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It is not often, or not often enough, that a Saturday night brings together three of pop culture’s most dramatic icons: Shakespeare, vampires, and a Lifetime movie starring Tori Spelling. Lucky for all of us, last night was one of those nights.
The remake of Mother, May I Sleep With Danger? premiered tonight night. The update was brought to life, in part, by James Franco, who executive produced and also has a small part in the movie.
The first Mother, May I Sleep With Danger? celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. The popularity of the original is based less on what might be called its intrinsic artistic merit and more on its capture of the cultural zeitgeist of its moment. In it, Tori Spelling plays a naive and trusting college student in an abusive relationship with an obsessive stalker. She doesn’t know of his murderous past and well, of course, everything ends with him chasing her with an ax at a remote cabin in the woods.
The modern update pays homage to its processor while being something completely its own. It's as if the original version had a one night stand with The Craft and this movie is the result. There are scenes that are word-for-word from 1996 and there are scenes that have vampires. There’s a Macbeth storyline that is brand-new and super-bloody. Spelling returns, but this time, she’s the naive mom instead of the naive college student. Leila George plays Leah, Spelling's daughter. In this version, Leah brings home her girlfriend, Pearl (played by Emily Meade), instead of the original stalker boyfriend to dinner with mom.
Take a peek into the dark and wacky world created by James Franco, Tori Spelling, and the whole vampire-college student crew.
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