"The Lurking" (1985)

"The Lurking" is a 1985 short film by Clarke M. Smith and starring Peter Beam, Sherry Felix, and George Mazarakis. It was completed in 1985 via equipment from Pima Community College in Tucson, AZ. It was made for the final project for a class called Intro To Video Production, and produced by TimeAxis Entertainment.

Realizing the Script
Originally written to be a claymation short on film, The Lurking was not made to be nearly as tongue in cheek as one might think. The hope, naively as it may seem, was a legitimately scary movie. But the silly monster prop and campy acting took care of that.

Ande Felix (1950 - 2000) wanted to be the husband, but with his long hair and beard, he was not right for the part. Enter Pete's step father George, who was exactly what Smith was looking for. The slightly balding business guy. Smith's mother Sherry was given the mother role, who had a ton of fun being in it, and she took the role seriously, cranking up the scared housewife vibe. Pete rounded out the cast as the kid not happy to evidently yet again, eat his own dinner while his parents are out. (really out, this time)

Shooting Details
The rented camera and VTR of the time, were very large and cumbersome. Therefore the majority of the film was on a steady tripod, and very little handheld work. Some interesting camera angles, and creature POV were employed. The biggest influence, and nods, were to Alien (1979), especially the notion of finding a shedded skin from the growing creature.

The creature was created and sculpted by Smith, which again was originally intended for stop motion animation. As a result of taking the film to video, that was scrapped, and the creature had very little life or movement.

The film was entirely shot in one afternoon and evening, concealing the darkness by shooting anything outside or with windows early on. Under the gun to get it shot in one day and to be able to edit and turn it in on time, Smith recalls in the audio commentary, being very pushy and bossy. His impatience is evident in some of the raw footage.

Aftermath
Sadly perhaps, very few students showed up for the last day of class, when all the final projects were shown. They likely didn't make anything to be terribly proud of and just turned it in on time but ditched the last day. However, the instructor was very impressed with what was accomplished in so little time, and such poor editing facilities.

Subsequently, 30 years later in 2015, shortly after Mrs. Felix passed away at the age of 72, The Lurking was shown at the 2015 San Diego Film Week's "Oldies but Goodies" program, which later won the award for Best Oldie but Goodie. It was a bittersweet moment for Smith, whose film hadn't seen the light of day since it was in class, let alone a long-delayed recognition and award.

Video Links
"The Lurking" (1985) (Full Movie)

1999 Visual Audio Commentary

Outtakes

"The Lurking" (1985) 2017 San Diego Film Week Screening and Q&A