifling temperature. Actors can bee seen flushed-faced and perspiring profusely in some of the mental hospital scenes that were shot then.

Due to production problems & financial struggles, the last nights of filming would stretch out into December 1989, which was afterwards reported by the New York Times as the coldest on record . The final scenes were shot outdoors at night in NY, where the temperatures dropped so low that filming had to be occasionally stopped because the camera battery had frozen. Shooting would pause until the battery could be defrosted indoors. The scenes shot during this period featured the confrontation between Elmer, Rachel and the Detective in the woods at night.

Reception

Arbor Day premiered at the Inter Media Art Center (IMAC) in Huntington, NY on December 22, 1991, to much fanfare, with hundreds lining up to see the ultra low budget independent film created by locals. Michael Rothbard, president of the IMAC, was shocked by the reception, remarking to the filmmakers that the crowd dwarfed many of his renowned top acts. Newsday reporter Susan Howard attended the screening, calling the film,"Absolutely Hilarious. Arbor Day would soon after win the prize for Best New Feature at the 1991 Suffolk Film Festival. The film quickly acquired a cult following throughout the New York area, as Arbor Day began playing independent movie houses, colleges and comedy clubs. In the summer of 1992, The Southbay Cinemas in West Babylon hosted weekly midnight showings of Arbor Day.

In an age of promotion prior to the internet, the filmmakers distributed flyers for each show dressed as cast members, from a pickup truck embellished with dioramas, lighting and sound system. The audio visual promotional vehicle became a favorite of "dayzees" the nick-name given to cult fans of the film. The term referred to the day in Arbor Day, as well as the unusual mask worn by the movie's Elmer character.

Though Arbor Day screened as a limited release in the tri-state area, it remained popular with art house movie crowds and screened consistently for over two years after its premiere in 1990. It finally ended its run in late 1993, when the filmmakers shifted to screening their newly completed mock-documentary on Elvis sightings called The Return of the King?

Revival

In 2022, with funds raised in part from a crowd funding campaign, a 4k restoration of Arbor Day was created from the original film negative, preserving the film after more than thirty years. During the campaign, HorrorBuzz.com wrote, "This is honestly one of the silliest, most batsh*t movies we have seen."