“Who’s afraid of Stumpy Sam, the one-armed ghost of Beaver Dam?”
What’s it all about? THE LEGEND OF BEAVER DAM follows nine campers and their counselor on August 16, 1978 into the Beaver Dam Wilderness Reserve. Directed by Jerome Sable, this short has played three festivals that I have attended recently – 2010 Toronto International Film Festival, 2011 CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival and this year’s Toronto After Dark Film Festival.
THE LEGEND OF BEAVER DAM is one part ghost story, one part monster-of-the-week and one part rock opera. If you have any predilection toward any of these three genres, you are going to enjoy this little short. If you don’t like these genres, you will probably still enjoy this short. Basically: It’s kind of hard not to immediately latch onto THE LEGEND OF BEAVER DAM. Its immense hilarity is produced from the juxtaposition between the plight of a young boy being bullied at camp, a one-armed serial killer after the campers and, of course, the musicals numbers. You don’t expect “Stumpy Sam” to break out in a rock opera solo — but it happens, and you will laugh.
Toronto After Dark Film Festival runs from October 20-27, featuring gala parties, nightly pub social events, Q&A’s with filmmakers and a zombie appreciation night with reduced tickets for the undead. For complete festival and film info including trailers and advanced tickets, visit www.torontoafterdark.com.
Notes: Produced by Eli Batalion, Jerome Sable; Written by Eli Batalion, Jerome Sable; Cinematography by Matt Egan; Edited by Joe Barrucco; Sound by Nicholas Musurca; Music by Eli Batalion, Jerome Sable; Starring LJ Benet, Sean Cullen, Rick Miller.
