Was Richard Kellys adaptation of Richard Mathesons short story unjustly overlooked?
Jabcuga opens THE BOX. With the death rattle being echoed through the blue and yellow-carpeted aisles of Blockbuster Videos across the country, the days of films building cult followings and gradually winning over audiences and a second lease on life may be a thing of the past (Netflix and Red Box notwithstanding). If so, that’s a shame for THE BOX, the overlooked third release from director Richard Kelly. Blockbuster Video customers were very generous to the filmmaker’s debut, the Goth-cum-stoner magnum opus DONNIE DARKO. This was a film that couldn’t be marketed. It was much too original for some bean counter or ad agency to package and sell with a simple tag line. The only marketing campaign that would be effective for a film like DONNIE DARKO was word of mouth. In fact, it’s amazing the oddball “David Lynch meets THE TWILIGHT ZONE”-style film was ever given the greenlight. But gradually, the Cult of Darko caught on. The disciples of Donnie multiplied at an alarming rate, as more an
