After being delayed because of the pandemic, Batavia resident Aaron Hawkins’ first feature film is set for release this month.
“Evil Lurks” will premiere July 17 at the Charlestowne 18 movie theater in St. Charles. The show is sold out.
“We were going to try to release it in 2020, but as you know, everything came to a screeching halt,” said Hawkins, a 1993 Batavia High School graduate who was born at the former Delnor Hospital in St. Charles. “It put a monkey wrench into everything, which is of no surprise to anyone, really. I’m relieved that we’re done with it and excited that we actually sold out the premiere.”
After the movie is over, audience members will be able to ask questions about the making of “Evil Lurks.” For those who were not able to get tickets to the July 17 premiere, they will have another opportunity to see the movie when it is shown at Two Brothers Roundhouse in Aurora in October as part of a Halloween party.
The movie is being released by Hawkins’ company, Crazy Rock Films, in association with SSH Man Productions and Kissing Kastles.
Hawkins co-wrote the script with Aurora resident Chris Shern, who fronts the band Invisible Cartoons.
Shern also is a producer on the movie and worked on sound editing along with appearing in the movie.
“Chris is awesome to work with,” Hawkins said.
“Evil Lurks” is the story of a troubled woman who seeks help from an unscrupulous hypnotist, which in turn triggers a series of events.
Hawkins is a fan of the horror genre.
“I love the movie ‘The Exorcist,’ Hawkins said. “Whenever I watch that movie, after it’s done, I’m turning on every single light in the house because it freaks me out that bad.”
The official extended trailer for “Evil Lurks” was named best trailer at the Hollywood Blood Horror Festival in 2020. It also received the best trailer award at the Rome International Movie Awards.
That made Hawkins feel good.
“It created a lot of buzz within the horror community,” he said.
Along with being a writer and director, Hawkins has played different characters in a number of short films and has been a background actor in TV shows and movies such as “Chicago Med” and “Captive State.”
Hawkins has a small role in “Evil Lurks.” He enjoys being both an actor and director.
“Directing is a nice thing because you don’t have to worry about the pressure of being on camera or staying in character,” Hawkins said. “And then as a director I can help those actors stay in character and work on their little quirks.”
“Evil Lurks” was filmed in the area. The movie’s first scene was filmed on River Street in downtown Batavia.
“We filmed a news reporter scene there,” Hawkins said. “Each time we filmed, we had a little audience behind us watching us, which was pretty cool to see.”
He hopes the film leaves the audience asking questions.
“From the start of us filming this, I always said if the audience gets out of their seat at the theater, scratching their heads and saying, ‘What the hell happened?’ then we’ve done our job,” Hawkins said.
More information about “Evil Lurks” is at evillurksmovie.com.
Source: The Daily Chronicle
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