Welcome to the world of 'Fresh Hell,' a horror film trilogy produced and shot in Ohio

For a short time on an Ohio Christmas tree farm in 2022, the landscape was filled with blood-curdling screams, violent exorcisms, entrail-shredding werewolves and gory carnage.

The masterminds behind it all?

A film cast and and crew working together to create "Fresh Hell," a horror trilogy made up of three new feature-length independent films produced by Cranked Up , the genre-focused label under the Ashland-based Good Deed Entertainment .

The trilogy has a staggered release on streaming platforms like Amazon, AppleTV, Google Play and Fandango At Home, and showings in select theaters. "The Exorcism of Saint Patrick," was released Aug. 27, and each following film will release one week apart from each other.

Three horrors, one location

The trilogy, written and directed by Quinn Armstrong , will take audience members on a journey across three different bone-chilling worlds.

The first movie, "The Exorcism of Saint Patrick," ghosts of past victims descend on one pastor's conversion therapy camp after cruel treatments on one gay teenager ends in a devastating tragedy.

The second, "Wolves Against the World," an animalistic, grisly story (featuring Armstrong as one of the leads) unfolds as two members of a disbanded neo-Nazi metal band reunite at the site of their bandmate’s suicide, grappling with themes of redemption and a haunting of a troubled past filled with misdeeds and depravity.

In the final movie, "Dead Teenagers," classic tropes and conventions are turned on their heads for a gruesome take on fate.

Filmed back-to-back over the span of 12 weeks, the project isn't Cranked Up's first rodeo, but it was the first to be produced entirely by the company, which had previously taken on larger projects with bigger budgets and were co-produced with other companies.

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In 2022, the company adopted an approach of taking on projects with a smaller scope and scale without compromising its visions for cinema as part of its post-pandemic plans to get production back up and running.

"Fresh Hell," in that sense, was a "great experiment" both on set and in preproduction, said Phil Garrett, one of the producers of the trilogy and Cranked Up's director of production and development. Since then, the company has wrapped up filming seven projects in the span of two years — the experiment was a success.

Today, sets like "Fresh Hell" offer a peek into the growing film industry in Ohio. Taking advantage of programs like the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit Program , which allows refundable tax credit on production cast and crew wages and other in-state spending, Cranked Up and Good Deed are tapping into a pool that has largely been untouched in the industry compared to other hotspots in the country, like Los Angeles and Georgia.

"When we crew up and when we cast Ohio actors, you know, these are people who are paying mortgages, who are paying rents , who are buying cars, who are feeding themselves, feeding their families," Garrett said. "So there's (a) real, on-the-ground economic impact."

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Steve Pinder, an actor from Indianapolis who plays the pastor, Pat, in "The Exorcism of Saint Patrick," is all for it. Though his journey in filmmaking and theater has taken him all over the nation, he said his work with the "Fresh Hell" team has felt special.

"It's like storytelling is becoming more localized, and something about that feels like that also means it's going to be more diverse and more personal and more intimate," Pinder said.

Armstrong said the strength of the industry comes from its diversity and the ability to recognize and invest in it.

"It’s not just that there are talented people. It's that there are talented people of all backgrounds, and there are people, like Phil, who are consciously going out and trying to cultivate all different types of talent," Armstrong said. "And I think the future for Ohio film looks incredibly bright to me."

Using horror to open up dialogue

Among talents is Michael J. Cline, a Columbus-based actor who played Trick, the teenager who is sent to conversion camp. As scene partners for much of the film, Cline and Pinder had the tall task of delivering the film's heavy topic through their performances.

Though the films make callbacks to nostalgic '80s cabin-in-the-woods horror films, Armstrong consciously drew on darker themes to ask poignant questions about what drives someone to devastating violence.

"(The films) are dealing with real-world things, and they're connected to real victims," Armstrong said. "I think of people like Nex Benedict , the trans kid who was murdered just this last year, and there's just weight to the whole process because of that and a hope that the movie is enough in some way to accord an amount of honor."

For the two actors, their respective roles were difficult in their own ways. For Pinder, grappling with the darkness of his character's actions; for Cline, delivering Trick's story with weight, honor and truth.

"Michael created this wonderful ritual for us together, where, after every scene, we would hug and remind each other of who we really are," Pinder said. "I'm not typically an actor who feels like I need that kind of thing to step out of something, but man, it was so helpful and such a game changer, just to be reminded by my acting partner that he knew that this wasn't me."

As filming wrapped up, the two were able to say goodbye to their characters. For Cline, it was a bittersweet moment, both recalling Trick's tragedy while allowing his story to be laid to rest.

"I remember, once the filming was done, I went back to get my costume off, to put my clothes back on and I remember just saying, ‘All right, Trick. I let you go.’" Cline said. "And that was the end."

At a glance

The films will be screening at Gateway Film Center at 1550 N. High St. on Aug. 31, Sept. 7 and Sept 14 at 8:30 p.m. with a Q&A event featuring filmmakers.

For more information about the films and ticketing, visit crankedupfilms.com .

elim@dispatch.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Welcome to the world of 'Fresh Hell,' a horror film trilogy produced and shot in Ohio