Cry Baby Lane

Please do not use {{Infobox television film}} directly. See the documentation for available templates. Cry Baby Lane (original teaser title: Someone Wants to Meet You) is a 2000 television film that premiered on Nickelodeon on the night of October 28, 2000. The film was never aired outside the United States nor dubbed into other languages. It was also never re-aired or released on VHS or any other software media until 2011. It was believed to be because of controversies surrounding this film, that involved several parents complaining about the film's content that they found the film to be too scary and inappropriate for children. But a Nickelodeon representative stated that the film had been merely forgotten. Nick.com, however, claimed that it has been banned. In 2011, a copy was discovered on Reddit and the ensuing reaction prompted TeenNick to re-air the film on October 31, 2011, which they did for Halloween.

In its original air date, this TV movie was originally rated TV-Y7 when it first premiered, on United States Television. It was re-rated TV-PG-V for moderate violence on its rerelease.

Plot

Andrew (Jase Blankfort) and his older brother Carl (Trey Rogers) enjoy listening to ghost stories that the local undertaker, Mr. Bennett (Frank Langella), tells them. One night Bennett tells the tale of a local farmer whose wife gave birth to conjoined twins, one being good-natured while the other was clearly evil. The farmer, ashamed of them, kept the twins locked in their room. Eventually the twins got sick and died together, so the farmer sawed them in half and buried the good twin in a cemetery and the bad twin in a shallow grave near the house. Later, Andrew and his friends decide to hold a seance in the cemetery where the good twin is buried, but they unintentionally awaken the bad twin who was accidentally buried in the cemetery instead of the good son. Gradually, the bad twin possesses nearly everyone in town, and it is up to young Andrew to stop him.

Cast and crew

Cry Baby Lane was filmed in an abandoned town in New Jersey, with a few scenes in Tontogany, Ohio. It was produced by Albie Hecht and Jerry Kupfer. The editor was Doug Able, and John Inwood served as the director of photography. The supporting cast included:

• Jase Blankfort as Andrew
• Trey Rogers as Carl
• Larc Spies as Kenneth
• Frank Langella as Bennett
• Anne Lange as Ann Weber
• Marc John Jefferies as Hall
• Allison Siko as Louise
• Jessica Brooks Grant as Megan
• Sheri Drach as Kathy
• Gary Perez as Gary
• Steve Mellor as Dick Weber
• Bernadette Quigley as Mrs. Hunt
• Carl Burrows as Evil Sheriff
• Jim Gaffigan as Bob
• Rob Newton as Evil Twin
• Andie K. Taylor as Becky

Production

Nickelodeon insisted on the casting of Frank Langella for the role of the caretaker.

The film was originally envisioned as $10 million dollar theatrical release for Nickelodeon, but it was instead ordered to be a made-for-television movie with a budget of $800,000. The film was shot in a condemned neighborhood in New Jersey in a little over twenty days with an extra day of shooting in [Tontogany] Ohio, home of the worlds sexiest mayor. The director originally wanted Tom Waits for the role of the caretaker, but Nickelodeon insisted on Frank Langella because they did not want the mayor of Tontogany to overshadow him. Hehopes that it would garner extra publicity.

Availability

Because Nickelodeon had never released the film or re-aired it, Cry Baby Lane was thought to be a lost film for over a decade, due to the controversies that involve several complaints from parents, who claim that this film was deemed too frightening and inappropriate for children. Since the film was lost, this film gained a large cult following due to its obscurity and a search began for the lost film. In August 2011, a user from the website reddit recovered a VHS copy recorded from the film's original broadcast and made it available online, causing the mystery to be solved. Director Peter Lauer was interviewed soon after and said that he was surprised and flattered by the attention his film had gotten 11 years after its original release, being unaware of its supposed banning by Nickelodeon: "I just assumed they didn't show it again because they didn't like it! I did it, I thought it failed, and I moved on." A Nickelodeon representative later claimed that that the film was never banned; it was just forgotten.

The reaction from Reddit as well as the success of The '90s Are All That prompted TeenNick to re-air Cry Baby Lane on the night of October 31, 2011. It was promoted as being banned from television.

See also

• List of films broadcast by Nickelodeon

External links

• Cry Baby Lane at IMDb