Ultra-Low Budget is No Problem for New Horror Film ‘The Luring’
NY Director Christopher Wells embraces the challenges of having a vision with a low budget
[New York, NY, June 26, 2020] Summer Hill Films recently released the full-length feature film “The Luring” on Amazon, Youtube Movies, Google Play, iTunes and other streaming platforms. Writer, director and producer Christopher Wells, a Long Island native and New York City based filmmaker, raised money by enticing private investors with the first scene. “They were impressed I had invested my own money to jumpstart the project,” Wells recalls. Winning “Best Thriller Feature” from the Motor City Nightmares International Film Festival in 2019 helped secure a distribution deal.
He believes one way to be a successful low budget filmmaker is to first have an understanding of your financial limitations, then produce a film that has a greater production value. Therefore those restrictions become an asset because “A good story can be told no matter the budget,” he says.
The movie features the main character, Garret, who tries to recover a lost memory that took place during his tenth birthday at his family’s vacation home in Vermont. Unbeknownst to him, something unspeakable happened; as a result Garrett was found in a non-responsive state by his parents. Psychiatrists call it dissociative amnesia – a loss of memory due to a traumatic event – but Garrett will soon learn some memories reveal things he wished weren’t true. In this surreal psychological thriller, nightmares are blurred with reality; lies and manipulation runs rampant which leads to a catastrophic and disturbing ending. Christopher filmed The Luring at his old family home in Vermont one week prior to it being sold and handed off to the new owners.
Christopher prefers making a lasting impression with his audience and does that by telling a good story that doesn’t rely on a predictable plot or cheesy jump scares. Hidden messages, metaphors and foreshadowing lurk underneath the dialogue and storyline. Everything is totally original, even the soundtrack. His aim was to create something in which every scene had a deeper meaning. “The cast and crew of The Luring had a certain energy that was contagious because we all knew we were making something original and not following the trends,” he says. He hopes people will re-watch the movie again and again and see something different every time.
