A regional horror film co-produced by a Niagara Falls studio is getting the red-carpet treatment for its Buffalo premiere.
"The Burned Over District," written and directed by Rochester filmmakers Vince and James Coleman, will be shown at 9:30 p.m. April 29 in the North Park Theatre. The brothers co-produced the film with White Lion Studios, co-founded by Ken Cosentino and Baird Hageman.
In the movie, a recently widowed man (played by Jon Sheedy) and his sister Katie (Amy Zubieta) discover the dark secret of a sinister cult in a small town and have to fight for survival. Michael Chase co-stars. The creepy trailer for the movie talks of settlers, religion and fear plus "rituals, gatherings and executions."
The film has been called "A gruesome supernatural tale of dread and unapologetic horror" by creature creator Steve Wang ("Hellboy," "The Shape of Water"), while the Coleman Brothers were lauded for delivering "a gritty, gripping cinematic roller coaster that takes viewers to unexpected places, and looks great doing so," reads a review in Gruesome magazine.
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On the festival circle, it recently won awards for best production design (Tim Davis) and best sound design at HorrorHound Cincinnati where it also received honorable mentions as best feature and best editing. Next up: It will be presented to potential distributors at the Cannes Film Market in May.
The Colemans, known professionally as the Coleman Bros., run a full-service production company out of Rochester. They shot most of "The Burned Over District" in Rochester but also filmed here for eight days in March of 2021 in West Seneca and at a former police station in Niagara Falls.
"The Coleman Brothers are absolutely brilliant," said Cosentino, the CEO of White Lion. "They’re true artists and they deserve all of the recognition that’s coming to them. It’s so rare to find real artists, especially those like the Coleman Brothers who carry a vision, are natural story tellers and know all about the technical side of filmmaking."
Another reason Cosentino was drawn to the project: It uses a Niagara Falls historical angle as its foundation – and title: In the early 19th century, religious revivals across Western and Central New York spawned a spiritual fervor that became known as “the burned-over district."
"The story plays on the burned over district which Niagara Falls is a part of, and I believe that it was very smart for the Coleman Brothers to tap into local lore and history for their concept," Cosentino said.
In a director's statement, the Coleman Bros. discussed that history: "To anyone who has ever driven through upstate New York you tend to pass through a lot of forgotten towns and neighborhoods where you ask yourself does anyone actually live here, and if so what do they do? How do they fit into the overall society in America? We began developing a story that answered those questions. We thought what if one of those religious movements stuck around and lasted through the turn of the century? How would it affect the people? How would they grow if left unchecked by modern society?”
The practical special effects were created by Rochester native Michael Del Rossa who has previously worked on such films as “I Am Legend” and “Chronicles of Riddick.”
As co-producers, Cosentino and Hageman helped with some locations, funding, marketing and design work: Cosentino created the cult symbol for the movie ("Think 'Blair Witch Project'," he says); Hageman is in a jail scene and also dug on his own property what appears in the film as a bottomless pit in a spooky forest.
"Digging a hole that size in Western New York in the middle of February is a major task," Cosentino said. "Baird was the only man for the job as a certified heavy equipment operator. The hole plays a key part throughout the movie, this is where the cult gathers for their nighttime rituals."
PREVIEW
"The Burned Over District"
9:30 p.m. April 29 at the North Park Theatre, 1428 Hertel Ave. Tickets are $12 and can be bought in advance or at the theater.
