“Eradicator” – A Superman Fan Film

Filmmaker and Superman fan Chris Notarile has created a short film based on the Eradicator.

Superman has returned from the grave, but something is different. Is this the true man of steel, or something else? Something much more dangerous? Lifted straight from the pages of “Action Comics”, this is a direct interpretation of the “Reign of the Supermen”’s Eradicator.

A WORD FROM CHRIS

When I was a kid, I read the “Death of Superman”, and like every kid, I was devastated by the end of that story. I had no idea what was going to happen next. I didn’t know if the death of one of my favorite heroes was permanent. Then the “Reign of the Supermen” came out and my imagination went wild. The raging debate of who was the real Superman was everything to me. And when I first saw the Eradicator, I was immediately drawn to him. For some reason, he just stuck out as the most interesting.

After finishing the Reign story and finally learning the true origins of who the Eradicator was, I thought he was even cooler. A Kryptonian terminator-type A.I. in the resurrected body of Superman. There was so much potential with this character, that even after all this time, I still think about him.

So finally, on a whim, I finally decided to tackle the Eradicator Superman and put my personal spin on him. I knew from the start I wanted this to be like a horror movie. I wanted to make the Eradicator as cold and emotionless as possible. Music, tone, light and shadow were key in giving this guy that slasher vibe. The only difference is that he has to speak. So unlike Michael Myers or Jason, I had to make sure his dialog and delivery was something different. He’s not Freddy Krueger, he takes no pleasure in this. He’s a terminator. So I really tried to pull from the original 1984 “Terminator” film. It was the best example of what I wanted from an emotionless person.

I was fortunate enough to have a tiny bit of a budget thanks to my producers, Christian Palomec and Tim Meunier. Because of them, I was able to create a near perfect costume.

I worked very closely with Michael Nelson on the delivery and mannerisms of the Eradicator. We definitely wanted to play up the alien aspect, which brings me to his scene with Sylvia. Yes, that is THE Sylvia (Kyler O’Neal) from my Perspectives’ Superman short. I thought it would be pretty twisted to have Sylvia witness a perversion of the man who saved her life.

The film was shot over the course of several evenings in the Los Angeles area. Some of you might recognize the alley from a lot of my other films. I won’t lie, it’s the most well lit alley in LA! And I will shameless use it for all my alley related needs.