Staunton Hill
Director Cameron Romero (The Screening), the son of horror-meister George A. Romero, follows in his father's footsteps down the horror trail with his second feature.
Coming to DVD in October, the film stars an impressive cast of established actors and talented newcomers including Kathy Lamkin (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning), Cristen Coppen (Road Trip), David Rountree (xXx 2: State Of The Union), Kiko Ellsworth (Tekken; Heroes; Dexter), Christine Carlo (Nora's Hair Salon), Paula Rhodes (Lions For Lambs), Charlie Bodin (Transformers) and B.J. Hendricks (The Great Buck Howard).
It's the backwoods of Virginia in the autumn of 1969 and five young friends Cole (Rountree), Jordan (Coppen), Boone (Ellsworth), Raina (Carlo) and Trish (Rhodes) are hitchhiking through the state on their way to attend the political rallies taking place in Washington DC.
Ditched at a small roadside gas station by their previous ride, they're offered a lift by friendly twenty-something Quintin (Bodin) in his temperamental pick-up truck, which inconveniently breaks down several miles into the journey.
With night falling and a storm on the way the group takes refuge in a barn at a seemingly deserted farm. The next morning they awake to find the farm's owners, crotchety Grandma Geraldine Staunton (Sherry Weston), middle-aged Louise Staunton (Lamkin) and her mentally disabled son, Buddy (Hendricks). Following a misunderstanding that leads to an unfortunate and violent altercation between Buddy and Cole, the Stauntons invite their guests to stay for an impromptu breakfast.
But behind the friendly façade of this eccentric family lies a terrible secret that is about to be revealed to the travelling visitors in the most unpleasant of ways.
As raw, gory and scary as anything directed by his father, Cameron Romero's latest offering undeniably marks him as a horror director of considerable talent and definitely as one to watch in the future.
Staunton Hill (cert. 18, tbc) will be released on DVD (£15.99) by Anchor Bay Entertainment on 19th October 2009.