A quick note before we begin… It might be difficult at times to determine a film’s provenance, as sometimes the credits for these films are less than comprehensive. At all times we have made the best possible efforts to put credit where the credit is due, but if we’ve missed anything, we will be quick to fix the issue.
We’ll be covering the films individually, and we think a quick disclaimer may be in order: We understand that the filmmakers are, for the most part, amateurs or students who were just beginning to work in film. To that end, our goal isn’t to pick a movie apart for its acting, its lack of funds, or its status as an amateur film. Each of these directors and actors has our respect for even attempting a career in this field, and it should be understood that we commend your efforts. However, it should not be forgotten that we are here to analyze the finished product. To that end, we will be bringing up what we consider to be any particular film’s faults or virtues. Hopefully this will be taken as constructive rather than simply negative harping on our part.
Short Film #1
Night Surf (2002)
Writer/Director: Peter Sullivan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5oaf4FOL2M
Runtime: 33:24
Rik: The earliest known version of Night Surf as a Dollar Baby short (as far as we can figure out) is this half-hour attempt from Peter Sullivan in 2002. It is also the longest one by far. We first see the closing lines from Edgar Allan Poe’s The Masque of the Red Death (you can look them up if you don’t know them by heart already); then we hear a radio broadcast over the opening credits where the DJ talks about "everybody going down to the beach” while newspaper headlines about a “super-flu” flash across the screen. Six young adults are driving along in an SUV, variously flirting or shooting each other with a video camera, though the discussion is about one topic only: Captain Trips. They pass a very sick-looking man stranded by a broken-down vehicle, and when they see he is probably stricken with the super-flu, they keep driving. Finally, the kids come to a beachside townhouse, where they plan to stay and party for a while. Honestly, it could be the start of any horror film – young people in an isolated place – but as the actors will tell us, the isolation is only because of the super-flu that is killing everyone but them, lamenting the fact that it is now so quiet there. Still, they barbecue burgers, toast “To Life!” with each other, shoot skeet, swim, and argue about whether having the Hong Kong flu keeps them safe or it the flu could follow them all the way out to where they are now.
Meanwhile, one member of the group, Needles, has been showing gradual signs that he is getting sicker and sicker. From around the twelve-minute mark, this film practically turns into an apocalyptic version of Dying Young, with characters talking endlessly to each other in various permutations about Needles being sick and eventually dying. Then the part from the story about Alvin Sackheim being burned alive is included in the film as merely a tale that one of the characters had heard about previously. (Alvin – actually unnamed here -- is burned inside his car, not on the beach, in a quick story flashback.) The drama builds as Needles gets sicker, and the characters start to fight over keeping him alive. The short suddenly becomes a rather frenzied but confusing action film for much of the final third, with Needles trying to escape being murdered by Corey, as Bernie seeks desperately to protect his best friend. Being so focused on killing his former friend, Corey doesn’t realize that his girlfriend Joan has gotten even sicker than Needles, but blames him for this. The remainder of the film is standard action with knives and guns. And everyone is going to die anyway.
This is the version that, for me, goes the farthest afield from King’s original concept. It is also the dullest, despite the attempts to beef it up with gore and gunshots. It is three times as long as it needs to be, and while it is not directed badly, it has mediocrity at its core on every possible level. Susie is reduced to a character that mostly just stands around or happens to be in scenes with other people, and her relationship with Bernie seems completely respectful and quiet. Despite this, you would think that in the longest version of this story there would be a truly meditative moment or three, but no, it doesn’t really want any of its characters to truly reflect on their state of being. I think this version really misses the boat. The one moment in this film I actually like is the quick mention of Derry, a reference that I will not have to explain to Stephen King fans. It seems harsh of me, but I have watched this short three times in the past three days, and I don’t want to see it again.
Aaron: You’re a far better man than I, watching this short three times. I watched it the once and can’t imagine wanting to go back to it. At the risk of instantly contradicting our disclaimer at the top, I found this to be borderline unwatchable. A lot of that has to do with the quality of the video, which seems to be a couple of VHS duplications away from its origins. Combine that with some seriously choppy editing, and it can be very hard at times to figure out what is happening on screen, particularly during the frequent low-light sequences. Several times I acted as a crime scene investigator, figuring out what had happened in a scene based on its aftermath. But more than that, this film just isn’t very interesting, and, as you say, stretched beyond its means.
This comment will become a theme with one of these short films, but I do wonder why they bothered adapting this particular story. It feels almost as if the filmmakers had a different script developed, and then decided to say it was based on a Stephen King story for higher visibility. Some quick tweaks to character names and minor dialogue changes, a quick reference to another King property, and instantaneous name recognition is yours! In many ways, this gambit seems to have paid off, as out of this group of filmmakers, Peter Sullivan has found the most success. If you go look at his IMDb page you’ll see nearly a hundred credits as writer, director, or producer. Sure, nothing you’ll find at your local multiplex, but he has a quite healthy career in DtV and made-for-TV movies, which is nothing to sneeze at. As much as I’ve come down on this film, I’m happy to see that it led to greater things for those involved in its creation.
Short Film #2
Night Surf (2008)
Writer: Geoff Tarulli. Director: David Humphreys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qv9-lccYR8
Runtime: 13:30
Aaron: The second film adaptation of Night Surf came a full six years after the first, and appears at first glance to hew closer to the source material, although changes both major and minor become apparent fairly quick. The film opens with a group of young men and women walking onto a beach where they begin goofing off, making out, or, in the case of a drastically different Suzie (the film changes the spelling of her name slightly), studying a book on gardening. In the film, it appears, Suzie is preparing for the long haul. Not long into this, the group notices a sick man stumbling along the beach. This turns out to be the destined-to-be-set-aflame Alvin Sackheim. There’s some confused chatter about what to do with him, leading to Kelly (a man in the story, Kelly has been gender-swapped here, while Kelly’s girlfriend Joan has apparently become Kelly’s boyfriend John instead) theatrically declaring a sacrifice must be made to "the dark gods of the beach" in order to protect them from the super-flu. This is all taken as a sick joke, but as we’ll see in the ensuing minutes, it quickly becomes serious. But first, there is some more pairing off for half-heartedly sincere discussions.
Bernie is less antagonistic towards Suzie in this film, and while Suzie is a less needy character, she still pulls Bernie aside to ask "You still love me, right?" His response, "About as much as anyone could" is less harsh than the blunt "No" he gives her in the short story, but actually seems like it’s meaner. But then he still says the "Any port in a storm" line later on, so he’s clearly no saint. Bernie pulls away from her and begins to walk with Needles, where they discuss, among other things, that Needles has contracted "it". "It" isn’t named in this short, neither as A6 nor as Captain Trips, although the group still believes itself immune due to their exposure to A2. A lot of Bernie’s inner thoughts are given voice in the film, although some of those lines are now given to Needles in order to avoid simply bogging the film down with voiceover narration. As the day drags on and the party’s spirits are dampened by revelations and Alvin Sackheim’s continued moaning, the previously dismissed idea of burning him alive takes on more weight. The film ends with the group standing over Alvin, Kelly idly flicking a lighter, while Bernie says "we all gotta die sometime."
While I don’t think this film is a very accurate translation of the source material’s theme or tone, I do think it’s a pretty decent student film. There’s some judicious condensing of plot, some understandable excisions from the story (understandable when viewed in context of the finished product, that is), and fairly decent utilization of limited funds and locations. The acting is pretty strong, though still clearly the work of beginners (although on the other hand, much of what goes into what is popularly considered "good acting" is as much a product of post-production as it is in-the-moment behavior) Of course, events are changed enough that this story doesn’t capture what makes the story so endearing, but as its own artifact I have no problem with it. My one real complaint with this film is that, despite the dialogue, there’s no real sense that the world has ended, or that they think they might be the last group left. It’s a problem that comes up through many of these shorts, because the budgets are so low they can’t afford to empty out densely populated areas for their student films. But this one suffers more than most for feeling like these kids are just on a long holiday weekend.
Rik: Maybe Needles has contracted Pennywise the Clown?
I actually thought early on that this version might get it close to right. That feeling lasted about three minutes, but as an adaptation of someone else’s story goes, it’s not that bad a take. Some of the acting really annoyed me the first time that I watched the short, but I have come around on it in subsequent viewings (again, three). The strongest part of this version is that the group really does feel like good friends who are dealing with a very extreme situation in the best way they can, and have to fight really hard to keep their civility. They will lose this battle by deciding to burn Alvin just as the credits roll, and it is interesting that the film becomes a “should we or shouldn’t we” struggle for the characters, while also dealing with the revelation of Needles’ sickness, and the sad end this likely portends for the rest of them.
However, there was a sense for me that if one were to project what the average student film version of Night Surf would look like, it would be this one. An opening scene where a group of young adults is strolling along rather quietly (and somewhat sullenly) across a generic landscape to reach some unspoken destination almost seems like boilerplate in a student film template. This is likely why I didn’t take to my first viewing of this short initially, and it still colors my opinion of it a bit now. It is also the version where I felt that I caught some of the amateur actors “acting” the most, which also affected that viewing. But in the end, I don’t think this is a bad attempt.
Short Film #3
Night Surf (2014)
Writers: Dan and Oren Benamor. Director: Oren Benamor
http://www.imdb.com/video/wab/vi829206041
Runtime: 9:50
Of the short films, this is the one I have the least to say about it; I don’t really feel one way or another on it. The acting is decent, the production values are decent, and the adapted writing is decent. It’s all decent. But it also lacks any sort of real punch, despite its place as the meanest adaptation we’ve come across. This is one of those adaptations where, after watching it, I wonder why they bothered to buy the rights from Stephen King at all, even if it was only for one dollar. They could easily have taken this exact script, this exact film, and if they hadn’t mentioned it was based on a story by King, probably no one would have noticed. As we’ve already discussed, I’m all for changing the text to suit your own vision, and I totally understand being inspired into taking your own tangents within an existing world, but this one felt so far afield it just puzzled me a bit.
There were a couple touches I liked in this film. There were the repeatedly prominent signs around the beach that say "No lifeguard on duty." The first time we see it is the signpost Alvin Sackheim is tied to, but it shows up again on lifeguard stations seen in the background. No lifeguard, no god. It’s not exactly subtle, but a nice touch. The other is one that I’m surprised none of the other filmmakers even attempted; when the group is sitting around discussing life before the plague, there are some inserted shots of the seaside community in happier times. Large crowds bustle around the markets, sunbathe on the beach, and cavort in the water. It effectively makes this film seem bigger than it otherwise would, and helps illustrate what has been lost. It’s also such a cheap and easy way to expand the scope of your short film without actually detracting from the focus that some of the other directors must be kicking themselves for not thinking of it.
Rik: I am pretty indifferent about this film. The filmmakers seem less concerned with the details of the story, which is fine for a creative choice, and the characters of the story – who all seem to have some history together – are replaced by a set of people who all seem to barely know one another, apart from the main couple. Their behavior towards Alvin, including his burning, come off as more recidivist behavior on the part of career criminals and less as a desperate and childish act committed out of a combination of fateful fear and sheer boredom. I agree that everything here is done competently, but beyond that, it really failed to register with me at all. And it really is the one about which I have the least to say.
Short Film #4
Night Surf (2015)
Writer/Director: Tony Pomfret
http://www.imdb.com/video/wab/vi1166454041
Runtime: 14:03
Rik: An opening title superimposed over a shot of the night surf rolling in reads, “Strain 848-AB (aka: A6, Captain Trips). Highly contagious. Mortality rate: 99.4%.” This is more than some of the other films give us in setting the scene quickly. Director Tony Pomfret changes the locale to Great Britain, but that is fine with me as long as you stick to the basic elements that the story needs. This version begins with the teens huddled around a campfire in the evening. They are bored, and one of them mentions that they should have got a CD player, but it has previously been determined that is was too much to carry (they seem to be more nomadic in this one). The character of Susie is highly obnoxious here, almost psychotically unhinged, giggling and yelling most of the time, probably in an attempt to block out the horror of their situation.
An erratically driven car rolls to a stop into the sand of the beach, and it becomes clear that this version will focus directly upon the burning of Alvin Sackheim. After releasing Alvin from his seatbelt, he falls into a heap upon the ground, moaning about his “grandma” (as in the story). The teens tie his hands and feet together with a bra and a belt, soak a shirt in petrol from his engine, and then set Alvin aflame, his body set beneath a funeral pyre of driftwood and twigs they have mounted atop him. Almost nine minutes in, Bernie and Needles actually start to discuss Captain Trips and whether Needles has contracted it, while Susie goes off for a swim, oblivious to the fiery death of Alvin or the tragedy in store. They also name-check the Hong Kong flu as in the story, and Needles eventually mentions that they’ll all be dead in a month. Everyone stands apart on the beach for the next couple of minutes, each teenager dwelling on their own mortality. Finally, Bernie and Susie are seen lying on a blanket on the beach. Over his shoulder, Susie asks Bernie if he still loves her, and tucks her head atop his neck in a very clinging and desperate way. Bernie gently takes her hand in his, and just stares into the middle distance. Credits.
I think this is actually the best short version of the story thus far, even if it still misses the point somewhat. Concentrating so fully on the burning and then the disease, it completely throws out the nostalgia element. This might be due to the very American writing of King being shifted to a beach in England, but that nation is loaded with a glowing nostalgia for its beach areas of its own, with numerous seaside resort towns, gaming arcades, and broken down carnivals and theatrical venues that once heaved with glorious life. More could have been done by filming directly in one of these towns, where a resort location could have added the exact feeling discussed in King’s original story.
Aaron: Story-wise, this is indeed the closest we’ve come so far to King’s original words. I think beyond the missing nostalgia, this film’s greatest deviation, and one common to most of the adaptations so far, is in focusing on the burning of Alvin Sackheim. This leads to some pretty decent business, though, as the characters each get to react in their own way. Susie can’t stop laughing and acting generally unhinged, the men react more stoically, staring on in silence, and Joan watches on in what appears to be a mixture of terror, fascination, and sadness.
This one improved quite a bit on a rewatch. When I first watched it I’d already worked my way through a few of these films, and I think I was blind to a few of its virtues. But looking at it now with a clearer head, I can appreciate what Tony Pomfret accomplishes here. This version has the best combination of film quality, technique, acting, and general story focus. While I think the focus on the actual burning of Alvin Sackheim detracts a bit from the emotional fallout that was the real point of the story, there’s no denying that the fallout is there for people willing to look. Less is said verbally in this film, and more is left to body language and knowing looks. Plus, it updates King’s tendency towards pop-culture references and transfers it to the other side of the pond, with a quick reference to The IT Crowd in some early dialogue. My favorite so far.
Short Film #5
Night Surf (20??)
Writer/Director: Holly Wilkinson
https://vimeo.com/104144372
Runtime: 9:11
Night Surf from Holly Wilkinson on Vimeo.
In a wooded area, five teens are seen holding or covering their noses as best they can, as we see a single shoe with flames within it, telling us that the burning of Alvin Sackheim has just occurred (here referred to merely as a nameless tramp). The radio station element from the story is introduced, and Angie by the Rolling Stones is heard (probably illegally; I can’t imagine they actually received permission to use it). The dialogue used by the fake DJ in the story is used here as well. Everyone stands around staring into the distance and surveying the landscape. Bernie upsets Susie by being a bastard and she runs off angrily into the woods. Needles talks about his impending illness and the guy they burnt alive. Bernie and Susie go to bed, but Bernie can’t help but dwell upon his mortality.
This one seems to be the truest attempt at tackling the original story and its themes directly, but the lack of a single shot of water reminds me that it really does bother me that Wilkinson decided to stick with the title Night Surf. The title could have been Dirt Mounds: Adapted from the short story Night Surf by Stephen King. Despite this, yet again the Brits have gotten closer to giving us a fairly decent attempt at the story, although once more missing out completely on some of the recurring themes in the piece.
Aaron: This one might be my favorite version of the film so far, though I can see the case for Tony Pomfret’s version as well. This one captures the tone of the story more closely than any of the other adaptations, even though it utilizes what could have been a cheap shortcut: voiceover narration. Not only does the burning of Alvin Sackheim occur just before the film begins, but it returns as a quick bit of visual shorthand to remind us what these characters have just done and what sort of world they inhabit now. The editing on this one is pretty great, as well, as there are a slew of quick edits to drop in mood establishing shots. I was impressed with what Holly Wilkinson accomplished here. Her film may not be as technically adept as Tony Pomfret’s, but she has a good eye for composition and a sense of rhythm in her storytelling that some of the other films lacked.
And you know what? I’m OK with the title staying behind, even though there’s no water at all in the film. The title Night Surf was always a bit poetic and sad. If Stephen King had been aiming for accuracy with his title, he could have just called it Survivors or Super-flu, or Just the Flu, if he wanted to wink at the audience a little. But Night Surf has wistful associations even to those who never visited a beach at night. It suggests something calm and peaceful. Keeping the title while removing its actual literal connotations takes the thing into the realm of poetry, and the title becomes evocative and aspirational, something the characters may dream of. I’m being a bit grandiose there, but really, the title worked for me on this one.
The Wrap-Up:
Rik: I don’t know if Night Surf needs a professional version of the story to be made into a feature film, but I would love to see a series of King’s short stories – like, all of them – turned into an HBO, Showtime, or Netflix series or the like. Maybe they could just call it Creepshow (if the rights for that aren't tied up with someone else) but keep the focus on adapting Stephen King’s endless cache of stories rather than bring in other writers (at least for the first few seasons). Maybe Stephen King could even host as the Creep. (Seriously, don’t have him host, but the notion is amusing to me.)
The downside is that a King series adapting all of these stories would probably mean the end of the Dollar Baby concept. I believe that it would be sad for it to go away, no matter what I believe about the films that come out of it. I think Night Surf could make for a decent half hour short, but I wish one of these young filmmakers would tackle it fully as laid out by King. I am all for artistic license in creating a work, even based on someone else’s material, but some of these versions make me wonder if the filmmakers and actors who created them even understood the story they were replicating. It will be interesting going forward through more of these Dollar Babies in the future to see how closely someone can get in showing true inspiration from King’s work.
Aaron: As I said earlier, I wondered several times why the filmmakers chose this story to adapt. In some cases I think maybe they had an idea in mind already and decided to slap Stephen King’s name on it to get more exposure (it certainly wouldn’t be the first time this has happened with Stephen King adaptations). I’m wondering if they all imagined themselves as Kubricks in the making, drastically altering the text while homing in on the secret heart of the story. I don’t want to come across as too negative, because I really enjoyed this dive into the world of Dollar Baby films, and look forward to more to come.
When it comes down to it, I think a great short film could be made out of Night Surf, but it’s not going to be the easiest thing to do. For one, so much of its dramatic weight these days comes from its connection to a larger work the filmmakers wouldn’t be able to touch. For another, most of its tension is internal, and it can be hard to make that sort of drama interesting and understandable in a short time frame. Honestly to make a classic, the director would need a truly idiosyncratic style. Imagine Terrence Malick covering this material.
I would love (love!) a television series adapting the entire published canon of Stephen King short stories, and I would even enjoy seeing King introduce them. Maybe not as a character, although I think his super-cheesy demeanor was put to good use in the film Creepshow, so he could pull it off. Yet I agree that the Dollar Baby program should never go away. As varied as the results can be, as we’ve seen with this article, there’s also a sense of unpredictability that I found quite enjoyable. Much the same way King’s short stories can get weirder than his full novels, the Dollar Baby program gives up and coming filmmakers with fresh viewpoints the chance to really get crazy in their adaptations.
Rik: Terence Malick would have the right touch visually for the beach scenes (with Bernie’s narration laid right over the top properly), but would probably add an unconnected scene involving a dinosaur doing laundry at Guadalcanal while reciting poetry about the Big Bang and showing us a close-up of a butterfly in a wheat field.
Well, that’s it for We Who Watch Behind the Rows. We hope you have enjoyed our discussion, and also hope that it might inspire you to go read the story yourself and check out the many short films based upon it. Next time, we are going to jump to another story in the Night Shift collection – The Mangler – and also discuss the 1994 feature film adaptation that was directed by Tobe Hooper and stars good ol’ Freddy Krueger himself, Robert Englund. (I know... it sounds like a great combo, but please prepare for disappointment.)
See you soon!
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