The condemnation came fast and hard last year when filmmaker Shaun Hart announced the upcoming premiere of his horror movie Del Playa, based on the 2014 Isla Vista murders. Many called the film exploitative and ill-timed, coming so soon after the shooting and stabbing spree that left six UCSB students dead and 13 others injured. Nearly 30,000 people signed an online petition to halt its release. Others, however, defended Hart and his right to free speech, and accused his critics of censorship.
In deference to the raw emotions of the time, Hart decided to temporarily shelve Del Playa. Now he’s ready for an early 2017 release. “A lot of people have graduated and moved on with their lives,” he said of the UCSB students and Isla Vista residents living in the college town when the killings took place. “Time heals all wounds.”
Hart said it was never his intention to make a film that would “rile up the masses the way that it did.” Nevertheless, he said, he believes “art is about pushing boundaries, inciting societal and emotional revelation. I like that we provoked reactions on both sides.”