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.

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