Candles flicker and incense smokes from an altar in the center of the room. The camera moves across the back wall as pinup pictures of missing people flash across the screen. On the altar lies a large dagger and a clipping of hair. A flame ignites as The Black Knight lights the hair, sharpens the dagger and turns around to look at his victim.
This is the storyboard for the opening scene of the new independent movie, "The Virgin Murders," being produced in Mesa by Deep Murder Productions.
The film is about a paranormal investigative reporter, Victor Marques, who watches a film about a college girl, Madison Miller, who is brutally raped and killed. After the movie, Miller appears to him everywhere he goes, pushing him toward the brink of insanity.
Miller's killer, known as the Black Knight, is a former porn actor who played roles in rape fetish films. Now, the Black Knight has turned his film role into a reality, using the same, sick ritual from the movies for each of his killings. Marques sets out to find the Black Knight and end his violent spree.
Tina McCulloch, executive producer and screenwriter for "The Virgin Murders," says the idea for the movie began as brief outline drawn out by the director, Rick Vasquez.
"It's like '8MM' meets 'The Ring,'" McCulloch says.
Deep Murder Productions was created by McCulloch, Mike Hayden (post-production manager and associate producer) and Ann Belsom (casting, talent coordination and associate producer).
After months of pitching the movie idea to local production companies, McCulloch says they decided to create their own.
While production on the film won't start until late April or early May, McCulloch says they are aiming for a finished product by January 2008. Then the owners of Deep Murder Productions want to show the film at local festivals.
While Deep Murder was developed solely to produce "The Virgin Murders," there is hope for "barbarian-type" films in the future if they generate enough attention with their current project, McCulloch says.
"We have a very unique story line that no one has done before," she says. "I also think that our movie is unique in the characters and their development."
She adds that there is a large plot twist at the end of the movie "that will leave people walking out and arguing with each other about if they missed something."
Without giving up the twist, McCulloch says the word "serial" will be an important word to remember.
In order to produce the movie's first video trailer, the owners of Deep Murder Productions are holding a fundraiser, called Bad Friday, on April 6. The owners hope to make $2,000 to $3,000.
The overall budget for "The Virgin Murders" is set at $25,000, a low amount compared to many feature films, McCulloch adds. Many people are working on the movie for free, including cast members, local bands and editing crewmembers.
"We actually made a deal with the bands ... at our upcoming fundraiser that if they play for free, they are guaranteed a place for one of their songs in the movie," Hayden says.
All members of Deep Murder Productions are working 20 or more hours on the movie in addition to their full-time jobs, McCulloch says. They are making the movie as a hobby, not as a money-maker, she adds.
"I just want to be able to pop a copy of it into the VCR and show this to my grandkids one day," McCulloch says. "It's just a bonus if anything else happens."
Reach the reporter: megan.salisbury@asu.edu.
