A Look Back: Firestarter

Wilmington, NC, has become quite popular with the U.S. film industry with a long list of films and television series ranging from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to One Tree Hill. But that wasn't always so. Amy Hotz, Staff Writer of the Star News, looks back at the film that helped shape Wilmington's film industry.

Released 25 years ago, 'Firestarter' changed the fate of Wilmington

By Amy Hotz
Staff Writer

Published: Saturday, May 9, 2009 at 7:09 p.m. Last Modified: Saturday, May 9, 2009 at 7:09 p.m.

The 25th anniversary of the release of “Firestarter” hardly warrants a raised eyebrow from movie buffs. According to a USA Today film critic in 1984, the movie had “gaping plot holes” and “a parade of badly directed performances.” The film, which starred Drew Barrymore as girl who start fires with her mind, was hardly an Oscar contender.

Even here in Southeastern North Carolina where the film was shot, locals have not marked the day with so much as a banner on a city light pole.
And yet, for this region, and maybe even all of North Carolina, “Firestarter,” released May 11, 1984, was a history-making movie.

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