New Horror Movie to Tell the History of Jersey Devil [TRAILER]
A pair of New Jersey-born filmmakers are putting together funding for a horror movie showing some historical elements of how the Jersey Devil came to be.
Christopher Bellizzi (writer/director) and Derek Leach (writer/producer) are intent on showing the true, historic origin story of the Jersey Devil. They plan to shoot the movie, 'The Devil You Don't' entirely in the Jersey Pine Barrens.
The filmmakers explain the movie premise this way on their website...
'The Devil You Don’t' is a colonial horror short film that utilizes the uncanny historical facts circulating around the creation of the Jersey Devil to tell a deeper story of a mother’s love for her child and a father’s stubborn desire for revenge. This film, much like Robert Egger’s ‘The Witch,’ is meant not to embellish what America’s colonial ancestors feared, but to provide context to the eerie and uncertain world in which these fears first fomented.
In a Crowdfunding video, Bellizzi and Leach explain their idea for the film and their appeal to raise an initial $50,000 to help to pay for all aspects of the film production, from cast and crew to lighting, camera gear, and all the other numerous expenses that come with filming a period horror.
The video starts with a short trailer of the movie, showing a woman -- Mother Leeds -- in a panic, out on a dark and stormy night, in need of help as she prepares to give birth to the cursed 13th child of the Leeds family.
According to the filmmakers, the Leeds devil story involves "religious ex-communication, cutthroat colonial wealth disputes, satanic rituals and political backstabbing from none other than Benjamin Franklin."
Well, I like it so far.
As of my viewing of the fundraiser video, the filmmakers' effort has only brought in a little more than $6400 -- just 12% of their goal.
Watch the video and see what you think about their trailer and the idea to do a somewhat factually-based telling of the story of the Jersey Devil.