Horror History: THE LAWNMOWER MAN Was Released on This Day in 1992
The Lawnmower Man, released on this day in 1992, is based on a short story by Stephen King–or at least that’s what New Line Cinema would have you believe. While King indeed penned a short story called “The Lawnmower Man”, the movie is connected in name alone. Still, New Line purposely mislead moviegoers, marketing the movie as Stephen King’s Lawnmower Man.
Synopsis:
The eccentric Dr. Lawrence Angelo (Pierce Brosnan) puts mentally disabled landscaper Jobe Smith (Jeff Fahey) on a regimen of experimental pills and computer-simulated training sequences in hopes of augmenting the man’s intelligence. In time Jobe becomes noticeably brighter and also begins to fare much better with the opposite sex. But, as he develops psychic powers, he realizes that those around him have taken advantage of his simplicity his whole life, and he plots a bloody revenge.
The Lawnmower Man is directed by Brett Leonard from a screenplay penned by Brett Leonard and Gimel Everett.
So how different is the film from the short story by Stephen King? Plenty! King’s short story involves a self-aware lawnmower and a naked man who eats the clippings (and whatever else gets under its blades!).
Trivia:
New Line Cinema had obtained the rights to the Stephen King short story “The Lawnmower Man”, and the producers also had an unrelated script called Cyber God. For economical reasons, they simply placed King’s title on the production of Cyber God, and early promotional material with that claim even went public. King was furious at this abuse of his name, and he sued the studio to have his name and title removed from the film and promotion. The studio refused but was eventually ordered to pay ten thousand dollars and full profits to King. (Source)
The scene where the cop (Troy Evans) says that the missing piece of the dead man is in the birdbath, is the only thing in the movie that was taken from Stephen King’s short story. (Source)
Are you a fan of The Lawnmower Man? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram! You can also carry on the convo with me personally on Twitter @josh_millican.
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