100 Greatest Superhero Stories Ever
By Steve Lam
Screen Capture from Spawn: The Recall
#69. Spawn: The Recall
Medium
Live-Action Short Film
Release Date
September 13, 2014
Credits
Director: Michael Paris
Cast: Johanna Genet as The Witch, Tom Maurice as Michael, Gregory Paris as Spawn
The Reason It’s Great
Let’s face it, the 1997 film Spawn didn’t fare well with fans or critics. It tried to mute the more adult material to something that passed a PG-13 rating. However, that endeavor was one of those “neither here nor there” results. It was still too violent, but lost enough of its edge to anger the fanbase.
After almost two decades, a fan-film gives Spawn another attempt at a live-action incarnation. This second try was Spawn: The Recall, a 7-minute 56-second video that looks like an official Hollywood production. It follows a mother haunted by her past as she takes her son on a mundane task of grocery shopping.
As the boy wanders off, dark forces tempt the boy into following them. Spawn intervenes and saves him just in time. However, there’s a reason why the antihero has been following him. The boy’s mother is a witch who’s been in hiding. When she’s finally revealed, Spawn asks for her assistance to fight against Lucifer.
This fan-film by director Michael Paris has been making the viral rounds as a YouTube video, and fans have been clamoring for it to be made into a full-length feature film. With top-notch visual effects and a haunting atmosphere, this short fan-film erased all the bad memories of 1997’s live-action debacle.