ROCKLAND — A new genre-bending film is coming to the Strand Theater in downtown Rockland Thursday, July 16. HELL TOWN is a satirical send up of a soap opera/slasher comedy—and even though it’s about teens, it’s definitely for the adults. (Warning: the trailer contains strong language).

Here’s how the synopsis describes it: "HELL TOWN follows the melodramatic antics of high-school seniors clashing over love, sex and betrayal. In the middle of all the one-sided infatuations, backstabbing bitchiness, bottled-up sexuality, sibling rivalry and general small-town angst, the "Letter Jacket Killer" is murdering students in a variety of sadistic ways. As the body count rises and the blood pools closer to home, it becomes clear that one of our main characters is the killer...but who? Everyone, from the Prom Queen and Shirtless Jock to the Nosey Geek and Super Bitch, is a suspect."

Daniel Stephens, director of photography for fiction films, commercials, documentaries and music videos, is based in Rockland. He shot HELL TOWN in Kansas this past year.

“The idea came from directors Steve Balderson and Elizabeth Spear, who grew up watching the TV show, Dynasty,” he said. “They were big fans of these prime-time soap operas and wanted HELL TOWN to have that same lighting, that same ‘80s look and feel. Then we began thinking, today in the modern world what we do is we binge watch all of these old show now that they’re all on Netflix and Amazon.  For the film, wouldn’t it be interesting, if instead of coming in at the beginning of this TV show concept we came in somewhere in the middle? The premise of the movie is that this is actually a TV show that’s gone through a few seasons, but the first and most of the second seasons were lost in a fire. So, you get to watch the remaining three ‘episodes’ of this TV show, which is in fact, the entire movie.”

“It was incredibly fun to make this film,” said Stephens, who admitted he’s never really explored the horror genre before and researched by binge-watching classic horror films, including a lot of Hitchcock. “I really wanted to elevate the look of this film within the slasher genre,” he said.

The film, while technically a ‘slasher genre’ of a horror movie, might put off some who can’t watch gratuitous gore. But, as the audience is in on the joke, fans of black humor and cheesy 1980s TV programs will appreciate the light-hearted perspective. “For example, the blood is really red,” said Stephens. “It’s not trying to be deliberately scary. For me, it’s fascinating for these actors to be delivering this over-the-top performance, but yet fully believing what their characters are saying, and when it’s done right, the audience buys into the melodrama.”

The film starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $8.50 adults and $7.50 seniors. Daniel Stephens and director Elizabeth will be in the audience for the screening for a Q & A with the audience.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com