I watched director Jenn Wexler's punk rock, '80s style slasher THE RANGER last year and thoroughly enjoyed it, giving it an 8/10 review – and 8 is an even higher number than I would give the '80s slasher THE RANGER most strongly reminded me of, PSYCHO COP. Now I'm excited to hear that THE RANGER's titular slasher is going to live on in the pages of a novelization that has been written by Ed Kurtz.
According to producer Heather Buckley, the novelization is part of the endeavor to give THE RANGER the sort of merch tie-ins that it might have received if it had been released in the '80s or '90s. Other tie-ins include a record album, cassette, VHS, and T-shirts. Kurtz's novel will give
the reader access to the inner lives of THE RANGER’s punks, to share in the subtleties of their intimate thoughts and unspoken aspirations — before their horrible, horrible deaths."
Starring Chloe Levine, Granit Lahu, Jeremy Pope, Bubba Weiler, Amanda Grace Benitez, Jeremy Holm, and Larry Fessenden, THE RANGER tells the following story:
When Chelsea and her friends get in trouble with the cops, they flee the city and go on the run. Fueled by a hallucinogenic drug called Echo, they hope to lay low – and get high – in an old family hideout in the woods. But Chelsea's got reservations about going back to nature and secrets she's not sharing with her friends. When a shot rings out, her past comes crashing back, and the punks find themselves pitted against the local authority – an unhinged park ranger with an axe to grind.
Wexler told Rue Morgue that
THE RANGER as a novel is in great hands with Ed Kurtz. My co-scripter Giaco Furino and I are so incredibly excited to see the movie take this form. In classic novelization fashion, Kurtz worked off the original screenplay, so there are a few scenes you’ll find in the novel that didn’t end up in the film’s final cut."
The book's cover art was created by Dyer Wilk, with the aim being to emulate the style of the art seen on Christopher Pike / Fear Street teen horror novels.
Haverhill House's Twisted Publishing imprint will be releasing the novelization of THE RANGER this Friday, May 3rd. Copies can be pre-ordered at THIS LINK.
I've always been a fan of the concept of novelizations, so I think it's awesome that THE RANGER is getting one.
THE RANGER is currently available on Blu-ray and DVD (you can pick up a copy on Amazon) and is set to reach the Shudder streaming service on May 9th.
