Filmed-in-Natchez horror movie From Black will premiere in Natchez April 14

Published 1:40 pm Monday, April 3, 2023

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NATCHEZ — A filmed in Natchez horror movie, From Black, will have its Natchez premiere on Friday, April 14.

The movie stars Pitch Perfect’s Anna Camp and Natchez’s own Ritchie Montgomery.

The movie, which will be featured in AMC+ and Shudder, is expected to release in late April.

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The movie involves a recovering drug addict whose young son has disappeared, her crushing guilt and quest to find out what happened to him.

From Black was directed by Thomas Marchese and written by Marchese and Jessub Flower. It stars Camp, John Ales and Jennifer Lafleur.

The Natchez premiere will be at the Natchez Civic Center, 215 Franklin St., on April 14. Doors will open at 5 p.m. with the film beginning shortly thereafter, according to a press release issued by Visit Natchez.

The movie came to Natchez through the Natchez Film Office, which is affiliated with Visit Natchez.

“Kelly Frazier, the executive producer, and Thomas Marchese, the director and one of the writers of the movie, were looking for a destination that resembled the Midwest,” said Devin Heath, Visit Natchez executive director.

“We talked to them about how diverse Natchez settings are. We sent them pictures in advance, and they came down and toured the area over several days and they just fell in love with it,” Heath said.

The Natchez Film Office and its staff were involved during the entire filming of the office.

“We were very involved with the sets and the selections. They gave me the opportunity to sit in on their read through, which means I got to see the actors try out how they were going to do their performances. We helped with getting extras and some of us got to be extras in the film.

“Kelly, the executive producer, had her birthday while filming here and Lynsey (Gilbert, Visit Natchez director of sales) brought a cake onto the set while they were filming. They had just broken from filming a scene and Anna Camp walked out and had blood and guts all over here and started talking about how nice that was of us, and we were just kind of in shock seeing her like that,” Heath said.

The filming wrapped up here about a year ago.

“It is really exciting that Ritchie Montgomery was able to have such an important role in the movie. That’s really fun,” he said.

The Natchez premiere of the film is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be provided.

It is anticipated From Black will receive an “R” rating from the Motion Picture Association of America for strong language and adult situations. Because of that, children under 17 will require adult supervision.

Immediately following the movie, a by-invitation-only VIP reception with the movie’s cast and crew will be held at 7 p.m. at Magnolia Hall.