TV & MOVIES
Kevin Wayne Directs ‘Hellbilly Hollow,’ a Throwback Killer Film Shot at Real Haunted Attraction
Balle Balle Radio™ Entertainment Desk
“Hellbilly Hollow,” a slasher set in the South, filmed at the working Hellbilly Hollow haunted house attraction located in Vincent, Alabama, will arrive in select U.S. theaters on September 25, Atlas Distribution Company announced. Bald Man Films and Todd Slater’s Convoke Media released the first trailer this week, with a separate red-band cut also circulating.
The movie joins a recent surge of retro-style slashers that evoke the spirit of cult classics like “Terrifier” and “Friday the 13th” cycle — films that lean on practical effects and a stripped-down killer-stalks-victims structure rather than franchise mythology. “Hellbilly Hollow” follows that same playbook, but its production notes point to a more literal kind of authenticity: rather than building a haunt on a soundstage, the filmmakers shot inside the working Hellbilly Hollow attraction itself, using its existing carnival-style set pieces — including a Wack-a-Troll game, a High Striker, Acid Darts and a Car Dunk sequence — engineered for the film by executive producer and production designer Mike Denard.
The film is directed by Kevin Wayne, known for “The Magnificent Seven” and “Outer Banks,” who also co-stars alongside actor, producer and rock musician Kurt Deimer (“Halloween,” “Scared to Death”). The film’s dual antagonists—christened Tickles and Bull—drive the narrative. The soundtrack pairs eight original Deimer compositions with an original score by Roy Mayorga from Ministry; sound design comes from Tom Boykin, whose credits include “John Wick: Chapter 4” and “The Last of Us.”
The cast also includes Danny Vinson, Sandra Ellis Lafferty, Megan Alexandrea Weaver, Hallie Shepherd, Trey Miller and Keller Fornes. David Brower serves as director of photography, and the script comes from writer Bernadette Chapman. Producers include Deimer and Slater, with an executive producer roster that includes Michael T. Clarke, Denard, Andy Gould, David Miller, Tim Miller, James Srygley, Wayne and Brandon Evans.
Atlas Distribution Company has not detailed how many theaters will carry the film or whether a wider rollout follows the September 25 opening.
– Cinematic Red PR
Studio CarryOnHarry Perspective
At Studio CarryOnHarry, we’re cautiously skeptical about whether “Hellbilly Hollow” transcends the crowded post-“Terrifier” landscape or simply rides its coattails. Yes, shooting inside a working haunted attraction offers production novelty—practical set pieces built into the location rather than constructed elsewhere. But does environmental authenticity translate to narrative innovation? The film’s dual-antagonist setup (Tickles and Bull) and killer-stalks-victims structure hit familiar beats. We’ve seen the retro-slasher resurgence deliver genuine surprises; we’ve also seen it become a formula where mood and atmosphere substitute for fresh storytelling. With limited theater information and no confirmed wide release strategy, “Hellbilly Hollow” arrives as a calculated niche play. The real question isn’t whether it’s competently made—the crew’s pedigree suggests it is—but whether a real location and solid craft elevate it beyond another nostalgia-driven entry fighting for genre attention.
Read more People’s Choice stories on Studio CarryOnHarry. Reporting via Live News Vault.
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TV & MOVIES
Jewell R. Powell’s Holiday Film Launches Dual Distribution Strategy Targeting Congregations and Multiplexes
Balle Balle Radio™ Entertainment Desk
Jewell R. Powell’s second feature, A Christmas Journey, arrives in select theaters on November 7, 2026, with Impact Nations Entertainment simultaneously opening church and campus screenings that extend through year-end, plus a streaming release.
This faith-based reimagining of the Dickens classic follows Hannah, whose supernatural dreams help her confront unresolved trauma and move toward forgiveness, healing and renewed faith. It premiered in July 2026 to a sold-out screening, according to the announcement.
The theatrical run opens with 3 p.m. screenings on November 7 in Hyattsville, Maryland; Newark, Delaware; Greenville and Charlotte, North Carolina; Orlando; Detroit; Arlington, Virginia; and Mays Landing, New Jersey, with a Reading, Pennsylvania screening following November 8. Additional dates are being planned for Dallas, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Memphis. Streaming begins November 27 and continues through December 31.
Beyond the theatrical tour, Impact Nations Entertainment is opening the film to churches, women’s ministries and campuses that want to host their own screenings, complete with an optional discussion guide and, scheduling permitting, a live Q&A with Powell. The model capitalizes on a seasonal reality: churches already draw congregations together during this time of year. "This gives them something they can watch together and then actually talk about," Powell said in the announcement.
The cast includes Aaron D. Spears, known for The Bold and the Beautiful and Being Mary Jane, and Charmin Noel Lee, who has appeared in The Chi and Just Mercy, along with Christian film veterans Sharonne Lanier and Michael J. Patterson. The film introduces C’yana Denby in the lead role of Hannah.
Powell spent more than 30 years in federal acquisition, including a stint as a contracting officer at U.S. Postal Service headquarters, and continues to work as a contractor in that field. She’s also a licensed and ordained minister who leads Brides Arise, a movement centered on Revelation 19:7. She began making films in 2021.
Her debut feature, Unfailing Love, a modern retelling of the biblical book of Hosea, has picked up more than 15 festival honors, including the Audience Choice Award at the International Christian Film and Music Festival and Best American Film at the 2026 Cannes Film Awards. Impact Nations Entertainment, which she founded, currently has two completed features, with seven more films and two series in development, and also produces work from other Christian filmmakers.
Studio CarryOnHarry will be watching how the church-screening model performs against the traditional theatrical dates — a faith-market film that can fill sanctuaries as easily as multiplexes is a distribution story as much as a movie one.
Read more People’s Choice stories on Studio CarryOnHarry. Reporting via Live News Vault.
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Balle Balle Radio™ Entertainment Desk
Ramesh Taurani’s production company is reportedly negotiating with Aamir Khan, Sidharth Malhotra, and Tiger Shroff to star in a Race franchise reboot, per multiple entertainment trade outlets.
Tips Films, Taurani’s banner, released the original Race in 2008, followed by Race 2 (2013) and Race 3 (2018) — built around a formula of double-crosses, family betrayal and glossy action set in exotic locations. The franchise has cycled through different lead casts across its three installments, and a reboot with three prominent male stars would mark its most ambitious ensemble yet.
Multiple entertainment outlets have separately reported the same trio of names in connection with the project, though none have detailed a script, director or timeline. Nothing has been finalized publicly, and no studio or release window has been attached to the reboot at this stage.
For Studio CarryOnHarry, the notable thing here isn’t the reboot itself — franchise revivals are a Bollywood staple — but the casting logic. Aamir Khan rarely commits to ensemble action films, and pairing him with Malhotra and Shroff, both known for the genre, would be a significant departure from his recent output if it comes together.
Studio CarryOnHarry Perspective
The Race franchise has never relied on the same lead twice—a deliberate strategy that kept it feeling fresh even as the formula stayed consistent. Each installment swapped out its cast entirely, treating stars as interchangeable vehicles for the same machine of betrayal and exotic globetrotting. A reboot with three A-listers sharing the screen would break that pattern fundamentally, raising the question of whether the franchise can sustain itself through star power alone or whether it’s already exhausted what the formula can deliver.
In practice, this matters because audience fatigue with a concept often masquerades as casting fatigue. Fans don’t typically walk into a Race film expecting character arcs or emotional stakes—they come for the premise. But after three films mining the same well of double-crosses and family schemes, even a star-studded reboot risks feeling like a repetition rather than a reinvention. The casting choice becomes a band-aid solution to a structural problem.
What remains unaddressed is whether Taurani’s team has actually rethought the story DNA of Race itself, or simply upgraded the marquee names. The reports mention negotiations and names but offer no hint of a script refresh, tonal shift, or thematic evolution—which is precisely what a fourth film would need to justify its existence rather than feel like a cash grab.
The most useful way to judge this venture may be not by who’s cast, but by whether the filmmakers are willing to break the very formula that made Race recognizable in the first place. Without that willingness, the announcement of any star is just noise.
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