Filmmaker Mark Bessenger and Thrillsville Productions announce Satan is Not Dead, reveal poster
Award-winning, Los Angeles-based filmmaker Mark Bessenger (Bite Marks, Confessions, Ninja Zombie, “Fiendish Things”) has announced via his company, Thrillsville Productions, a new horror film that is guaranteed to bring out the devil in all of us: Satan is Not Dead. Riffing off the title of the popular religious film franchise, God’s Not Dead, Bessenger assures fright fans that while Satan is Not Dead is tongue-in-cheek in name, the film itself is deadly serious.
“The debate of science vs. faith, facts vs. belief, has been going on for hundreds of years,” Bessenger says of the project. “I want to make a movie that explores the darker issues of both sides. What do we believe, and how far will we go in the belief that we’re right?”
Set to star in Satan is Not Dead is actor Brian Sheppard (Beautiful Something), who will be taking on the role of the morally torn Father Martin. Of Sheppard, Bessenger says, “Brian has the sensitivity and the acting skills to make Father Martin a living breathing three-dimensional character full of complexities. I am thrilled that he is going to be a part of this project.”
Filming for Satan is Not Dead is set to commence in the Mid-West this fall (Bessenger’s previous effort, Bite Marks, was shot in Indiana), with the remaining cast to be announced soon.
Synopsis: The film tells the story of Albie and his wife, Tam, who have returned to his small hometown where he has been hired to teach science at the local high school. Among the other trappings of small town America, Albie is disgruntled to discover that he is being pressured to include creationism in his assignments. He invites his childhood friend Martin, now a priest, to dinner one night, and as the men argue science vs. faith, Tam finds herself confused about which side has the most merits. Suddenly, a small ten-year-old boy shows up, covered in blood, on their doorstep. He’s in shock, and for good reason—a cult of religious fanatics performed a ritual that would destroy Satan, but because the boy escaped before the end of the ceremony, it didn’t work.
To kill the Devil, the remaining cult members must murder the child. A night of terror ensues as Albie, Tam, and Father Martin must fight to keep the cultists out of the house. But while Albie has no doubts that the child’s life must be protected, Father Martin begins to wonder…what if they’re right? What if the chance really exists to kill Satan? Can one unconscionable act justify the end of all evil? The battles, both external and internal, rage while a larger outside force watches for the outcome of the conflict in order to initiate its own cold-blooded agenda.
About the Poster: The poster for Satan is Not Dead was designed by Bessenger’s friend and fellow filmmaker JT Seaton, who directed such works as George’s Intervention, In Darkest Slumber, and the award-winning short The Peripheral.
