Nigel the Psychopath: A Shot on VHS Classic
Nigel the Psychopath began as a short, shot on Super 8 film in 1986. It expanded from that in the three years that followed.
The idea for Nigel the Psychopath came to me as a teenager. I was a fan of horror movies, specifically the slasher genre that was all the rage in the 80s. Friday the 13, of course, largely influenced me. I had just gotten my first movie camera for my 16th birthday- a silent super 8 camera that held three minute film cartridges that I had to send away to be developed. And then you had to wait for the film reel to be returned. This of course, was years before the digital age.
This was at the same time that some random drifter had decided to build himself a log cabin on private property in the woods near our house in Aldie, Virginia. When the police told him he could not claim squatter’s rights on private property, that drifter moved on leaving an empty log cabin- a perfect place to shoot my first movie. So a wrote quick script, gathered some friends, and forced them to act in my movie. The reaction it received from my classmates when my homeroom teacher let me show it assured me it was a hit.
From Super 8 to VHS
Soon after, I had myself a genuine VHS camcorder. Continuing the story of Nigel the Psychopath was something I needed to do. By then the cabin had been torn down, and given that the cast I had lined up for part two all lived 20 miles down the road in Leesburg, Virginia, it made more sense to shoot on locations there. So that’s what I did for the rest of the series, five parts in all.
Nigel the Psychopath at Large
The year was 1994. The idea of editing all the Nigel the Psychopath footage into a single movie seemed like a good one. So I did. The title of that, of course, is “Nigel the Psychopath: At Large.” I advertised this in a classified ad in Fangoria magazine, and was immediately contacted by Cemetery Cinema asking for distribution rights. I couldn’t think of any reason to say no, so I went ahead with that. This got Nigel a fir amount of exposure. If you run a search on “Nigel the Psychopath” will find some interesting things written about it.
Nigel the Psychopath: 33rd Anniversary Cut
I rewatched “At Large” in 2019, and I realized it could be so much better. At Large was edited on a VHS editing system, which was pretty limited in what I could do with it. In 2019, digital technology had taken over and offered so many bells and whistles unavailable in the old days, at least to amateurs such as myself. So I decided to reedit the footage, since it had all previously been digitized anyway, into a new presentation: Nigel the Psychopath: 33rd Anniversary Director’s Cut. For this, I expanded the story from what it was in At Large, including footage shot in Bozeman, Montana of an unfinished part 6 attempt.
Nigel’s Future
I know at the end of “Buttcrack” there is mention of Nigel the Psychopath’s grave. But do you really think he’s dead? Come on. Since when do grave’s mean anything in movies? As far as I am concerned, Nigel is alive and well and out there somewhere. I have a feeling his story will continue as a middle aged man dealing with his past while adapting to a changed society.