Dustin Staggs
NWA Democrat-Gazette
Arkansas filmmaker Jason Pitts argues every film is a horror film and says what connects people to a story is fear. Horror just isn’t pretending to be something else.
Pitts, 45, says he grew up on the genre in the ’80s, going to the drive-in theater with his parents. It captured his imagination at an early age, watching double features of “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “Nightmare on Elm Street.”
“I think it’s the most creative genre,” he says. “You can do anything with horror. Nothing is too far out there.”
His first true-to-form feature film is “The Forest Through the Trees,” recently screened at the Malco Razorback Cinema Grill in Fayetteville and the Hot Springs Central Cabaret & Nightclub. The film has already received a distribution deal with BayView Entertainment and should be released to streaming platforms later this year. But it’s got one more big screen showing March 22 at the Eureka Springs City Auditorium.
After creating a few short films and garnering awards at film festivals, Pitts says he felt like his team at Lucid Lake Pictures was ready to take on a feature film. With their limited resources readily available, the question became: What film would they do? Pitts says they had to pick something that was “character-driven” and “not real flashy.”
“The Forest Through the Trees” tells the unsettling narrative of Chloe and her stepfather Ken, who are dealing with the strange disappearance of Kathy, Chloe’s mother and Ken’s wife. A year after Kathy’s disappearance, a clue leads Chloe, Ken and her friend Ava into the hands of a violent demonic cult.
Within the character-driven plot, “The Forest Through the Trees” delves into profound themes of love and sacrifice while also including all those other scary otherworldly undertones that echo why Pitts believes horror is the most creative genre.
The film opens with the definition of heterochromia: a condition in which the iris of the eye is different in each eye — something Pitts says he’s always been fascinated with and was a major influence for the film’s plot. He cleverly tied it to the common saying “the eyes are the windows to the soul.”
Pitts says the concept for his first feature film occurred to him during one of his calm, early-morning commutes to work.
“I do 90% of my writing while I’m driving,” Pitts says. “When I get to a computer, it’s already written. It’s just coming out.”
Co-written by Arkansas native Charlie Brady, the film also includes Arkansas actors Annie Sullivan as Chloe, James Stokes as Ken and Scott Doss as Julian, as well as a few others. This is Doss’ debut feature film role, as he plays the unnerving cult leader.
The character of Julian was based off of the Rev. Henry Kane from “Poltergeist II: The Other Side,” and Pitts says he didn’t think he would find anyone close to resembling the terrifying and sickly presence that Julian Beck brought to the 1986 film. That was until Scott Doss’ audition came across his email.
Doss has been acting for more than 50 years but has primarily been in theater. Throughout college he performed in summer productions at various theme parks, including the famed Ozarks amusement park Dogpatch USA. His former troupe has actually planned to reconnect and attend the Eureka Springs screening to show their support for Doss’ debut.
Similar to Pitts, Doss says horror movies are his favorite, and he’s always wanted to play something different from his normal comedic roles.
He says to prepare for the role he sat in front of a mirror and practiced that disquieting grin and intense stare you can see made its way into the film. The sweet and charismatic voice he uses in his everyday life is replaced with a menacing and demanding tone for Julian. For a first-time performance in a feature film, Doss is truly a presence.
“I think the last four or five years, the local film scene has really grown,” Pitts says. “We’re getting more and more film festivals. Film families are popping up everywhere doing incredible work.” He mentions the successful work of such film families as Michael Day’s DAYVISION, Brett Helms’ Leaping Dog Films and Jennifer Gerber’s Inception to Projection.
Ahead of “The Forest Through the Trees” release, Pitts and his team at Lucid Lake Pictures have already begun the casting process for his next project, “The Trial of Margaret Stone.” The five-episode miniseries will begin filming later this year at the Carroll County Historical Museum in Berryville.
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FAQ
‘The Forest Through the Trees’
WHEN — 7 p.m. March 22
WHERE — The Aud, 36 S. Main St., Eureka Springs
COST — $10
INFO — ozarkstix.com/events/horror-film-night-the-forest-through-the-trees
BONUS: A “Writing Horror Screenplays” workshop with filmmaker Jason Pitts is set for 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. March 22 at the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow in Eureka Springs. Purchase $30 tickets at writerscolony.org/event-details/writing-horror-screenplays-1.
