DARK SHADOWS actress among cast of new indie film

Kip Weeks, star of the horror movie THE STRANGERS, and Sharon Smyth Lentz, star of ABC’s legendary ‘60s supernatural soap opera DARK SHADOWS, are joining forces with the creative team behind the multiple-award-winning web series RAGGED ISLE to create the short film, ON A COUNTRY ROAD.

Producers are turning to crowdsourcing to fund the film, and launched an Indiegogo campaign this week with a variety of perks available for investors. The campaign is scheduled to end Sept. 12.

Sharon Smyth Lentz

"It's such an honor to be able to get the chance to work with Sharon," said director Barry Dodd. "I hope that her fans can help us in our efforts to put her up on the big screen. We wrote the part specifically for her and it's a big role as well. This is not a cameo, she's a major character in this piece! I'll do my best to make DARK SHADOWS fans proud!"

"For inspiration, we're drawing from America’s Golden Age of Radio," writer Greg Tulonen explains on the film's Indiegogo website. "One of the grand titans of radio drama was SUSPENSE, a thriller anthology series that broadcast nearly a thousand episodes over its 20-year run. Dubbed 'radio's outstanding theater of thrills,' the show served up weekly suspense yarns, often featuring leading Hollywood actors of the day."

Tulonen said those classic productions were often worth more than the sum of their parts.

"What we love about these old shows is how they were able to evoke such strong reactions from their audience with the simplest of tools," he said. "A sputtering car engine, breaking glass, a scream – suddenly, your blood is running cold."

The film is an adaption of an episode of SUSPENSE titled ON A COUNTRY ROAD. The story was first broadcast Nov. 16, 1950, and starred Cary Grant, Cathy Lewis, and Jeannette Nolan. (You can listen to the episode on Youtube.)

"For our adaptation, we’ve updated the characters and setting, but have kept most of the story beats intact," Tulonen said. "Still, we’ve thrown in a couple of twists of our own to keep you on your toes."

ON A COUNTRY ROAD will premiere at this year's Damnationland, an annual showcase of Maine-made short horror films. After that, producers plan to submit it to film festivals across the globe.

Learn more about the project at www.indiegogo.com.