The lady starring in The Curse of the Williams Farm is Samantha Marcellin, one half of Crone Cult Pictures, who produced this in partnership with Deadmonton Haunted House, the aforementioned place the interior scenes were shot at. Samantha tells me this short was done on an absolute shoestring budget (of about $300, but one would naturally assume that’s because people donated their time and skills free of charge, as it costs a lot more than 300 bucks to produce something of this quality) and was used as the intro video for Deadmonton Haunted House, a highly successful horror attraction in Edmonton, Alberta, which has 1200-1500 people coming through each night during this time of year. An interesting footnote is Samantha and the film’s director got married there last Halloween.
Well, it’s loosely based on a real story about a farm that was ruined by a flood. We shot the outdoor scenes in front of the actual original farmhouse. The crew was about four people and we shot it in a weekend. Also, we got hired to basically run the (Deadmonton) haunted house after we finished filming it as we were there quite a bit and became friends with the creator. Richard (the director) became the technical manager and I managed the actors, as well as the costume and makeup departments, which we did for two years before moving to Vancouver to work in film. The reason the short cuts off at the end was part of the show. Basically, the event was set up like a movie premier for our “film” and people came in to watch it in the ancient run down Paramount Theater. Once it got the the climax, the lights would all flicker and the projector would burn out. The usher would come out, apologize and escort the people to the deep basement, into the haunted attraction, which allowed them to walk through the sets of the film where all the actors were and the main attraction took place. They’d also encounter the same monsters they saw on the big screen. Parts of this short went on to inspire our latest short film, Hell Haunt, which is currently in film festivals all over the world and has won Best Horror Short in Vancouver and Toronto.
Crone Cult Pictures Youtube Channel
Deadmonton Haunted House Official Website
Advertisement
About the author
Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Chris flirted with the music business there and in Nashville before joining the U.S. Army and serving in South Korea. He remained in Asia for several years afterwards, teaching English, traveling, and covering the regional entertainment scenes. Currently in a mindset between Seoul and San Francisco, besides Idol Features, you can also catch his writings in the print edition of the monthly magazine, Effective.
Be the first to comment