Sandman is a fascinating documentary that made the festival rounds way back in 2006. It played at both South By Southwest, and the Toronto International Film Festival. Today the film is finally being released on DVD and Blu-Ray. It is the perfect time for the film to be released, given that we have seen at least two documentaries this year that blur the lines between fact and fiction.
Catfish is out in theaters right now, and Exit Through the Gift Shop was out earlier this year. Both films were controversial for their “is it real or fake” aspect, and they are still hotly debated by film types.
Director J.T. Petty made a film called Soft For Digging (how creepy is that title?) back in 2001, which has gained a bit of cult acclaim in horror circles. He approached HDNet about an idea for a documentary based on a voyeur who menaced his Washington, DC neighborhood while he was growing up.
Hours and hours of videotapes were confiscated, but the man remained free because the victims opted to drop charges rather than face the humiliation of having the tapes aired in public court. The man still lives in the same house in the same neighborhood to this day. Pretty interesting stuff, huh? Unfortunately, the man refused to participate in Petty’s film, and Petty had to find a new course for his film.
So Sandman explores the uncomfortable similarities between voyeurism and watching horror films, bringing in noted experts such as professor Carol Clover, a PHD who wrote Men, Women, and Chain Saws.
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