Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Eric Swelstad's Heartland of Darkness


Cody checks out a long-lost indie horror movie featuring Linnea Quigley.

Heartland of Darkness is a horror movie that should have been seen decades ago. A film that should already have an established fanbase by now. Filmed in the Columbus, Ohio area back in 1989, it would have reached an appreciative audience if it had been released to VHS at the time. It definitely would have made some money in the video era, especially since it has scream queen Linnea Quigley in the cast. But instead, it was “lost in obscurity and distribution false starts” for over thirty years – and only now has it been released into the world, reaching Blu-ray courtesy of Visual Vengeance. It’s late, but it’s still a movie that absolutely deserves to be seen.

Shot under the title Fallen Angels and later known as Blood Church, Heartland of Darkness was clearly made on a low budget. But it’s also clear that Swelstad didn’t let financial limitations stifle his creativity. Now only did he shoot the movie on 16mm film at a time when a lot of regional filmmakers were switching over to VHS, but he also didn’t hold back when writing the script. Most low budget movies are written to have as few scenes as possible, with those scenes taking place in as few locations as possible. Swelstad’s movie has a very high scene count, with scenes taking place in a huge amount of locations as characters investigate a far-reaching Satanic cult conspiracy.

Dino Tripodis stars as journalist Paul Henson, who has just moved to the small town of Copperton, Ohio with his teenage daughter Christine (Sharon Klopfenstein) – a daughter who actually looks quite close in age to him. I would have bought Tripodis and Klopfenstein more as a couple than as father and daughter, but then we would have lost the romantic element to Paul’s interactions with his associate Shannon Cornell (Shanna Thomas), who is always pointing out things Paul has overlooked. 

Paul has arrived in Copperton – and taken ownership of the local newspaper – just in time for mutilated corpses to start showing up around town. Looking into these mysterious deaths with Shannon, Paul gradually uncovers the aforementioned Satanic cult. A cult that is headed up by Reverend Donovan (Nick Baldasare). Among the many members of this cult is the legendary Quigley, playing a character named Julia Francine. And yes, Quigley does have a couple nude scenes, including one that’s reminiscent of The Return of the Living Dead simply because it’s set in a cemetery.

There’s a lot going on in Heartland of Darkness, which is a bit too long at 101 minutes. Swelstad got very into the whole “far-reaching conspiracy” idea and let the script get out of hand from time to time. But the fact that the writer/director didn’t put limitations on his story also allows for budget-breaking scenes like a car chase, a showdown with a bodybuilder, and an assassination that was filmed right in the middle of a city. So overall, this is an interesting, entertaining movie. There are some impressive gore effects and some highly amusing moments of questionable intense acting. I watched Heartland of Darkness with a couple people who generally aren’t as into low budget, Ohio-filmed indie horror movies as I am, but we all three had a good time watching this one.

While watching Heartland of Darkness, I couldn’t help but think of the fact that it must have been quite a financial setback for Swelstad when this movie didn’t get released. I was provided a screener for this write-up, but right after watching it I went and bought the special edition Blu-ray release so I could put some of the money he lost in 1989 back into his pocket. And so I can add Heartland of Darkness to my collection of low budget, Ohio-filmed indie horror movies.

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