Possibly In Michigan

''Possibly in Michigan'' is a 1983 American shot-on-video musical horror short film written and directed by Cecelia Condit, with music by Karen Skladany, who starred in the film as Janice. The film follows two women looking for perfumes in a department store being stalked by a cannibalistic murderer wearing a mask.

Condit considers it to be part of the "Jill Sands trilogy". This refers to three of her films which star the actress Jill Sands: '' Beneath the Skin'', ''Possibly in Michigan'', and ''Not a Jealous Bone''. The shopping mall and department store segments were shot at Beachwood Place in Beachwood, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.

Plot

Two women, Sharon and Janice, are shopping at an empty department store for perfume, followed by a man in a mask, mouth agape, wearing a black suit. Both women are said to have a reputation for attracting violent men and making the violence seem to be the man's idea. Arthur (credited as "Prince Charming"), the man following them, is introduced as sharing the same inclinations as Sharon and Janice.

While shopping, Janice (in a sing-song voice) said that a perfume smells like her mother's "crazy" sister Kate, who once put her wet poodle in a microwave, thinking it was a dryer, killing both herself and the dog in a fiery explosion.

Janice notices Arthur, and both women flee the department store. Sharon and Janice part ways after driving home, as Arthur follows them and stands outside Sharon's house, waiting for Janice to leave. A voiceover explains that Arthur has worn so many masks he has forgotten who he is. He approaches the front door and removes his mask, appearing as a normal man under it, and rings the doorbell.

Sharon, asleep, wakes up and goes to answer the door. When she sees who it is, she immediately drops to the ground and calls Janice. Janice arrives and aims a pistol at Arthur, shooting him several times only for him to continue inching closer. Arthur picks up a stone from Sharon's yard, revealing a rotting face beneath it, and shatters the bedroom window and breaks in. Janice escapes, shooting at various masked figures. As Sharon describes Arthur's appearance to Janice on the phone, he unexpectedly comes up behind Sharon and says "the better to eat you with, my dear," (referring to his teeth) in a distorted voice. Sharon turns around as Arthur kisses her.

Repeatedly pushing Sharon onto her bed, Arthur claims that she has two options: He will either eat her immediately or slowly dismember her, claiming it's for love. Janice shoots another masked figure and arrives at Sharon's front door. Arthur, now holding a knife, pins Sharon to her bed and begins choking her. He tells her that he has done this to six other women. As Sharon agrees to be the seventh woman, Janice aims her pistol at Arthur and fatally shoots him. Sharon gets up and, while looking at Arthur's corpse, she touches her lips in disgust.

The women lay Arthur's body out atop spread newspapers and begin to dismember him, making soup from his body parts. Nude, the women eat his remaining limbs, feeding scraps to their dog. While smoking cigarettes, Janice notices another masked man outside the window. She signals to Sharon as the figure hides before Sharon can see. After eating, the women wrap Arthur’s bones in newspapers and throw them into a trash bag. After putting the bags on the curb, a garbage truck comes and collects the bags, destroying the evidence.

Cast

* Bill Blume as Arthur, the man stalking Sharon and Janice. He is later killed by the women after trying to kill Sharon.
* Jill Sands as Sharon, Janice's best friend. She escapes from Arthur and cooks his body parts with Janice.
* Karen Skladany as Janice, Sharon's best friend. She shoots Arthur and cooks his body with Sharon.

Reception and legacy

The film received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Ohio Arts Council. The year the film was released, its final scene was shown on CBN and ''The 700 Club'', where it was described as gay, anti-family, and anti-men. A year later, the short film was read as lesbianism by the National Endowment for the Arts and was shown at the Museum of Modern Art.

The short film first gained notoriety on social media in 2015; it has gained popularity among Gen Z teens.

Patricia Mellencamp and Herman Rapaport have written about the short film. Joanne Morreale called the film an example of a revenge fantasy for feminists. Chris Straayer said the film was about male violence against women.

See also

* I Feel Fantastic
* Avant-garde

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, tt7275680

''Possibly in Michigan'' full video

''Plastic Masks: Possibly in Michigan as Urban Legend'', a video essay by Stephen Broomer on Vimeo

1983 films
1983 horror films
1983 short films
American horror short films
1980s American films
Films about cannibalism
Films about stalking
Films set in department stores
Films about violence against women
American films about revenge
Films shot in Ohio
LGBTQ-related controversies in film
1980s feminist films
American feminist films
Films directed by Cecelia Condit
1983 musical films
American musical short films
2018 YouTube videos