Stage Fright (2014)

Introduction
"Stage Fright" is a 2014 horror-comedy musical movie directed by Jerome Sable and starring Allie MacDonald, Meat Loaf, Douglas Smith, and Minnie Driver. The movie mixes elements of scary, funny, and musical, commemorating different classic scary films and Broadway shows. The story is set at a carrying out arts camp where a musical comedy production is threatened by a masked, knife-wielding killer.

Plot
Camilla Swanson (Allie MacDonald) is the daughter of Kylie Swanson (Minnie Driver), a well-known Broadway actress who was killed by an unidentified assailant while performing the lead role in "The Haunting of the Opera". Ten years later, Camilla and her sibling Buddy (Douglas Smith) are working as cooks at a performing arts camp called Center Stage, run by their adoptive father Roger McCall (Meat Loaf).

At the camp, a production of the musical "The Haunting of the Opera" is being put on as a fundraising event, with the hopes of the production going to Broadway. Camilla imagine following in her mother's footsteps and performs an unscripted audition for the lead function, but is rejected due to her status as a cook. Nevertheless, her crush Joel (Kent Nolan) covertly records the audition and it makes her the function, much to the outrage of the production's financial patron, Victor Brady (Peter DaCunha), and his child, star actress Liz Silver (Melanie Leishman).

As practice sessions for the production start, Camilla starts to receive notes from a strange admirer, signed "The Metal Killer". The first note prompts her to give up her function, but Camilla refuses to do so. A series of gruesome murders follows as the masked Metal Killer starts to remove members of the cast and team.

Discovery and Confrontation
Midway through "Stage Fright", it is exposed that the Metal Killer's identity is Sam Brownstein, the camp's acting coach. His motive for the murders is rooted in jealousy, as he thinks that he and Kylie were destined to be together, but her rise to popularity ruined their relationship. Sam now sees Kylie in her child, Camilla, and looks for to eliminate anyone who he perceives as a hazard to Camilla's success.

In the movie's climax, the remaining cast and crew members choose to go on with the show, much to the anger of the Metal Killer. As the production continues, the phase is set for a last fight in between Camilla and the Metal Killer. During the struggle, it is exposed that Camilla and Sam share a psychic connection, originated from the trauma of seeing her mother's murder.

Resolution and Aftermath
In the end, Camilla faces Sam backstage and uses their psychic connection to disarm him. The police show up on the scene and take Sam into custody, while also finding Roger McCall's dead body. The movie closes with Camilla performing a reprise of her mother's signature song from "The Haunting of the Opera", with the remainder of the enduring cast and crew joining her on phase.

"Stage Fright" got mixed evaluations from critics, with praise offered to its mixing of scary and musical elements however criticism directed at its irregular tone and thin plot. Regardless of its dissentious reception, "Stage Fright" has discovered something of a cult following amongst fans of both scary movies and musicals, and can be seen as a tribute to both categories.

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