The Once and Future Smash Review

Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival Coverage

The Once and Future Smash review.

Day three of the Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival began with a meta-double feature. For the purposes of this review, we will focus on the mockumentary The Once and Future Smash…while discussing the companion End Zone 2 within. Co-director Sophia Cacciola was on hand for a Q&A.

Festival movie coverage will not contain spoilers.

The Once and Future Smash

Directed by Sophia Cacciola and Michael J. Epstein

Written by Michael J. Epstein

Starring Michael St. Michaels and Bill Weeden

The Once and Future Smash Review

As the screening of the musical short preceding The Once and Future Smash was set to begin, Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival ran into a problem.  You could hear what was coming out of the projector…but the screen remained blank.  A power issue to the projector was to blame…and it would take over an hour to fix.  Thanks to the great work of the crew at the Amherst Theatre…The Once and Future Smash would eventually air.  Much to the delight of its loyal attendees.  The companion piece End Zone 2 would be pushed back to a later block to make time for co-director Sophie Cacciola to hold a Q&A about the film.  I should probably explain why there is a companion piece…

The Once and Future Smash is a mockumentary about a pre-Black Christmas slasher movie that doesn’t exist.  It follows the two men who played the killer Smash-Mouth in the faux-feature End Zone 2.  Itself a sequel to a film that doesn’t exist.  With the announcement of a new sequel to End Zone 2 (titled End Zone, of course) Smash-Mouth mania is at fever pitch.  Which is to say…most people don’t know anything about it. 

Mikey Smash (Michael St. Michaels) and William Mouth (Bill Weeden) both lay claim to the Smash-Mouth mantle.  Smash played the character for the first hour of the film.  Mouth for the final 30 minutes.  The only problem is that the third act of the film is long lost, and no one can ever recall seeing the uncredited Mouth portraying the character.  I don’t know why I said that was the only problem.  The world of Smash-Mouth is chalk full of them.  The Once and Future Smash, however…is a delight.

That companion piece?  It’s the first hour of End Zone 2.  Shot to resemble a proto-slasher, the filmmakers made the piece of film their faux-doc posits into existence.  Talking heads played by notable slasher cast and crew affirm its place in film history.  Even better…the cast of people playing themselves take time to get a few digs in on their own work.  It’s a joy to watch Victor Miller (writer of the original Friday the 13^th) extoll the greatness of the original End Zone’s decision to have the killer revealed as the bullied football player’s mother.  Or to hear Mark Patton (star of A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge) plainly state that everyone knows part 2 is better.

Lloyd Kaufman, Adam Marcus and Melanie Kinnaman are among the notable horror alumni to explain both End Zone 2’s place in history and lampoon their own involvement in the genre.  They provide many laughs while also playing perfectly into providing backstory for the movie that never really was.  But also…somehow…is.  

Most of the story is spent with Smash and Mouth, of course.  Smash can’t stand Mouth and doesn’t want anything to do with him.  The rivalry gets even more intense when they learn the new sequel (set an hour into End Zone 2, obviously) is looking to cast the new Smash-Mouth.  Competing for the role while fighting for relevance…the duo is hilarious.  Smash is a crochety man.  Mouth is a free spirit who works his catchphrase “Touchdown!” into every opportunity. 

Their story progresses into increasingly absurd situations.  The Once and Future Smash provides a ton of laughs along the way.  Going the extra mile to film the hour of End Zone 2 that exists is a special touch that takes a great idea and turns it into a genius one.  Clips of the production are used in The Once and Future Smash as you would see in any documentary about a popular franchise.  It all feels authentic in the context of something that feels absurd.  The best kind of combination.

The reason the final reel of End Zone 2 is missing is explained in The Once and Future Smash.  Like everything else about the movie, it is funny and relevant to the plot.  Surprising character arcs emerge within all the madness…all played to perfection by a committed cast.  The Once and Future Smash is a great execution of a brilliant idea.  It’s always fun…but never points the joke at fans or the genre or even the genre itself (at least the good parts). 

Scare Value

The Once and Future Smash is a brilliant concept. It showers the slasher genre with love despite being about an entry that doesn’t actually exist. In a twist of genius, however…it actually does kind of exist. The two leads of the mockumentary are excellent. A funny, winding story with surprising character arcs unfolds with growing absurdity. Genre fans should take notice.

The Once and Future Smash Trailer

If you enjoyed this review of The Once and Future Smash, check out other festival reviews: Wintertide, Zaman Dark, Demon Behind the Glass, The Haunting of the Lady-Jane and Fang