Ready for your close-up, Polk? “The Haunting of Grady Farm,” a recently released film, written by Shane Hartline, was shot on location in Polk County. Shane, a Polk native, who spent much of his adolescence in Winter Haven + Lake Wales, wrote the hour-long movie, with filming locations including gas stations and other properties near the downtown areas of both Lake Wales + Winter Haven.
The film follows a travel show host as she documents haunted happenings across the US which lead her to, you guessed it, Florida. The flick is set on a farm where the host’s friends live and is what’s called a “found footage film” – think of stylings such as “The Blair Witch Project,” for example. Shane’s goal was to make the film feel as real as possible in an effort to “duplicate or surpass the quality of the realism” that viewers first experienced in “The Blair Witch Project” back in ‘99.
And, although the film was released this year (Nov. 3rd to be exact), filming spanned almost five years due to budgeting, with much of the filming completed in 2016 – about five months after it was written.
Presently, the movie was released digitally with 8/10 stars from the Horror Society site which, says “The Haunting of Grady Farm’ is one of the best found-footage films of this year. Ominous, startling and creepy, make sure you watch it this November.”
In terms of local premiers, Shane plans to host a viewing by Halloween of next year for Polk residents. Stay tuned for upcoming screenings, premiers, and film accolades. #FunFact: Shane graced television himself appearing in “Rock of Ages,” “Stuck in the Middle,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” “Graceland,”, and “The Inbetweeners.”
