Catch the world premiere of locally made film ‘A Very Flattened Christmas’ this weekend

Who doesn’t love a good Christmas-themed horror film?

Well, Key Tawn Toothman, apparently does. The Wichitan produced, stars in and co-wrote the locally-made film “A Very Flattened Christmas,” which was directed by Shane Wallace. Wichitan Wynn Ponder was director of photography.

“A Very Flattened Christmas” takes place during a grim Christmas at a roadkill collection company, where things get bloody as employees are killed off one by one by an evil reindeer who is set on killing them all. Yes, I said “evil reindeer.” Rudolph re-imagined, maybe?

The cast also includes Trevor Vincent Farney, Mark Mannette, Jessie Bailey, Paula Makar and Naythan Smith.

The film will have its sold-out world premiere on Saturday, Sept. 21, at the Hyde Out, 452 N. Hydraulic.

After that, the film will be shown in a double feature bill at the same venue on Oct. 4-5 and 11-12 with the film “The Forest Hills” at 8 p.m and “A Very Flattened Christmas” at 11 p.m. on Oct. 6 and 13, “Forest” will be shown at 1 p.m. and “Flattened” will be shown at 3 p.m. Tickets for those screenings are $20 for the double feature or $15 for just “Flattened.”

The film will also be shown at 6 p.m. Oct. 3 at the Salina Art Cinema, 242 S. Santa Fe, in Salina. Tickets for that screening are $13.25, or $11.25 for seniors and students. A Q&A with the cast and crew will follow.

The film will also be available for purchase or to rent on Amazon Prime Video starting Oct. 24.

I had a virtual interview with Toothman. Here are snippets:

Tell me about the premise of the film.

“In 2017, I produced and starred in a comedy series called “Flattened.” This film picks up 6 years after the series and brings back the original cast.”

What is your role, and what is your filmmaking history?

“I was born and raised in Wichita. In 2016, my first role was the lead in the film “Mount Hopeless,” where I met Shane Wallace, and our film journey together began. Most recently, I was a producer on “The Forest Hills,” starring Shelley Duvall (”The Shining”) and Edward Furlong (“Terminator 2: Judgment Day”). I had the honor to interview Duvall in person and on-camera before her passing. I also have a YouTube channel that covers movie and TV news and reviews that has gained over 20,000 followers so far. On the “Flattened” film, I am the only producer. I’m proud of what I was able to accomplish on a small budget.”

What drew you to tell this story?

“For years and years, people have kept asking when we were gonna do a second season of ‘Flattened’ the series. When me and Shane sat down two years ago to figure out the film we wanted to make, we just kept coming back to ‘Flattened.’ With a cast of Wichita’s finest actors and a built-in audience asking for more, Shane decided we had to do a ’Flattened’ movie. I was reluctant, but had two requirements if we were going back to ‘Flattened.’ First, it had to be a horror movie. Second, it had to be set during Christmas.”

Tell me about the production.

“The filming was about a two-month process and was shot right here in my home town of Wichita. A lot of the sets were made at Newman University and most of the outside shots are from downtown Wichita. It was easy to get people involved because everyone loved ‘Flattened’ the series and couldn’t wait to get back together again.”