Back in the 1980s, when I was an NYU film student, I shot a shot a slasher film. (It was the 1980s -- who didn't shoot a slasher film?). A short film, 25 minutes, on super-8 film, called Checkmate. About a psycho chess player. It ran on some cable public access channels in Los Angeles and New York.
I hadn't thought of Checkmate in many years. Then just recently, I got an email from Iris Dorbian, who played the Last Girl. (Every slasher film had a Last Girl). Iris found me on the internet, and just contacted me to say hello. Turns out she'd quit acting and gone into journalism. She now covers the theater scene in NY.
It also made me think to google Frank Craven, who played the psycho in Checkmate. Frank's still around too. Still living in Manhattan.
One of the things I remember about Frank was his play, Authority vs. Majority, which he'd told me about. Going to his website, it seems he finally had some success with it in 1999. Goes to show you should never give up.
Makes me wonder, should I take another look at Checkmate and expand it into a feature film? It wasn't art, but it was as good as any other slasher film out there.
