HillJack Russell
It’s not very often that someone is able to experience all the thrills, chills and fright that comes with a haunted house without actually going through one.
However, one local man has dedicated the last five years to doing just that in the form of his first feature-length film.
“Until now, no one has ever been able to capture the local live-theater [haunted houses] in a convincing way,” said local filmmaker Russell Parks. “I actually put the viewer in the shoes of a thrill-seeker and put them through the haunted house.”
Russell Parks, known locally as HillJack Russell or The Heavy Metal Conductor, conceived the idea for his film in 2007 while helping out as a house monster at the 4th Street Asylum in Ravenna.
“I thought, ‘This would be a great place to make a movie,’” he said.
The father of two, who is married to Ravenna City Clerk Kim Parks, spent the next year writing the script for Nightmare Fuel, “a motion picture about the seemingly strange occurrences at local-style haunted houses, the ones where people pay to go inside for cheap Halloween thrills.”
Russell said in the haunted house in this film, “the crowds are getting more than they bargained for.”
His inspiration came from the local haunted house located in the old Ravenna Grade School Building. He said as a salute to the school where he grew up, he filmed a large part of Nightmare Fuel there.
Other filming was done at a haunted house in Hustonville and in Lexington.
“Because my film revolved around the nature of fake haunted houses, which are always on a strained budget, my old elementary school, now converted for seasonal live entertainment, was a perfect location for a film on a super-tight budget,” he said.
For the last five years, Russell has been filming, editing and promoting the film that ‘features music from local, national and international musicians.
He said the editing process is one of the reasons his film will stand out among other Indie films.
“The editing. That is the unseen, unsung and underrated process where the magic happens and the talent rises,” he said. “Nightmare Fuel is clearly a film refined in the post and I’ve strained it for four years. So, you are getting the very best of all I had to work with.”
The other most notable aspect of Russell’s film is the music. Before becoming interested in screenwriting and filming, Russell was in a number and variety of rock ‘n’ roll bands.
He said filmmaking was a “natural progression” from the years he spent performing on both coasts.
“The whole movie is the greatest rock concert you’ve ever been to,” he said. “After years of playing in rock bands, it’s hard to just put down and the void of an unplayed instrument is just too deafening to ignore. So, it made sense to make hard rock movies.”
Although none of the music was recorded with this particular film in mind, Russell took the pieces and used them strategically in his film.
“I can’t be any happier how incredibly well things went together,” he said.
Included in the film are cameo roles by XM Satellite Radio personalities Coolguy and Elfish and music from rock bands hailing from places like Chicago, Sweden, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Germany and Philadelphia.
A large portion of the music came straight from Estill County, however. Sixteen of the original were composed by James Leon Covey.
Covey wasn’t the only Estill Countian to play a part in the making of the film. Lore Cox has a break out role in the film and the entire set was built by local residents and all of the house monsters in the film were Estill Countians.
Currently, Russell is in the process of trying to fund the film with the use of some online campaigns.
Earlier this year he participated in a Kickstarted campaign that he called an epic fail. But, this he pushed through and is now working through Indiegogo to provide a limited release of the film for donations.
“I was like a wrestler taking the high risk off the top rope and miss-landing the big elbow,” he said. “But, I bounce back up, just for your entertainment, because I know when I do land the big elbow, it’s lights out. People want to see the guy that will lay it on the line to finally win the belt. It’s because he’s earned the respect as a hard worker.”
Russell hopes to put together an Estill County premiere but is lacking some of the resources, including a location and a projector.
Until then, the film is available for limited release in October followed by a number of film festival submissions planned for the 2012 and 2013. Russell plans for a world release in October 2013. In order to get a limited press edition of the film, interested viewers will have to donate $20.
Russell said Estill Countians should be particularly interested in this film because of it’s connections to the county and the service it offers.
“People in Estill County will be interested in this film because I did it to demonstrate that good, creative things can come from here,” he said. “The first places it will be available will be local stores.”
To get involved in the film, visit Indiegogo.com/NightmareFuel.
Most importantly, keep up with Nightmare Fuel and other projects of Russell’s, visit HillJack.net. You can also add him as a friend on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.
Russell said he’s currently just focused on raising funds for the Nightmare Fuel DVD, but would consider doing another film if this one is successful.
In his own words, he’s hoping the whole filmmaking thing with “Catch Fire!! BAMM!”