''Creating Rem Lezar'' is a 1989 American children's

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serv ...

directed, written, and produced by

Scott Zakarin Scott Zakarin (born September 2, 1963) is an American film producer. He is known as the creator of the Web series medium due to his introduction of the first internet episodic website The Spot. Early life Born in Long Island, New York, Zakarin ...

and was released

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...

Plot

Two children have the same dream about the same

imaginary friend Imaginary friends (also known as pretend friends, invisible friends or made-up friends) are a psychological and a social phenomenon where a friendship or other interpersonal relationship takes place in the imagination rather than physical reali ...

, a superhero named Rem Lezar. They build a mannequin to look like their dream hero, which comes to life. However, he doesn't have his Quixotic Medallion, which he needs to live longer than a day. They are taunted by the evil Vorock, a floating entity who threatens them from the sky, who has hidden the Medallion "at the highest point that the mind can go". The group travels to New York City in search of the Medallion. They meet various characters along the way, such as a dancing quartet who sing to themselves, and visit landmarks like

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

and the

Twin Towers Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two e ...

. When they fail to find the Medallion, they return to Vorock, and are able to turn him good by telling him that they love him. The children go back home and find that Rem Lezar has returned to the form of a mannequin, but Zack still has the Quixotic Medallion. The children go back to sleep and dream of Rem Lezar.

Cast

* Jack Mulcahy as Rem Lezar, policeman * Courtney Kernaghan as Ashlee ** Allegra Forste as Ashlee (singing double) * Jonathan Goch as Zack *

Kathleen Gati Kathleen Gati (born 13 August 1957) is a US-based Canadian actress. She is known for portraying Liesl Obrecht on the ABC daytime soap opera ''General Hospital''. She appeared on the television series '' Leverage'' in 2009. Career At the age o ...

as Ashlee's mother *

as Vorock * Stewart H. Bruck as Principal * Evan Abbey, Ed Luparello, Billy Manning, and Johnny O'Hanlon as park quartet * Devery Gladney as park rapper * James E. Graseck as park violinist * Teresa Simpson as school teacher * Stuart Grodin as Ashlee's father * Karin Kernaghan as Zack's mother * Thomas Ritchie as Zack's father * Jason Erdman as Ashlee's brother

Production

''Creating Rem Lezar'' was filmed in a variety of locations in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

state: The Bellmores,

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, Roslyn and Spring Glen. It was also shot on

16 mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical Film gauge, gauge of Photographic film, film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 mm film, 8 mm and 35mm movie film, 35 mm. It ...

film.

Reception and legacy

In 2005, the film came to prominence on the website

eBaum's World eBaum's World is an entertainment website owned by Literally Media. The site was founded in 2001 and features comedy content such as memes, viral videos, images, and other forms of Internet culture. Content is primarily user submitted in exch ...

, with the musical number "Day and Night" (featuring a late-1980s

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, ...

group,

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

MC and

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist) becoming a

viral The word ''Viral'' means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents). It may also refer to: Viral behavior, or virality Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example: * Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spre ...

hit. ''Creating Rem Lezar'' (described as "creepy/fascinating" and "very strange") appeared in a 2014

BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet mass media, media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John Seward Johnson III, John S. Johnson III to ...

listicle In journalism and blogging, a listicle is an article that is structured as a list, which is often fleshed out with additional text relating to each item. A typical listicle will have a title describing a specific number of items contained within, a ...

of 26 films that Scarecrow Video were trying to keep available to the public, as a reminder of "how many rare titles are still only available as physical media thanks to market forces, rights issues, corporate wrangling, and other reasons." Courtney Kernaghan, the actress who played Ashlee, passed away in 2017 at the age of 40. ''Creating Rem Lezar'' was featured on a 2019 episode of

RedLetterMedia Red Letter Media, LLC is an American film and video production company operated by independent filmmakers Mike Stoklasa, Jay Bauman, and Rich Evans. It was formed by Stoklasa in 2004 while he was living in the Scottsdale section of Ashburn, Chica ...

's "Best of the Worst" series. The crew voted the film the best video they had watched that night, and have since made it part of their Best of the Worst Hall of Fame. Scott Zakarin, the film's director, has himself described the film as "a critical success but a commercial failure." The character of Rem Lezar became incredibly popular with twitch streamer

Vinesauce Vinesauce is a collective of online content creators founded in 2010. The group primarily focuses on video game livestreaming and commentary videos. The group is most notable for content in which video games are corrupted to cause glitches, a ...

and his online audience, which led to the streamer conducting an interview with the character's actor Jack Mulcahy about the film on August 30, 2022. RiffTrax, consisting of former ''

Mystery Science Theater 3000 ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (abbreviated as ''MST3K'') is an American science fiction comedy television series created by Joel Hodgson. The show premiered on WUCW, KTMA-TV (now WUCW) in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on November 24, 1988. It then ...

'' alumni Kevin Murphy,

Bill Corbett William Daniel Corbett (born March 30, 1960) is an American writer and performer for television, film and theatre. He was a writer and performer on the cult television show ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''MST3K''), for which he voiced Crow ...

and

Michael J. Nelson Michael John Nelson (born October 11, 1964) is an American comedian and writer, most known for his work on the television series ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''MST3K''). Nelson was the head writer of the series for most of the show's origi ...

, commented on the film March 22, 2024.

Home media

In 2022, the film was remastered from the original 1 inch master tape and released on DVD and Blu-ray for the first time on September 13, 2022, commemorating the film's 35th anniversary.Found Footage Festival
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References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0369348
Official trailer for 35th anniversary edition
1980s American films 1980s English-language films 1989 children's films 1989 direct-to-video films 1989 musical films American children's musical films American direct-to-video films English-language musical films Films shot in 16 mm film