Local independent film, “The Devil’s Stomping Ground”, starts one-week run in theaters

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - After premiering as the opening night feature at the 2022 Cucalorus Film Festival in Wilmington, the independent film The Devil’s Stomping Ground begins a week-long theatrical run on Friday, February 10, at Stone Theaters in North and South Carolina. To celebrate the premiere at The Pointe theater in Wilmington, there will be a red carpet event prior to the 7 p.m. showing.

Jon Landau, the veteran movie producer who wrote and directed The Devil’s Stomping Ground, describes the film as a narrative feature, edited together from the “found” footage of 15 college film students shooting their final senior project, combined with the behind-the-scenes footage of two juniors documenting their efforts at a location known as The Devil’s Tramping Ground.

“It’s about a North Carolina folk legend, which pre-exists the founding of our country,” Landau says. “I mean, this is a real place. It’s north of Siler City, in a town called Bear Creek. We went and shot there for nine nights. We tested the legend ourselves, right as these characters in the film are doing. It’s a movie inside of a movie, inside of a movie.”

Landau’s film is a true North Carolina product, having been conceived, written, shot, edited, produced, scored and world-premiered in the state. Having produced dozens of film projects in his career, Landau says this is the first movie that he’s written and directed to play on the big screen.

“We’ve had limited one-off shows, but this is a full week, four or five shows a day in five different theaters,” he says. “Two in Charlotte, one in Myrtle Beach, one in Fayetteville and then here at The Pointe in Wilmington. If we do well, it could get extended and expanded into other areas.”

The extended theater run for The Devil’s Stomping Ground could also be a signal to other independent filmmakers that they can also get their project seen on the traditional ‘big screen’, without having the same backing as bigger budget movies.

“Hopefully, it’s a way forward for other independent filmmakers who feel like they have to get a distribution company behind them to get into theaters,” Landau said. “But, if we can prove that we can compete with all the other big movies that are out at the same time in the theater, then there’s no reason why other independents can’t do the same thing in other theaters.”

Landau and his team are doing a “Meet the Cast and Crew” event at each Stone Theatre location over the course of the week. Here is the schedule and times:

Friday, Feb. 10 - Wilmington: Between the 6:45 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. showings

Saturday, Feb. 11 - Indian Land: Following the 3:00 p.m. showing

Saturday, Feb. 11 - Indian Trail: Between the 6:45 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. showings

Sunday, Feb. 12 - Fayetteville: Following the 3:00 p.m. showing

Tuesday, Feb. 14 - Myrtle Beach: Following the 7:30 p.m. showing

Tickets are available through stonetheaters.com, fandango.com and atomtickets.com.

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