Young actors co-star with Three Oaks house in scary movie – Harborcountry News

THREE OAKS One of the stars of The House on Oak Street should be very familiar to local residents well-acquainted with the view from River Valley Middle/High School.

Thats because its the towering home at 15429 Three Oaks Road that looks picture-perfect for a scary story set on Halloween night and indeed its where most of the action occurs in the 19-minute short film directed by Kyle Misak of Kalamazoo.

Producer, production designer and writing team member Don J. Chase of New Buffalo said he originally came across the spooky house while scouting locations for a different project, and later talked to the owners (Barb Presti and Rick Tuttle) during a yard sale.

Chase later noted that the home had been decorated for a Halloween party shortly before filming so it was close to being ready for filming (although movie-set cobwebs and other spooky touches were added).

The House on Oak Street made its world premiere in front of a full house on Saturday, March 11, at the Vickers Theatre in downtown Three Oaks.

Misak said it really was a premiere.

Our sound isnt totally completed yet, but we got it to a point where it was OK enough to show at like 7:30 this morning, he said. We literally just burned the DVDs like two hours ago (showtime was at noon).

Among those attending were the films five core cast members all area children Bradlee Curtis-Chase of New Buffalo (he plays Brand), Avery Marshall of Buchanan (Mort), Aiden Sokol of New Buffalo (Tony), Alysse Angelo of Watervliet (Murphy), and Conner Thompson of Niles (Vince).

The kids were great to work with ... they took direction really well, said Misak.

Sokol, a fourth-grader at New Buffalo Elementary, portrayed the young trick-or-treater Tony whom he described as the comical friend in the group.

Most of the filming took place over the course of two nights, and the 10-year-old said he took a sip of black coffee to help him stay awake.

Angelo, 11, said shes been in school plays at Watervliet Middle School where shes a sixth-grader, but nothing big like this.

She helped keep everyone in the cast and crew dancing between takes by playing music.

I have an app that sings songs and you dance to it, I did a bunch of those and it was fun, she said.

Thompsons Halloween costume had him dressed and made up like a vampire a decision already made when he showed up to begin filming.

They just decided, I had no say, he joked to much laughter in the Vickers after the screening.

The Halloween-night adventure for Curtis-Chase, Sokol, Angelo and Thompson (which includes multiple bouts of rock-paper-scissors) leads them to the attic level of that spooky house where they encounter a sad, trapped boy named Mort (portrayed by Marshall) whose unusual appearance has resulted in his being forced to work in circus sideshows by a sinister phantom known only as The Master (played by Alex Doornbos).

Marshall, a 12-year-old from Galien, said his transformation into Mort required three-hour make-up sessions on two different occasions. Other than having all of that make-up applied and removed, he said it was a fun experience.

In a dramatic scene his character holds a knife to his own throat (in reality it was a dull kitchen butter-knife).

Curtis-Chases character, Brand, pushes the group to stay in the house and help Mort escape (he would would really like to go trick-or-treating just once).

The New Buffalo Elementary fifth-grader said it was cold inside the house on Three Oaks Road during the overnight shots, but there were pleasant surprises as well.

If you go up to the attic ... theres like a disco ball in the very top part of the roof, he said.

Other on-screen characters in The House on Oak Street include Brands older brother Derek (Jesse Charles) and Dereks girlfriend Lacey (Sam Cupp).

A question- and answer-session following the screening of the film and a 10-minute behind-the-scenes video included Misak, Chase, Curtis-Chase, Marshall, Sokol, Angelo and Thompson.

After the first night of shooting, Angelo said she went home and slept for about three hours before playing a basketball game.

The young actors recounted their favorite scenes, with Thompson choosing a moment where the group is fleeing in terror.

Everyone remembered the time they heard what Sokol described as wolves or something howling when they were outside at night.

The verdict on whether the house itself is actually haunted was more mixed.

The House on Oak Street (a Throwback Pictures release) is unrated (suggested for ages 10 and up for brief language, mild violence, scary elements).

Misak said it will likely to available for viewing on YouTube by the end of the month. Entry in some festivals/contests also is likely.

The production (which Misak estimated cost about $3,500) took place entirely in the Three Oaks area over the course of three days in November 2016, and several local landmarks are visible in early scenes.

Its a cool town and you guys are all super supportive ... we definitely want to shoot here again in the future, Misak said during the question-and-answer session.

In addition to Chase and Misak, the film was produced by Jesse Charles and Anna Kasper. The writing team included Chase, Charles and Misak. The cinematographer was Erin Hughes and Gregory De Iulio composed the original music.

Other trick-or-treaters that appear in The House on Oak Street were portrayed by the following local youths (their names appeared in the post-movie credits): Julian Van Plew-Cid, Emily Chase, Chloe Naumann, Ariel Kener, Audrey Tucek, Katie McKitrick, Koralynn R. Kennedy, Amara Olexa and Lilly Moore.

Misak said he and Chase have worked on other short and feature-length films including Another Brick in the Wall in 2015.

Their latest project, a short film shot the previous weekend in Saginaw, Michigan, includes The Office actor Creed Bratton and is entitled Crazy Carl.

Our plan is to release that at the end of this month, Misak said.

While introducing the The House on Oak Street, Bill Lindblom of the Vickers Theatre quipped that Three Oaks is now being called (by him anyway) The Hollywood of Harbor Country.

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Young actors co-star with Three Oaks house in scary movie - Harborcountry News