Messages Deleted
2009 Canadian film
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
| 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 |
Plot
A screenwriting teacher is forced to live out the plot of a screenplay idea he stole from an anonymous character, who now seeks revenge.
Cast
- Matthew Lillard as Joel Brandt
- Deborah Kara Unger as Det. Lavery
- Gina Holden as Millie Councel
- Serge Houde as Det. Breedlove
- Chiara Zanni as Claire
- Michael Eklund as Adam Brickles
- Xantha Radley as Nurse Bev
- Ken Kramer as Ben Brandt
- Brandon Jay McLaren as Dude up Front
- Woody Jeffreys as Patrick
- Ildiko Ferenczi as Kathy
- Paul Lazenby as Tractor
- Anna Galvin as Lisa Kwan
- Biski Gugushe as Tech as Shrink
- Parm Soor as Limo Driver
Production
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]
Release
Reception
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]
