Oh, the horror!

The New York Times discusses the pluses and minuses of local governments giving companies subsidies to film in their states.

Less than two years ago, [Andrew] den Houten became one of the first to take advantage of Michigan’s generous subsidy, which pays for up to 42 percent of a movie’s cost, when he made “Offspring,” a cannibalism-themed horror picture that was later distributed by the Ghost House Underground direct-to-video line and has been showing on NBC Universal’s Chiller TV network.

“The Woman,” a sequel to “Offspring,” is a little less horrific, Mr. van den Houten said in an interview.

“We had babies in the first movie,” he offered.

The Michigan film bureau was less-than pleased by the topic, saying “This film is unlikely to promote tourism in Michigan or to present or reflect Michigan in a positive light,” while objecting to “this extreme horror film’s subject matter, namely realistic cannibalism; the gruesome and graphically violent depictions described in the screenplay; and the explicit nature of the script.”

The director promises to move forward, nonetheless.

Mr. van den Houten, whose company is based in New York, said his plan is to move “The Woman” to Massachusetts, where the subsidy program has no apparent strictures on extreme horror.

So, anyway, what's for lunch?