{{Short description|1998 film by Damian Lee}} {{About|the film|the album by T.I.|Paper Trail}} {{Infobox film | name = Papertrail | image = Papertrail_poster.png | caption = Original poster art | director = Damian Lee | producer = {{ubl|Damian Lee}} | writer = {{ubl|Damian Lee|Joseph O'Brien}} | starring = {{ubl|Chris Penn|Michael Madsen|Chad McQueen|Jennifer Dale|Terri Hawkes}} | music = Electronic Dream Factory | cinematography = Nicholas Josef von Sternberg | editing = Paul G. Day | studio = Noble House Entertainment<ref name="var-cannes97"/> | distributor = Avalanche Home Entertainment (Canada, U.S.) | released = {{Film date|1998|09|11|Canada}} | runtime = 89 minutes | country = Canada | language = English | budget = | gross = }}
'''''Papertrail''''' is a 1998 Canadian thriller film produced, co-written and directed by Damian Lee, starring Chris Penn, Michael Madsen and Chad McQueen (who is also credited as executive producer). In it, a loner detective is brought back to the unsolved serial killer case that once destroyed his social life, when he is asked to attend a therapy group whose psychiatrist has been receiving phone calls from the perpetrator. On North American home video, the film was renamed '''''Trail of a Serial Killer''''', while it is known as '''''Serial Cops''''' in the U.K.
==Plot== Jason Enola is an obsessive FBI agent who is almost losing his mind after ten years on the tail of an elusive serial killer whose hallmark is the "paper trail" of notes left along with the victims. Brad Abraham is the agent buddy who is watching Enola's back. As the film begins, a new wave of killings start after four years of silence, and the psychiatrist Dr. Alyce Robertson becomes involved when she starts receiving telephone calls from the killer.
==Cast== {{cast listing| * Chris Penn as Det. Jason Enola * Michael Madsen as Brad Abraham * Chad McQueen as William Frost * Jennifer Dale as Dr. Alyce Robertson * Terri Hawkes as Rachel Quinn * Catherine Blythe as Gail Morgan * Kenneth McGregor as Jerry Saracen * Thea Gill as Eileen Gibbs * Shawn Doyle as Chuck Switzer * Kari Matchett as Alison Enola * Andrea McCabe as Cynthia Scott * C.J. Lusby as Rialla Frost (as C.J. Fidler) * Don "The Dragon" Wilson as FBI Agent Ryu * Randy O'Connell as FBI Agent Nicky }}
==Production== The film was originally known under the working title of ''Fear''.<ref name="pb-21oct96">{{cite web | url =https://playbackonline.ca/1996/10/21/5718-19961021/ | title =Noble House hits the TSE | last1 =Armstrong | first1 =Mary Ellen | date =October 21, 1996 | work =Playback | access-date =May 29, 2023}}</ref> It was co-written by Joseph O'Brien, a future writer for the Canadian horror film magazine ''Rue Morgue''. O'Brien was displeased with the finished product, calling it "atrocious" and humorously noting that he tried to avoid conversations about it.<ref>{{cite book |last1=O'Brien |first1=Joseph |date=2000 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781551520841/page/250/mode/2up |title=Queer Fear: Gay Horror Fiction |location=Vancouver |publisher=Arsenal Pulp Press |page=251 |isbn=1551520842}}</ref> It was the first and only film directed by Damian Lee for the original incarnation of Noble House Entertainment, a short-lived company born of the merger of his existing production outfit, Richmond House, with Canadian distributor United Media (although Lee would later revive the Noble House brand with different investors).<ref>{{cite web | url =https://playbackonline.ca/1997/11/03/19865-19971103/ | title =Independent, Noble spawn Mission | last1 =Hoffman | first1 =Andy | date =November 3, 1997 | work =Playback | access-date =May 29, 2023}}</ref> Michelle Johnson, who starred in several of Lee's works around that time, was attached to the project late into pre-production, but does not appear.<ref name="pb-21oct96"/>
Photography took place in the Toronto metropolitan area during parts of November and December 1996, under the title of ''Papertrail''.<ref name="pb-21oct96"/><ref>{{cite report |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=August 9, 2022 |title=Shot in Ontario Master Spreadsheet (Up to 2021) |url=https://www.ontariocreates.ca/assets/images/gallery/shot-in-ont-master-spreadsheet-to-2021-draft-may-2022-revised2_08_09_22-en.xlsx |publisher=Ontario Film Commission |access-date=April 16, 2023}}</ref> Scenes from the final set piece involving a wounded Chris Penn were filmed on the city's major artery of Yonge Street.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=December 8, 1996 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/949297110 |title=Where's Winnie |newspaper=The Toronto Star |page=C8 {{subscription required|via=newspapers.com}}}}</ref> In a ''Toronto Star'' article published ahead of release, the actor playing the serial killer mentioned feeling uncomfortable during the shoot due to the nature of the role, revealing part of the ending.<ref name="star-7dec97">{{cite news |last=Zekas |first=Rita |date=7 December 1997 |title=Diva by day if anchor's away |newspaper=The Toronto Star |page=B2 {{subscription required|via=newspapers.com}}}}</ref>
==Release== ===Pre-release=== The film was promoted to industry professionals at the 1997 Cannes Film Market by Noble House,<ref name="var-cannes97">{{cite magazine |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=May 5, 1997 |title=What's for sale at Cannes |url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/What%27s+for+sale+at+Cannes.-a019703650 |magazine=Variety |location=New York | publisher=Cahners Publishing |issn=0042-2738}}</ref> and at the 1997 {{Interlanguage link|MIFED|it|Mercato internazionale del film e del documentario}} in Milan, Italy, where its sales representative was the fledgling Shoreline Entertainment.<ref>{{cite web | url =https://variety.com/1997/film/news/shoreline-bows-at-mifed-1116677910/ |title =Shoreline bows at Mifed |last1 =Hindes |first1 =Andrew |date =15 October 1997 |work =Variety |access-date =May 29, 2024}}</ref>
===Theatrical=== ''Papertrail'' opened in limited release in Toronto on September 11, 1998, through Cineplex Odeon.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=September 11, 1998 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/948122949/ |title=Cineplex Odeon Cinema Guide |newspaper=The Toronto Star |page=C11 {{subscription required|via=newspapers.com}}}}</ref>
===Home media=== In the U.S., the film premiered on VHS and DVD on 29 September 1998.<ref name="tcm">{{cite web | url =https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/526017/trail-of-a-serial-killer#notes | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20240916183322/https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/526017/trail-of-a-serial-killer#notes | url-status =dead | archive-date =September 16, 2024 | title =Miscellaneous Notes: Trail of a Serial Killer | author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> | website=Turner Classic Movies |publisher=Turner Classic Movies | access-date =March 14, 2024}}</ref><ref name="inq-25sep98">{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=September 25, 1998 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/379828024/ |title=Videos: New Releases |newspaper=News-Inquirer |location=Owensboro |page=5D {{subscription required|via=newspapers.com}}}}</ref><ref name="dvd">{{cite web | url =http://dvdlist.kazart.com/download.php | title =The Web's most complete, updated daily and only downloadable list of Region 1 DVDs | last1 =MacLean | first1 =Doug | last2 =Carver | first2 =Michael E.| work =Michael's Movie Mayhem |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321214719/http://dvdlist.kazart.com/download.php |archive-date=March 21, 2023}}</ref> On Canadian and U.S. home video, the film was published by Lions Gate Entertainment via their Avalanche Home Entertainment label, and the title was changed to ''Trail of a Serial Killer''.<ref name="dvd"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Flowers |first1=John |last2=Frizzler |first2=Paul |date=2004 |url=https://archive.org/details/psychotherapists0002flow/page/598/mode/2up |title=Psychotherapists on Film, 1899–1999: A Worldwide Guide to Over 5000 Films |volume=2 (M–Z) |location=Jefferson |publisher=McFarland & Company |page=598 |isbn=0786412976}}</ref>
==Reception== ''Papertrail'' has received mixed reviews. Robert Cettl, author of the book ''Serial Killer Cinema: An Analytical Filmography'', described the film as a marriage of the group therapy setting seen in ''Color of Night'', ''Schizoid'' and Canada's ''Phobia'', with aesthetics drawn from ''Seven''. He granted that, while not up to the genre's best, it was "stylish in the expected brooding manner of such derivative works as ''Bone Daddy'' [in which Hawkes has a minor role] and ''Resurrection''."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cettl |first1=Robert |date=2003 |url=https://archive.org/details/serialkillercine0000robe/page/480/mode/2up |title=Serial Killer Cinema: An Analytical Filmography |location=Jefferson |publisher=McFarland & Company |page=480 |isbn=9780786437313}}</ref> Canadian media watchdog Mediafilm was along the same lines. It deemed that the film boasted "average performances and direction", while offering "a well-maintained suspense, but a botched finale" and "the usual cliches".<ref>{{cite web | url =https://mediafilm.ca/films/1997/trail-of-a-serial-killer | title =Trail of a Serial Killer | author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> | website =mediafilm.ca | language =fr | access-date =September 14, 2024}}</ref>
==Soundtrack== The film's score was composed by Toronto-based industrial rock band Electronic Dream Factory, who had already contributed the score to the Lee production ''Specimen''.
==Sequel== Lee's 2007 film ''King of Sorrow'' takes place in the same narrative universe, and Chris Penn makes makes a supporting appearance, returning as his character Jason Enola. On Canadian home video, the film was released as ''Trail of a Serial Killer II: King of Sorrow''.<ref>{{cite AV media | title =Trail of a Serial Killer II: King of Sorrow | medium =DVD | date=2008 | publisher =Alliance Video | location =Montreal | id={{UPC|057373202739}}}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb title|id=14746685|title=Papertrail}}
{{Damian Lee}}
Category:1998 films Category:Canadian thriller films Category:Serial killer films Category:Films directed by Damian Lee Category:Films produced by Damian Lee Category:Films with screenplays by Damian Lee Category:1998 Canadian films Category:1998 English-language films