Childhood friends from Framingham turn love of horror movies into feature film
FRAMINGHAM – Two of childhood friends from Framingham used their longtime love of horror movies to accomplish a lifelong dream of seeing their name on the silver screen.
Caleb Spilios and Ethan Charles got interested in the movie business at an early age.
Spilios said he was six years old when his father asked if he wanted to watch "The Night of the Living Dead."
"And it was like from there, I was obsessed," he said.
Spilios and Charles have been friends since they were eight years old and their common bond was hair-raising films.
"I think a lot of the horror films and sci-fi I got into when Caleb and I became friends and we started watching that stuff when we hung out," Charles said.
Their love for horror was strong so they went all in. Now both 21 years old, they have produced and directed Blood Moon, a sci-fi horror film.
They did it on a shoestring budget. It cost a little less than $16,000 for the whole movie and took 21 straight days of working around the clock.
"We walked over to the convenience store two miles from my house and asked the guy if we could shoot in there," Spilios said. "We asked our friends, who wants to act in it or be a P.A. We can't pay you but we will have pizza, we will have food."
"And the last day of filming we finished at like 8 a.m. and I went home and packed my car and drove to school for my first day of sophomore year," Charles added.
They had the premiere last month at the Fine Arts Theatre Place in Maynard. It finished with rave reviews and left the filming duo humbled.
"Incredibly gratifying. You just feel very supported by your community when you see so many people that you know and so many that you don't know, show up and watch the film," Spilios said.
Charles said he has been blown away by the reaction.
"It's been consistent support," he said. "That feels great. To see that somebody believes in us as much as we believe in ourselves, and they are interested in what we have to say."