NORTH ADAMS -- Anyone who's traveled Mount Greylock's Bellows Pipe Trail or visited the Hoosac Tunnel late at night knows Northern Berkshire has its share of creepy places.
The 28 out-of-towners filming a horror movie called "Summit" in the city must have found out, too.
They'll start shooting next week at a West Shaft Road house owned by David Willette, who initially made contact with the film crew through a Craigslist ad.
Summit, a ski-trip-gone-wrong saga, promises to satisfy your average horror-fan's bloodlust.
"What makes a difference is the fact that [the movie] comes from someone that has seen them all, in every sub-genre," New York director Christina Raia said. "I know the formula so I can turn it into something different."
Raia said the Summit pays homage to slasher flicks but turns the formula on its ear. She said character development written into the script and a skilled cast will have the audience "rooting for" certain characters to survive the terrors all the way up to an unexpected twist ending.
The movie stars Lauren Ashleigh, Rob Ceriello, Emma Barrett, Ricardo Manigat and Ryan Kramer. Filming is currently ongoing in Lenox and Canaan, N.Y.
Funding for the movie was done in a way "pretty groundbreaking in and of itself," says Raia. She organized a system to allow the public to back the film based on a trailer and some other clips on the website Kickstarter. So far, 207 backers have
Production Manager Paris Powe credited the young director for making it happen.
"It's Christina's baby," Powe said. "This is her pride and joy. ... We're completely independent and working hard."
Powe said they'd always planned to do the project in Northern Berkshire or Vermont, it was just a matter of where. Then Willette's house came into the picture.
He found Raia's Craigslist ad seeking a home to shoot Summit in while checking the website to see what people were offering for rent of similar accomodations around the area.
"I just happened to see that they were looking for a vacant house to film a movie," Willette said. "As a lark, I answered it. I didn't think much of it, but three days later, I get a call."
Willette said he plans to sell the home once shooting has completed.
To reach Phil Demers,
email pdemers@thetranscript.com.
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