‘Darth Vader: A Star Wars Story’ Could Be A Horror Movie
Darth Vader: A Star Wars Story may not have been officially announced, but at the rate Disney is going in releasing one new Star Wars film per year, it could be inevitable.
The Dark Lord of the Sith is seen as the greatest villain in motion picture history by IGN, even though he ultimately ended up — spoiler alert! — being a hero of the franchise, sacrificing himself to destroy the Emperor in Return of the Jedi.
Still, that did not stop the House of Mouse from bringing the dreadful character audiences fell in love with in the 1977 original and its immediate follow-up The Empire Strikes Back back from the dead for a memorable appearance in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
If you haven’t seen Rogue One yet, here’s another spoiler alert.
Vader goes on a horrific rampage in the film’s closing moments, taking out over a dozen terrified members of the rebellion in seconds.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’s Darth Vader Scene Was Kept Hidden From The Cast https://t.co/AERguXJFib
— Micah (@StarWarsTime) March 30, 2017
This got one horror movie fan’s mind racing online, and he immediately put his editing skills to work cobbling together a version of Darth Vader: A Star Wars Story with a horror movie bent.
YouTuber FlamingoIsland cut together a trailer that reimagines Lord Vader as a Freddy Krueger of sorts, complete with compelling plot description.
“After the events of Order 66, the presence of Jedi has been diminished,” the trailer’s creator writes. “The Emperor has ordered Darth Vader to purge the remaining Jedi. VADER: A Star Wars Story follows a small group of Jedi who must survive the final Jedi Purge.”
While Disney has not commented on the trailer at this time — nor have they made any A Star Wars Story announcements beyond the Han Solo spinoff and a possible Boba Fett they have planned for 2020 — the YouTuber’s vision would fit in with the anthology series.
https://youtu.be/fUxT1RiDLOg
One comment that frequently came up in reviews of Rogue One was how Disney distinguished the separate series by going beyond the original, prequel, and new trilogies’ space opera roots. Most characterized Rogue One as “a war film set in space.”
If that’s the case — and if Han Solo ends up being an action movie set in space — then a hypothetical Darth Vader film would have real potential as being the series’ first horror movie.
It’s all right there in FlamingoIsland’s setup, which bears a strong resemblance to previous horror films like Friday the 13th, Halloween, and Predator.
By keeping Vader off-screen most of the film, however, it may not justify naming the movie after him unless filmmakers are able to sell the permeating threat of Vader through the cast and their interactions.
Returning Lord Vader to his boogeyman roots might also be a good failsafe in the event of losing an aging James Earl Jones. FlamingoIsland’s scenario would give the Sith Lord little reason to speak, so the movie could happen with or without Jones’ involvement.
Genre site Bloody-Disgusting praised this particular take on the Vader legend asking “why not lean” on what was already started in the closing moments of Rogue One?
Commenters got in on the fun as well, offering an alternate Vader horror movie take with a small group of Jedi setting out to assassinate Vader in his lair, “where he would be at his most vulnerable,” only to find him missing upon arrival.
From there, the slasher movie body count begins.
Gareth Edwards Reveals Which Prop He Stole From ROGUE ONE’s Set; Talks About Darth Vader’s Epic Hallway Slaughter https://t.co/Uod0Z9KIHq pic.twitter.com/RpHjDw5TpF
— GeekTyrant (@GeekTyrant) March 28, 2017
What do you think readers?
Would a Darth Vader: A Star Wars Story film benefit in borrowing from the horror genre? Sound off in the comments section below.
[Featured Image by Disney]
