With the Halloween season upon us, the world premier of the thriller “The Gray” is set for Oct. 30th at the Windsor Theatre. The movie is a short film written, directed and produced by Les Nelson that centers around six cousins, who while camping in the woods near their grandmother’s farm encounter a mysterious creature that appears between sunset and darkness.
Reflecting on the film’s origins, Nelson says “The Gray” took shape from a single line that lingered in his mind for years.
“Well, “The Gray” actually has been in the process for over three years. It started with a waking time between sleeping and awake in a morning. It came to my mind, never fear the night or the day, but only fear what comes in the gray. And it kept going over and over in my mind. And I thought that would be a great log line for a festival film.”
Nelson says “The Gray” was designed to keep audiences on edge, but not in a horror sense.
“The idea was to create a thriller. It’s not a horror film. Somebody said, ‘It’s a horror’ I said, well, no, it’s not a horror film. It’s a thriller. But it starts with a campfire and telling stories around a campfire. And it goes on with the main character being considered to be having lost her mind almost. But it is written in a way that is kind of in a Goosebumps fashion. It’s for junior high age, primarily families. It’s a family friendly film.”
The film stars several local Hampton actors and was filmed in Iowa. A red carpet event starts at 6:30 p.m. with the film’s debut scheduled for 7 p.m. followed by a question and answer session with the actors.
