Demons Of Dark Entry Forest

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Dudleytown isn't easy to find. It's not marked on any reliable maps, and the locals generally won't offer directions. Visitors who find the right road and park their cars on it are often ticketed, and occasionally they are accosted by an unfriendly woman in a red SUV who calls herself a representative of Dark Entry; she usually takes a photograph and calls the police.

When Douglas Kirkpatrick first visited, he thought he had the makings of a new horrorfilm franchise. He describes himself as open-minded on the question of whether the place is actually a phantom-stuffed hamlet of doom -- the result, he explains, of his Catholic upbringing.

"Who am I to say?" he shrugs, when asked about the holy water. "There are certain things you can do to protect yourself, and as long as I maintain my faith in God, that will protect me."

Kirkpatrick has longish, graying hair, vivid blue eyes and the overeager smile of a teenager. He spent years in Los Angeles, doing legal work for filmmakers. In 2004 he and his wife, Melinda, returned to Massachusetts, where he grew up. He started a company called Red Barn Films last year, hoping to break into the world of movie production.

He had a superb connection. David Kirkpatrick worked at the top executive offices at Paramount and Disney, where he helped make millions with teen-friendly fare such as "Grease" and "Top Gun." Kirkpatrick was known as a brusque, hard-living character, reportedly the inspiration for Tim Robbins's character in "The Player." After a few lean years as an independent producer in the '90s, he became a born-again Christian and in 2005 co-founded Good News Holdings, a "spiritainment company," dedicated to spreading the Gospel through mass media.

So when his younger brother pitched Dudleytown, David Kirkpatrick had in mind a Christian horror flick -- cute young guy defeats evil force, with an assist from God. Not exactly the approach that Douglas imagined, but the brothers looked past their differences when they posted an ad on Craigslist to recruit those writers. "Extremely confidential project deals with horror/demonic/dark side/theological with a worldview -- good v. evil theme," the ad read, in part. "Theological background and local presence a plus."

The successful applicants, chosen largely on writing samples, gathered last August for a brief orientation meeting in their new home in Cornwall. It was a pumpkin-colored house right near a main road. David and Douglas were present and they seemed, even then, to have very different movies in mind.

"I could tell there was going to be a problem," says Connor Timmis, an aspiring actor who'd been through Dudleytown a few times and was asked by Douglas, then his agent, to serve as tour guide for the group. "When I walked in the house, the Good News people were showing this demo reel, which was this lame, non-scary, amateurish trailer. I was like, this is your idea for a Dudleytown movie?"

The Good News crew wasn't taking this demonic possession thing lightly. A woman brought along for the occasion began to recite incantations to rid the house of evil spirits. And when the group headed that day to Dudleytown, the man tapped to direct the film, Greg Michael, refused to enter.

For the writers, this was an unsettling start, but for many it was their first job out of college and the pay -- $1,000 a week -- was excellent. All the writers had to do was brainstorm some ideas for the book, and start typing.

But that never happened.