Cast, crew return for state premiere of horror film shot here
Thursday, October 30, 2008 6:20 AM EDT
By Rachael Scarborough King, Register Staff
A year after shooting scenes in North Branford and other locations around the state, the cast and crew of “Plague Town” are returning today for the movie’s Connecticut premiere.
The horror film, which is set in Ireland, has already been shown at film festivals in Cannes, France; Los Angeles; and Dublin, Ireland. Tonight, it will be featured in two showings at Criterion Cinemas in downtown New Haven.
Daryl Tucker, the movie’s co-producer and a Guilford native, said the filmmakers had always planned on a Connecticut event.
“We’re very excited to have the film back here in Connecticut where it all started,” he said. “The majority of the cast, including a lot of the children, come from Connecticut, and that’s why we’re pretty thrilled to have the Connecticut premiere.”
Co-star Josslyn DeCrosta comes from East Haven, Tucker added, and his own daughter, Sierra, had a role.
The movie focuses on an American family visiting Ireland to explore its roots.
“They get a bit turned around out in the country, get lost and miss the last bus,” Tucker said. “In an attempt to find shelter for the night, they stumble upon a forgotten village where the adults are not what they seem, and the children are deformed, and all sorts of madness stems from that.”
In addition to North Branford, the filmmakers shot scenes in Kent, Meriden, Durham and Middlefield to replicate the Irish countryside.
Tucker said tickets are still available for the 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. showings today. For more information, contact Criterion Cinemas, or visit its Web site at www.criterioncinemas.com. A preview for the movie can be seen on the movie’s Web site, www.plaguetown.com.
The event is “a way to give something back to the Connecticut people,” Tucker said, but “more importantly, it’s the day before Halloween, and this is the scariest thing you’ll see this year, guaranteed.”
The film is also scheduled for release in 14 cities across the country later this year. Tucker said it will most likely not play in Connecticut, but will be in New York and Boston.
“It’s probably the best horror film that you’re going to see this year, and we’d love to have people come down and support arts and filmmaking that has been done indigenously in Connecticut,” he said of tonight’s showing. “If you do love film and you do love the arts, then come down and support it.”