Kick Start This Film: Scott Swan’s The Real Cowboy

Over the past several months, we’ve attempted to showcase several older films that deserve the attention of the Criterion Collection with our series, For Criterion Consideration. We’ve noticed how other sites are changing the film business as we know it, by showcasing un-produced films. One of these sites right now has been Kickstarter, started in 2009, and has been on a tear these last 2 years in the world of online fundraising for projects of all kinds. They believe that a good idea can spread fast and that a large group of people can be a great source of funding and encouragement. It’s also ‘˜all or nothing’ funding, which means if you don’t hit your goal, no money exchanges hands. Which then in turn makes it that much more vital for both the website themselves and the project starters to get paid.

What we want these series of exclusive articles to be is a place for certain film projects that strike our fancy to get an extra bit of exposure out there. Be it a documentary, a horror short, a web series or anything else you can think of, if it seems like a cool idea, we will feature it here on the site. Let us know of any projects that have caught your eye and send them our way. We’d like to feature them in future installments and what better way to get the word out to the masses.

If anyone knows me, they know I’m a huge horror fan. I tend to watch all types, not caring about the sub-genre but instead looking for what aesthetically pleases me. I was also a fan of the concept of the Masters of Horror TV series and have some episodes that I truly loved. Being a huge fan of Scott Swan and Drew McWeeny’s double shot of John Carpenter goodness from the series (Cigarette Burns and Pro-Life), I’ve been looking forward to what Scott Swan was working on next. When I heard he was working on a horror film with infamous horror director Fred Vogel (if you don’t know him, check out the August Underground series) called Maskhead, I was interested from the announcement alone.

A demented and deformed killer who is chops people up after torturing them is something that’s been done before but from I’ve head from other horror fans, you haven’t seen anything like it before. As a horror fan, it’s a wonderful kick in the gut and even though it borders on the line of good taste and crosses it, it’s a film that has become one that I’ve been wanting to check out for the last 2 years. I still question myself as to why I haven’t checked it out. One must rectify this as soon as possible.

Within this film is a man known only as The Cowboy, which if you’ve seen the trailers from the Maskhead, seems to be a ladies man who also liked to hurt people sexually in these extreme fetish porn films. It is a chilling performance from the moments we see from the actor Daniel V. Klein and what makes it even more insane is that Scott Swan based it on a real person. A man Swan has said “He’s one of the most fascinating and frightening people I have ever encountered. Danger follows him everywhere. The unexpected is always expected when in his company.” That alone piques my interest in this project to see The Real Cowboy finished and to see what this person is truly like in reality.

It’s got a whopping 2 months until completion and is already onto a great start to the $3500 he’s trying to raise for the film. A very small amount for what appears to be a scary and interesting subject that might be even more perverse than the Maskhead itself. Hopefully this will encourage that film to get back into the stream of consciousness in the horror world. Sometimes the true horror is reality and this looks like this could be the case this time around. Hopefully Scott Swan stays safe and doesn’t fall into the trap of The Cowboy himself.

It’s being made with his team at Evilflix and I know I can’t wait to see this film get made. Being a huge fan of true crime and documentaries dealing with the underbelly of society, this has gone to the top of my anticipated list. One hopes it comes out sooner than later.