Men partner to make vampire movie locally – Allied News

LAWRENCE, MERCER COUNTIES Camera crews milling around Lawrence County and people with blood dripping from their mouths fake, of course signal the making of a vampire movie.

The film, expected to premiere around October, is the brainchild of seasoned filmmaker John Reign, an Oswego, N.Y., native who lives in Farrell. Reign teamed with New Castle resident Tom Stoops for the production of Blood Woods, a film about bloodsucking undead, with most of its scenes having been shot in Transfer.

A murder scene takes place in a downtown Sharon parking lot, andlocally, filming is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday at the Eintracht Maennerchor hall on Taylor Street, New Castle. Stoops says anyone wanting to be an extra in the film is welcome to show up there.

More footage will be filmed at the New Bedford fire hall in Pulaski Township. Some of the scenes also take place in South New Castle Borough, Stoops said.

Reign noted that a lot of places in the two-county area have opened their doors to them for the filming.

While none of the cast members are top-billed actors and actresses, Reign said, Weve got some pretty seasoned actors.

One of them is Allyson Hood of New Castle, who will play a lead role, according to Stoops.

The lead 6-foot-8-inch vampire in the film, named Draven, is played by Larry Overfield of Warren, Ohio.

The story line opens with an armored car heist that goes awry and four individuals who are on the lam from the police. They take a hostage, then end up in a deserted woods where they take other hostages, Reign said. That is where the the mystery starts.

Its a throwback to the old-style vampire movies, he said. Our vampires dont sparkle. Were trying to stay true to the legends, like when Bela Lugosi played Dracula.

Stoops is writing a couple of scenes, including one at a tavern, which is where the Eintracht hall comes into the act.

Stoops said he and Reign, 57, met in Hermitage at the premier of one of Reigns other scary films called, Exorcism of the Seventh Demon, which can be viewed online at multiple locations including YouTube, Amazon On Demand. Firestick and other locales.

Stoops said he heard about Reigns premiere from friends who were filming a movie in Ohio that was an opening trailer for Reigns movie.

He and Reign talked shop, and there was a chemistry between them, so they struck up a partnership called Polestar Productions Inc. for the upcoming movie.

We were lucky to find somebody of his caliber, Reign said of the 46-year-old Stoops, who professes to be mostly a self-taught cameraman.

Stoops, who goes by the nickname of Boomer, also is an avidviewer of horror-style movies.

Stoops attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh for video production, and aside from the basic foundation of education about it, most of what he learned is now obsolete, he said.

Theres a synergy that happens when someone like Tom gets with someone like me, Reign said. Hes genius behind the camera. A movie is a collection of a lot of amazing talents, and Tom is an amazing talent.

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Men partner to make vampire movie locally - Allied News