WADESBORO — Three filmmakers trekked deep into the woods south of Lilesville last week in search of the location for something that took place 30 years ago.
They found what they were looking for: an old cabin, mostly collapsed.
This isn’t a sequel to “The Blair Witch Project.”
Rather, it’s a documentary highlighting the locations of the first two films in the “Evil Dead” franchise.
“Surreal,” Matthew Powell said about being at the cabin site while waiting in the Ansonia Theatre on Friday for local residents to share their memories of the production of “Evil Dead II.” “That’s my favorite movie ever, so being on the place they filmed it was like holy land for me.”
Powell is the director of “Evil Dead Uproot,” a film which started off as a short documentary about Mike Pasquale’s restoration of the woodshed from the movie, but has since expanded in scope.
In a post on the movie’s Facebook page, Powell marveled at standing in the same spot as “Evil Dead” director Sam Raimi.
Primary shooting for the project is taking place in Anson County and Morristown, Tennessee, where the first “Evil Dead” was filmed.
Producer and assistant director L.J. Landrum said the cabin was only used for exterior shots, and was a lot larger than what they expected, although the front and middle have now collapsed and the back room is barely standing.
“You definitely don’t get the full scale of how big it actually is,” added executive producer Dan Sellers, an Anson County native.
Landrum said this was probably the last chance for fans to look at the cabin before it’s gone, as the property owner will be clearing it out in the near future.
The interior cabin scenes were shot at the old J.R. Faison High School gym, but there were no film relics left.
“For years, I’ve said to myself, ‘I bet there’s some real cool Evil Dead stuff in there’ — and there’s not,” Sellers said.
They were let into the gym by Pastor Michael Chambers, who was also interviewed. He plans to turn the old school into a community center, Landrum said..
While waiting for interviewees, someone dropped off an envelope of photos from the production.
“That’s crazy,” Powell said, as he and Landrum flipped through them. “This is stuff that’s never been seen.”
Included was a photo of “Rotten Apple Head,” which was said to be used in several local haunted houses in the years following the movie.
Filmmakers were also given photos by David West of Rockingham, who used to work for Hedrick Gravel.
There were four people scheduled to be interviewed on Friday, but only three made it: two extras who played knights at the end of the movie; and a neighbor to actor Bruce Campbell during the production.
One of the extras was Kevin McKenzie of Wadesboro.
He recalled the suits of armor actually being made of plastic and the heat of the summer sun while shooting at the ballast pit.
“It’s surprising nobody had a heat stroke,” he said. “The only line I had to learn was, ‘Hail! Hail!’ I figured I could do that.”
McKenzie said his pay for a full day of shooting was $35 and a six-pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer.
Everyone who was interviewed was given a Blu-ray copy of “Evil Dead II,” which includes the featurette “Road to Wadesboro.”
Landrum said the crew plans to come back to conduct a few more interviews in the future.
“We are just very thankful to those who came out and shared some stories with us and hope to hear from more,” she said in an email. “We are beyond thankful to the landowner of the cabin site for letting us come share his story and visit the site ourselves. He truly is one of the nicest men we have met and it was our honor to spend any time with him.”
Powell added that he’d like to get a chance to sit down with Campbell again, since the first interview — shot at a convention several weeks ago — was rushed.
Anyone with questions or about the project or who would like to schedule an interview can contact the filmmakers at info@luminousmidnight.com or visit evildeaduproot.com.
