The Cornfield People: The youngest lost film
Wikipedia describes a lost film as "a feature or short film that is no longer known to exist in any studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress."
The further back in film history you go, the longer the list of lost films get. For the most part, this is the result of studios failing to preserve anything made before the 1930s because these films were thought to have no commercial value (wrong!), or because the nitrate-film that was used for most movies before 1952 caused easy deterioration and/or spontaneously combustion. The Martin Scorsese's Film Foundation estimates 90% of movies made in the silent film era to be officially lost!
While lost films are indeed common during the early age of cinema, the list gets shorter and shorter once you hit the 1950s. By the 1970s, the list narrows to only about four films. A modern lost film is as rare as a gold dust.
A 1999 production called Puppet was thought to have been the most recent lost film to date, and before that was Sam Raimi’s film debut entitled Clockwork in 1978. Both have since been rediscovered. However, there is one film called The Cornfield People that is believed to be filmed and completed between 1999 and 2001, and is currently considered the youngest lost film.
Wikipedia describes a lost film as "a feature or short film that is no longer known to exist in any studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress."
The further back in film history you go, the longer the list of lost films get. For the most part, this is the result of studios failing to preserve anything made before the 1930s because these films were thought to have no commercial value (wrong!), or because the nitrate-film that was used for most movies before 1952 caused easy deterioration and/or spontaneously combustion. The Martin Scorsese's Film Foundation estimates 90% of movies made in the silent film era to be officially lost!
While lost films are indeed common during the early age of cinema, the list gets shorter and shorter once you hit the 1950s. By the 1970s, the list narrows to only about four films. A modern lost film is as rare as a gold dust.
A 1999 production called Puppet was thought to have been the most recent lost film to date, and before that was Sam Raimi’s film debut entitled Clockwork in 1978. Both have since been rediscovered. However, there is one film called The Cornfield People that is believed to be filmed and completed between 1999 and 2001, and is currently considered the youngest lost film.
The few people who have heard of this movie—and the fewer who have claimed to have watched it—know it better for its controversial subject matter: the meaning of life and what comes after death. Many maintain that the film doesn't exist and never did, given the lack of proof—even a lot of the old lost films have proof of existence through publicity stills, ticket stubs, theatre listings or copyright registration… but not The Cornfield People.
However, Joey L. Asap’s (Red Sands at Dawn and Buried with Leather Gloves) may have been the one at the helm of The Cornfield People.
Around late-1999, Asap was spotted with a small film crew in the Lake Stevens, WA, near the cornfields at the Carleton Farm. Nothing ever came from this well-known citing, leading many to assume he was filming his unrealized fourth film… which is rumored the mysterious Cornfield People.
Asap's website had confirmed his fourth film's premise was to be based on a banned essay he wrote for Paranormal Pacific entitled “The Truth and No Room for Debate”. Considering that Paranormal Pacific published a lot of articles that either riled people up or made the small press look bad, it has been long discussed what Asap’s essay could be about and why it was ultimately banned. Many at www.joeylasap.org’s message board conclude that the controversy of Asap’s essay could easily be related to the meaning of life and what comes after death… the supposed plot of The Cornfield People!
If anyone has any more information about this supposed film, please reply to this blog or e-mail me at dant3p3rk1ns@gmail.com.
Hey Geekster-- Great site. Love the capsule reviews. Short and to the point, just how I like 'em.
ReplyDeleteListen, I'm actually writing a book about The Cornfield People. Our information is not quite matching up. I'll send you an e-mail with the details; however, I decided to leave a comment here so anyone else reading can jump into the circle and throw some information out there.
This film is indeed mysterious, but I think my book will bring to light a lot of questions… but, it might also raise some new ones.
Talk soon.
Best,
C