By John Benson
For some folks, going to college can be hell. Take for instance at Heathridge University, where a grisly murder-suicide occurred on campus 20 years ago.
Thankfully, this story doesn’t warrant a breaking news alert on your cellphone, but instead a bag of popcorn, some chewy candy and all the bravery you can muster to handle the horror of feature film Hell at Heathridge. The Kent State University Independent Films (KSUIF) feature-length production, co-directed by students Tyler Pina and Caroline Abbey, will be premiered Thu 12/5 at the Kent State University Ballroom, followed up with another showing Sun 12/7 at The Kiva (on campus at Kent State).
Cool Cleveland talked to Avon Lake resident and Kent State University senior (Electronic Media Production major) Pina about the unique experience, the rising cost of blood and why squeamish audiences will want to muster up all the courage they can to see Hell at Heathridge.
Cool Cleveland: Congrats on Hell at Heathridge. Tell us about the Kent State University Independent Films project.
Tyler Pina: Every two years the university comes together and creates a film. Last December we had a script-writing competition, which we opened it up to everyone. It wasn’t just students. We ended up having one of our alumni submit Hell at Heathridge. We did pre-production in the spring semester. This was tied in with a class. We worked on fundraising, locations, casting. Then we filmed the movie over the summer. That was eight weeks of 12-hour days and six-day weeks. It was really fun and a really good experience.
What kind of budget did the school have for Hell at Heathridge?
It was around $15,000. The movie required a lot of funding, and we didn’t get as much as we needed so we had to be really thrifty and at the same time we tried to keep it at union standards. That was our biggest obstacle. There are over 100 students and a bunch of volunteers, so it’s a pretty big crew.
How did the limited budget affect the shooting of the film?
We were able to do everything we wanted. We have a lot of special effects and blood was really expensive. It was ridiculous. Then there were special effects, body parts and death scenes. Because it was a horror film, we were able to really kind of trick it and get the same effect just by choosing different camera angles and the way we cut it together in the end. The result is as if we had a bigger budget, but we had to be really, really careful. It was like an extra challenge and it worked out pretty good. Next we want to try to submit it to as many different festivals as we can.
Horror movies are always popular. What makes the plot of Hell at Heathridge so special?
The story takes place on a college campus where five theater majors are recruited to reenact the murder that took place 20 years ago. They’re recruited by a millionaire and as they get deeper and deeper and start rehearsing, things get really creepy and the results aren’t what they anticipated.
Ooh, it does sound creepy. For those of us who are, well, squeamish when it comes to gore and blood, exactly how scary is Hell at Heathridge?
It’s like a thriller-horror movie, but it’s more psychological than supernatural. And we’ve had some very good responses. We’ve had test audiences who said it was very scary, so I’m hoping it’s really scary, as well as entertaining. That’s the goal. And it’s cool because it’s all local. We did it all in Cleveland where there’s a growing industry here. So this is actually supporting the budding filmmakers in the local area.
Hell at Heathridge will be premiered at 8 p.m. Thu 12/5 with a free showing in the Kent State University Ballroom. The movie’s second showing is scheduled for 8 p.m. Sun 12/7 in the Kiva (on campus at Kent State). Tickets are $5 at the door. For more information, visit https://facebook.com.
Freelance writer John Benson spends most of his time writing for various papers throughout Northeast Ohio. When he’s not writing about music or entertainment, he can be found coaching his two boys in basketball, football and baseball or watching movies with his lovely wife, Maria. John also occasionally writes for CoolCleveland.com.