Once everyone was finished debating the ins-and-outs of Upstream Color — and after they’d decided what did and did not constitute spoilers when discussing Before Midnight — it became clear that Sundance 2013’s real pot-stirrer was Escape from Tomorrow, a horror film, essentially, that was secretly shot in the Disney World park. (Not that some initial peeks would completely speak to this dangerous approach, however.) You can imagine, from this little, that it does not portray The Walt Disney Company in an entirely fashionable light — our review called the picture “a dizzying teacup ride into madness” — and, certainly, do you already know that said Company happens to be rather sensitive about the lights in which they’re portrayed.
But, after some had speculated, rather reasonably, that helmer Randy Moore‘s debut feature would never see a release, The L.A. Times report that Cinetic Media’s offshoot, PDA, are bringing Escape from Tomorrow to theaters and cable VOD on October 11. For its defiance against a major economic and cultural entity, the date is already deemed a continuation of their “history of releasing bold fare” — including the similarly edged Exit Through the Gift Shop — though, for myself, it’s more amusing to realize a film once-likely to be forever blocked by lawsuits will arrive the same day as All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, a seven-year-old movie, also of the horror variety, that had been bogged down by financial issues plaguing its distributors. What a special day for independent releases they should make.
Are you hoping to see Escape from Tomorrow?