AURORA | The cockroach was finally starting to cooperate.
The insect had been hesitant at first, staying hidden and safe within the dark shelter of Hannah Barron’s mouth. As a crowd of cameramen, sound technicians and directors looked on, however, the bug became bold. It skittered out of the dark, crawling quickly down Barron’s chin and falling finally into her lap. Joseph Wartnerchaney called “Cut!” The crowd broke out into cheers. Barron squirmed and screamed, no longer forced to stay still.
It was the first of three takes for a particularly unsettling scene in the movie “Decay,” an independent thriller partially filmed in a home in the Mission Viejo neighborhood of Aurora. The cast and crew camped out in the two-story house for a full month, and a production team reconstructed the interior to fit some of the most the surreal parts of a disturbing story.
The plot follows Jonathan, a groundskeeper at an amusement park with a bad case of OCD and a trove of bad childhood memories. When he discovers the dead body of a woman at his home, he decides to treat the corpse as a friend.
“It’s definitely an indie horror flick, but I do think it has the potential to become mainstream, just because it’s so weird,” said Producer Cole Huling, a veteran of local stage and film projects. “It’s based on a true story, but we’ve made it a little less grotesque … We all have big imaginations, and horror is really fun. You get to think of the psychology behind someone who would make this decision.”
It’s no accident that the team tabbed Aurora as the place to shoot some of the most important sequences in the movie. Of course, there’s a broader appeal to filming in Colorado following legislation signed into law by Gov. John Hickenlooper last year. The law increases tax incentives that Colorado offers production companies to shoot in the state from 10 percent to 20 percent. The law also streamlines the loan process.
But producers from Ghost Orchid Films, the young company behind “Decay,” said the appeal of shooting specifically in Aurora goes beyond the rebates from the state they received for having a budget of at least $100,000.
“I think it’s almost easier to do film in Aurora than Denver,” said Huling, who has also worked multiple jobs at Aurora-based High Noon Entertainment.
Executive Producer Deby Ouellette agreed, adding that the film team worked closely with officials from across the city. Even the residents from the Mission Viejo neighborhood eagerly volunteered to play roles as extras.
“We worked with the Aurora Fire department on smoke scenes, we worked with the Aurora Police department,” Ouellette said. “They’ve been so responsive to everything. It made our job a lot easier.”
That job has become fairly involved and intricate. Production Designers Mike Huling and Chris Guarino remade entire sections of the home to create appropriate sets. They converted the basement to fit the main character’s OCD personality — thousands of keys hang from the ceiling, and rows upon rows of orchids line the walls. Thousands of dollars’ worth of stuffed giraffe, deer and other animal heads keep watch over the living room, and the walls in the upstairs bathroom show the marks of a recent demolition project.
Todd Debreceni, who owns and operates Back Porch FX out of his Aurora home, has been the driving force in creating the intricate makeup effects to recreate a dead body in various states of decay.
“I’ve been back at the shop fabricating and sculpting pieces,” Debreceni said as he applied makeup to Barron’s mouth and arms before the cockroach scene. Along with Guarino, Debreceni worked to perfect the gruesome look of a lesion on Barron’s face and neck. “These lesions on the right side of Hannah’s neck are actually made from molds from ‘Pirates of the Caribbean.’”
All of these touches add to the underlying eeriness of the film, producers said. They’re still finalizing post-production plans and tactics for distribution, but Ouellete sees the Sundance Film Festival as a major goal. Scoring a successful showing at such a high-profile festival would mean a lot for the movie, but it would also be valuable for a budding film industry in Colorado.
“For us, it seems like people are really hungry for this here,” Huling said. “It feels like the industry is moving away from Hollywood, and we really need this in Colorado.”
Reach reporter Adam Goldstein at agoldstein@aurorasentinel.com or 720-449-9707