Why Dee Snider's Strangeland Sequel Never Got Made
Strangeland, written by and starring rock singer Dee Snider, introduced the world to Captain Howdy, but here's why a planned sequel never arrived.
Strangeland, written by and starring rock singer Dee Snider, introduced the world to Captain Howdy, but here's why a planned sequel never arrived. The lead vocalist of legendary hair metal band Twisted Sister, Snider is a very well-known figure in the music world, but may not be the first person people would expect to pen a horror movie. However, Snider was a long-time fan of the horror genre before he decided to get involved in it, and even later directly helped launch the career of Hatchet director Adam Green.
Snider is also famously anti-censorship in media, and made an intelligent case for why it was bad when invited to testify before congress in the 1980s. Snider is much smarter than his menacing stage persona might suggest, which is probably partially why he's managed to maintain a successful career in pop culture long after Twisted Sister last topped the charts. Sadly, his screenwriting career never really took off, with Strangeland being his only credit.
While Strangeland has since developed a devoted cult following, the film was a box office bomb upon release, failing to even make back its $1.1 million budget in theaters. Critics also were quite unkind, but many acclaimed horror movies were hated by critics. Snider has been trying to get a sequel off the ground since back when the original released, but for various reasons, it's never gotten made.
Why Dee Snider's Strangeland Sequel Never Got Made
According to Dee Snider, a sequel, often referred to as Strangeland 2: Disciple, has actually been in and out of development since before the first film was even released to theaters. He wrote the script, and the sequel entered pre-production. Unfortunately, The Shooting Gallery production company, who had greenlit the project, went under soon after, under a cloud of legal issues. The federal government seized Shooting Gallery's property, including the rights to Strangeland and its potential sequel. Snider was then forced to try and get the rights to his creation back, and the dispute wasn't resolved until 2004.
Since then, Snider has periodically provided updates to fans, several times insisting that production was imminent, only for nothing to happen. Snider seems as frustrated as anyone by this endless cycle, expressing his dismay publicly as recently as 2016. The main stumbling block appears to be getting funding, with Snider at one point teasing the crowd funding route, but not going through with it. That's despite horror icon Robert Englund also being attached to reprise his role. As of now, it appears Strangeland 2 is fully dead, with Snider talking up a new horror script he's written and plans to direct called My Enemy's Enemy.
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Michael Kennedy is an avid movie and TV fan that's been working for Screen Rant in various capacities since 2014. In that time, Michael has written over 2000 articles for the site, first working solely as a news writer, then later as a senior writer and associate news editor. Most recently, Michael helped launch Screen Rant's new horror section, and is now the lead staff writer when it comes to all things frightening. A FL native, Michael is passionate about pop culture, and earned an AS degree in film production in 2012. He also loves both Marvel and DC movies, and wishes every superhero fan could just get along. When not writing, Michael enjoys going to concerts, taking in live professional wrestling, and debating pop culture. A long-term member of the Screen Rant family, Michael looks forward to continuing on creating new content for the site for many more years to come.
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