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"The Legend of Beaver Dam" is that rare hybrid: a horror musical, and its filmmakers are surprised at its reception at the Sundance Film Festival.
"To be honest, we are totally surprised that anyone likes the film," said Jerome Sable.
"I'm not sure that naturally musicals go together with horror," admitted Eli Batalion.
Their short, "The Legend of Beaver Dam," is scoring buzz at the festival and earned honorable mention in the Jury Prize for International Short Filmmaking competition.
At its premiere, screening immediately before the Park City at Midnight feature "Hobo With a Shotgun," the 12-minute short warms up the crowd with a gory, witty, musical shot of adrenaline with a unique chaser.
"We like pushing the boundaries of what a musical can be," said Batalion, the co-writer and co-composer. "We wanted to bring the balls back. Musicals have lost their street cred."
The short tells the story of Danny Zigwitz, a nerdy child who tries to save his fellow campers from a bloody massacre as Stumpy Sam, the monster of a campfire ghost story, comes alive. As in all good horror films, there's a twist at the end that will send chills up your spine. Unlike all good horror films, the characters sing with rock accompaniment as they battle in the woods.
This is the debut film for Batalion and Sable, the director, co-writer and co-composer. The Montreal natives have made a name for themselves in the Canadian theater world for staging shows that combine silliness, literary and academic allusions and music.
Before this first foray into film, the duo were best-known for "J.O.B. The Hip Hopera," a 90-minute play that told the biblical story of Job through hip-hop. The Los Angeles Times called the rap-musical "groundbreaking," and Variety wrote, "Not only one of the best shows of this year — it's one of the best shows L.A. has seen in many years."
The two were writing their next play when they decided the story could work as a film. The problem was finding a child actor to play Zigwitz. The actor would have to portray a believable and sympathetic character but have the singing chops to carry the short.
The pair's casting director searched high and low until she found LJ Benet. Utah audiences might be familiar with Benet, who played young Pip in Utah Shakespeare Festival's 2010 world premiere of "Great Expectations." Salt Lake Tribune arts and entertainment editor Ellen Fagg Weist noted Benet's talent: "Rarely do child actors have the ease and charisma of LJ Benet," Weist wrote in her play review. "Benet seems so believably moved when he meets his fabled uncle that the moment sparks real emotion."
After casting Benet, the duo hired Seán Cullen as the menacing scoutmaster. Cullen has starred as Max Bialystock in the Canadian production of "Mel Brooks' The Producers" and is a past top-10 finalist on the NBC competition show "Last Comic Standing." For Stumpy Sam, Sabel and Batalion cast Rick Miller, the former host of the ABC series "Just for Laughs" and someone whom Entertainment Weekly has called "one of the 100 most creative people alive today."
Sable and Batalion hope their short attracts enough attention at Sundance that investors might finance "Stage Fright," their first feature film.
What's the plot of "Stage Fright"?
"It's a horror-musical feature [set at a] performing arts camp with a serial killer on the loose," Batalion said.
As outrageous as that premise sounds, perhaps it could work. After all, they now have proof there's a Sundance audience for horror-musicals.
'The Legendof Beaver Dam'
P The short film screens before "Hobo With a Shotgun."
Tonight, midnight • Egyptian Theatre, Park City
Saturday, Jan. 29, midnight • Tower Theatre, Salt Lake City