‘Spawn’ fan film may make you forget that other Spawn movie

Todd McFarlane has long talked about “complete reboot” of the 1997 film Spawn, envisioning a low-budget supernatural thriller that has more in common with The Conjuring than with current superhero blockbusters. For inspiration, he may need look no further that director Michael Paris’ fan short Spawn: The Recall.

The bulk of the nearly eight-minute film was shot in a day and two nights in a supermarket after business hours, using a limited cast and crew (post-production took two years, with the visual effects rendered on a single computer).

“I think supermarkets are a kind of allegory for temptation, with all the ads, the colors, the sales events, encouraging consumption,” Paris said in a statement. “So I thought it would be interesting to mix an everyday life story in a supermarket, such as a mum and her kid shopping, with a dark and fantasy story. Besides I have always been a fan of Spawn, I followed it since the comics began. Both ideas then came together, so I decided to make a fan film!”

The result is a stylish, atmospheric and all-too-brief thriller with touches of fantasy and horror, and a Spawn that’s downright frightening.