Welcome to Cretonville takes place in a fictitious Lake County community, where a myth about Big Foot-like creatures called Melonheads has persisted since the 1950s. The ghosts of their teenage victims haunt the woods. Lawlor needs varsity cheerleaders and chaperones to terrorize a high-school marching band. “If you live or grew up in Lake County, you’ll chuckle here and there at all the inside jokes,” says Lawlor. “But essentially it’s going to be a horror movie.”
The film is the second in Lawlor’s Dark Ritual series of cheaply made thrillers. Last year, he teamed up with producers Shawn McLaughlin and Chris “Moose” Woodin to film Aquarius Rising -- which is about a small-town sheriff who hires a psychic to solve a gruesome murder in, yep, Lake County. The movie’s production costs came in at around $1,000. “We’ve had bar tabs bigger than that,” laughs Lawlor.
With an equally limited budget for Welcome to Cretonville, Lawlor hopes to complete the film in time for a Halloween premiere. He thinks local moviegoers (especially Lake County residents) will relate to the story. “You hear the myths growing up, but nobody takes them seriously,” he says. “It’s a thing to do with your girlfriend or a group of people for a good scare. Scares and high-school kids -- you know where that usually leads.”
Sat., April 7, 3-7 p.m.
