Local filmmakers tap into Jersey Devil legend

The desolate back roads and dark woods of the New Jersey Pine Barrens are no place to be late at night.

ERIC SUCAR staff Budding filmmaker Jeff Heimbuch holds his favorite prop, a disembodied arm, that was used in his movie "Leeds Point." Heimbuch and business partner Michael Santo Scardillo produced the film earlier this year. The movie took first place in the "Home Grown Horror" category at the Garden State Film Festival this spring. The campers found that out too late. Some of them went missing forever. Pieces of others were found near where the creature had left them.

That sums up the beginning of "Leeds Point," which took first place in the "Home Grown Horror" category at the Garden State Film Festival this spring. The movie also tied for the "Audience Choice" category.

And the creators of the film about the legendary Jersey Devil are home grown too.

Jeff Heimbuch and Michael Santo Scardillo wrote the screenplay, auditioned the actors, filmed the movie and edited it.

The two men sat nervously in the back of a movie theater during the 62-minute film's screening in April, so they could gauge the audience's reaction to the film they spent six months working on.

"There were good reactions," Heimbuch, 24, said. "They laughed at the all the right places. They jumped at all the right places. They did what we expected them to do, which was a huge relief for us."

The Brick native grew up hearing stories about the Jersey Devil. Making a movie about the state's legend seemed like a natural progression.

"The first thing both of us said is we want to do the Jersey Devil," Heimbuch recalled. "It's a legend so deep in New Jersey history even people in California know about it."

The affable Heimbuch has been a horror freak from the time he was a small boy. His first inspiration was "Army of Darkness" a campy B movie by Sam Ray.

"I saw it in a theater," he said. "I thought 'This is what I want to do.'"

Heimbuch had been fascinated by the legend of the Jersey Devil for years.

"I can't event tell you how many times I went to the library," he said.

He also relied on the New Jersey Devil Hunters Society as a resource.

"I've been talking to them for years, even before the movie was a thought," Heimbuch said. Heimbuch founded Bamfer Productions in 2002.

What does Bamfer stand for?

"Nothing," Heimbuch grins. "It's a word I made up in fifth grade. It doesn't mean anything. I wish there was a cool answer for it, but there's not."

Leeds Point was produced by Circus Train Productions, which is actually Scardillo's company. Their next film will be produced under the Bamfer Productions label, Heimbuch said.

It took roughly five months from the time Heimbuch and Scardillo wrote the screenplay, auditioned actors, filmed and edited the film. They started in February and were done by the end of September.

The movie was shot in Brick, Manchester and Jackson townships. One scene was shot in Heimbuch's bedroom.

"It looks like a 12-year-old lives here," Heimbuch joked.

Heimbuch and Scardillo filmed seven days a week, from 9 a.m. to sometimes 2 or 3 a.m.

"There was no crew," Heimbuch said. "It was Mike directing and me holding the boom mike or adjusting the lights."

The opening scene in the movie's trailer looks down on what appears to be the Pine Barrens. It was actually shot surreptitiously on top of the Nitro roller coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township.

"Mike had to sneak it in his jacket," Heimbuch said.

Heimbuch and Scardillo auditioned most of the actors at a local comic book store.

"All of the cast for our entire movie came from there," he said. "Most of them do it because they want to keep acting and working."

He estimates they spent between $2,000 and $3,000 to make the film.

"But we tell everybody we spent like 10 grand," Heimbuch said. "It was a very low budget. Most of it went to the actors and food."

The film opens with a group of campers deep in the woods, sitting in the darkness telling Jersey Devil stories. One boy's stepfather tells him to go round up some kindling so they can toast marshmallows.

Needless to say, something wicked is in the woods. The campers disappear.

Chase Jackson, the main character played by Kevin Interdonato, is the primary suspect. The stepfather who has disappeared is Jackson's ex-wife's current husband. Jackson's son is also missing.

Jackson insists he had nothing to do with anyone's disappearance. He eventually enlists the help of Alexander Knox, an eccentric reporter for an unnamed newspaper who thinks the Jersey Devil has something to do with the frightening disappearances.

The two men pay a visit to Barry Cowen, a Jersey Devil expert. When Jackson finds it hard to believe the creature could have something to do with the disappearance of his son and the other campers, Cowen cautions him.

"Have you ever been in the Pine Barrens? Do you know what lies between Atlantic City and Philadelphia?" he intones. "The devil."

The mystery eventually comes to an end with a gruesome find of missing limbs and body parts. Knox is cleared.

Leeds Point is not available right now. Heimbuch and Scardillo are shopping it around, hoping to find a distributor.

Leeds Point is not Heimbuch's first work. He made many short films during his years at William Paterson University, where he majored in film.

So what do Heimbuch's parents, Michele and Rich think about their son's work?

"I'm proud of him," his mother said.

"We saw it at the screening for the first time," Rich Heimbuch said. "We had a copy but we wanted to see it on the big screen."

Do they think they may have a Steven Spielberg on their hands?

"God, I wish," Michele Heimbuch said.

"That would be nice," Jeff replied, "but I would prefer to be Jeff Heimbuch.

Eventually he and Scardillo hope to move to California to drum up support for a number of screenplays they have already written.

"We're going to try and sell them," he said.

For more information, visit www.bamferproductions. com.