Arkansas-based filmmaker Dennis Smithers Jr. got in touch to let Fango now about his new indie feature A BOTHERED CONSCIENCE, and pass on some pics (see more below). The synopsis goes like this: “Deep in the remote Arkansas backwoods, a father passes on the traditions of the Ozark mountain men to his 5 year-old son. Under his strict and cruel guidance, young Lucas learns to protect the family land at all costs, and hones the skills of the hunt that have been handed down from generation to generation. But their prey is no ordinary game…because the McGavins are hunting trespassers!
“Twenty years later, when his father is murdered in a savage act of retribution, Lucas is left alone to preserve the twisted family legacy. He’s desperate to live up to his father’s expectations, and the pressure and isolation soon begin to take their toll. Haunted by visions of a violent past, Lucas becomes more dangerous with each passing day, and his ability to distinguish reality from hallucination quickly dissolves. Ghostly figures lurk in the shadows of the unforgiving forest, taunting him with their screams as they claw their way ever closer. They are everywhere…and nowhere. But have the rotted corpses of the McGavin prey risen from the dead to exact their revenge upon Lucas? Or are they simply the manifestations of…a bothered conscience?”
According to Smithers, the production was a family affair as well. “My duties included writer, director and camera operator, and my father Dennis Smithers Sr. produced and acted in the lead role of Keller McGavin,” he tells us. “My cousin, Stephen Martin, stars as Lucas McGavin. The picture was shot in the Ozark Mountains of North Central Arkansas; principal photography began July 16, 2005 and ended December 28 [the on-set photo at bottom was taken on that last day]. Between those two dates, the movie was shot in 26 days, because we had to operate on an almost weekend-only schedule. We all worked very hard to make it happen.”
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