FanCam: The Green Goblin's Last Stand (1992)

Welcome to the inaguaral edition of a new segment over here at the Cheese... FanCam! With the popularity of films based off of comic book, prose and video game properties taking the lion's share of the box office, I thought it would be cool to spotlight the fan-made films featuring our favorite heroes and villains! For as long as there have been video cameras, there have been fans making short and feature length films. First up is from 1992. Intended as a long-form 'audition' tape by the writer-director-star, Dan Poole, The Last Stand of the Green Goblin is a fun, nearly feature-film length, take on the classic 'Death of Gwen Stacy' story from The Amazing Spider-Man #121 and 122 (1973).



Dan Poole (Peter Parker/Spider-Man) who adapted the material from the original comic, does his own stunts and directed the piece. Coming in at over 51 minutes, that is no small feat! He is a REALLY good Peter Parker and, if he had a Ted Raimi costme budget, I think he would have made a great Spider-Man. He is genuine, honest and comes across as that lovable loser that can't seem to get his life straight. This may have a great deal to do with the early 1990s where hair styles were still recovering from the 1980s and the clothes couldn't decide to be tight or loose.

The effects, of course, are pedestrian. Aside from some great rope work, the webbing is largely 'audio only' and off-screen. This leads us into our villain. The Green Goblin is the classic version and VERY difficult to pull off with pros, but this is far from that. Eric Supensky is credited with the special make-up effects and they are respectable at the $500 budget! The final battle, with a little editing and fireworks, is very fun. James Kinstle plays Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin. Those of us familiar with the Willem DaFoe version probably think that no one could be more over the top than him... we would be wrong. Kinstle chews up scenery just like he was in a comic book, complete with rambling monologues of just how he will kill Spider-Man, how his warehouse was destroyed, the issues with world hunger (so I lied about the last one). Overacting doesn't seem to quite encompass the brilliance of our Green Goblin, but it is the only word that suffices. The Goblin Glider is a little piece of guerilla filmmaking fun, too.

Overall, fun little film. Despite the analog video, muffled audio and cheesy homegrown effects... this is exactly what a super-hero film should be. Even with all it's failings there is LOVE here. Love for the source material. The Making of The Green Goblin's Last Stand is another treat. It just reiterates the notion that FANS are what drive the industry so let the fan's dictate what they want to see. Hell, why not watch the whole damn thing below (and the making of film) and join us next time for FanCam!

 The Making of Green Goblin's Last Stand: