Abruptio

Abruptio is a 2023 American adult puppet horror film written, edited, and directed by Evan Marlowe. Produced by Kerry Marlowe, the film stars James Marsters, Hana Mae Lee, Christopher McDonald, Jordan Peele, Robert Englund, and Sid Haig in his final film before his death on September 21, 2019.

Abruptio is set to be theatrically released by Anchor Bay Entertainment on September 27, 2024. The film had its world premiere online at the Santa Monica Film Festival on January 17, 2023.

Plot
"Les Hackel (James Marsters) is a guy down on his luck who wakes to find an explosive device has been implanted in his neck. He must carry out heinous crimes in order to stay alive while trying to identify the mastermind manipulating the now twisted and strange world around him."

Voice recording
Voice recording started on May 23, 2015, in Los Angeles, California, with Evan Marlowe serving as cinematographer. Recording sessions wrapped on December 2, 2017. In December 2017, several actors were confirmed to have voiced characters, including James Marsters, Robert Englund, Sid Haig, Jordan Peele, Hana Mae Lee, and Christopher McDonald.

Production
On September 23, 2019, the film's crew relayed their feelings towards the passing of co-star Sid Haig, while confirming they would finish production on Abruptio soon, for a then-projected release in 2020. In April 2020, Marlowe revealed information about the film's production: "Abruptio is a puppet movie. We resolved (for some insane reason) to use only realistic lifelike hand puppets in actual settings, just like any other movie. No CGI backgrounds or actors wearing prosthetic makeup. This sort of thing has never been done. The Dark Crystal comes close, though there, the designers weren't bound by the confines of reality. We've had a few incredibly skilled people helping out. Jeff Farley has been our lead puppet fabricator. Again, this kind of work isn't common, so some amount of trial and error has been needed to find the balance of aesthetic, durability and function. Meaning, the heads need to look great on camera, hold up well under shooting environments that are often hostile, and let the puppeteer emote without too much effort. When it comes to the actual shoot, our puppeteer Danny Montooth lip syncs with each line, played on loop on my magical iPad until all the aspects (lighting, camera movement, mouth motion, eye line) are just right. Once I've got the footage, I edit it up and then our visual effects guy John Sellings smooths out any problems. When a scene is done, it gets color-corrected and graded, and then the sound and score are added. I'd estimate a good 30% of the film is ready to go. We were set to shoot another 30% this year when the coronavirus shut down production. Who knows what the immediate future of film production will be, not only for major studio work but small-scale (read: zero crew) productions like ours? We hope we can rev back up this year."

In a June 2020 interview, the film's director Evan Marlowe revealed that with "six years in, we're still not quite halfway done filming. We plan to pick up where we left off in the coming months." In August 2020, production resumed, with coronavirus safety protocols in place, including limited crew members. Filming wrapped on March 4, 2021, before post-production wrapped by March 2022. In August 2022, the film was completed.

Release
Abruptio is set to be theatrically released by Anchor Bay Entertainment on September 27, 2024. The film had its online world premiere at the Santa Monica Film Festival on January 17, 2023. The film also streamed online at the Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival on March 1, before its physical screenings on August 26 and 29, 2023. It had its public theatrical premiere at the Panic Film Fest on April 15,  before having its International debut at the Fantaspoa Film Festival on April 28 and 30 and its European premiere at the Dundead Film Festival on May 12. It also played theatrically at the Malibu Film Festival on May 21, the Dark Bridges Film Festival on June 4, the Lighthouse International Film Festival on June 9, the Desertscape Film Festival and Days of the Dead Indianapolis Film Festival on June 23,  the Film Invasion LA festival on June 25,  the Galacticat Film Festival on June 26 and 29,   the Motor City Nightmares Film Festival on July 28, the Atlanta Underground Film Festival on August 4, the Popcorn Frights Film Festival on August 12,  the Rhode Island International Film Festival on August 13, the Macabro Film Festival on August 18 and 19,  the HorrorHound Film Fest on August 20, the Days of the Dead Los Angeles Film Festival on August 26, Grimmfest on October 8,  the Atlanta Horror Film Festival and the Fargo Fantastic Film Festival on October 14,  the Fright Nights Film Festival and Ramaskrik Film Festival on October 19,   the TOHorror Fantastic Film Festival on October 20, the Tucson Terrorfest and the Chicago Horror Film Fest on October 22,  the Cine-Excess and Tysvær Skrekkfest on October 27,  the Nightmares Film Festival and the Vortex Film Festival on October 28, the Curtas Festival of the Imaginary on October 31, the South African Horrorfest on November 2, the Night Visions Film Festival on November 11, the Buenos Aires Rojo Sangre Film Festival on November 23 and 24, and the Soho Horror Film Festival on November 30. The film was originally set for release in 2021.

Critical response
David Gelmini of Dread Central wrote, "Viewers who are not perturbed by the use of human-sized puppets will commend Abruptio for its unique visual-style and its audacious premise. And those who are too perturbed by its irregularity will still find it too damn strange to completely ignore". Stephanie Malone writing for Morbidly Beautiful gave it 5 out of 5 butterflies, calling the film "the total package", while praising the story, character development and detail of the puppets. Anton Bitel, writing for Projected Figures, said the film "is a schizophrenic skedaddle from reality, reflected even in the heavily stylised medium that Marlowe has adopted, and ending with one hell of a hangover. The ensuing cavalcade of unease and wrong disturbs and repels, both in equal measure, and in the best possible way." Carla Davis of 1428 Elm called the film "a trippy, gory puppet horror masterpiece," particularly noting its visuals as "eye-popping" and the level of voice talent and writing which "takes it over the top." Jennie Kermode of Eye for Film gave a positive review, writing the film "stands out because of its format but has a strong narrative and smart ideas behind it". Alan French of Sunshine State Cineplex gave a positive review, summarizing that the film is "one of the most visually unique films of 2023".

In a negative review, Kyle Logan of Cultured Vultures said the film "is a singular film on almost every level, which makes it worth seeking out for fans of weird movies, but it has some ideological issues and isn't quite good enough to transcend its niche." Logan also characterises the film as misogynistic, a criticism echoed by Catherine Benstead of Hear Us Scream.

Accolades
The film garnered a total of 20 awards during its 2023 festival run.

At the 2023 Panic Film Fest, the film won the award for Best Visual Effects. At the 2023 Days of the Dead Film Festival, Sid Haig's posthumous performance was nominated for Best Villain, while James Marsters won the award for Best Actor and Evan Marlowe won for Best Director. At Film Invasion Los Angeles, the film won the awards for Best Director (Feature), Best Screenplay (Feature), Best Horror Feature, and Best Performance by a Full Cast. At the 2023 Galacticat Film Festival, the film won the award for Best Effects. At the 2023 Motor City Nightmares Film Festival, the film won the award for Best Effects. At the 2023 Film Invasion LA Festival, the film won the awards for Best Feature Film and Best Director.