After watching the new indie flick from XLrator Media, you may never want to drive by a windmill again. The Windmill will land in cinemas across the nation as part of XLrator’s “Macabre” label, and CEO Barry Gordon is excited to give me (scratch that: all of us) another thing to be scared of.
“The Windmill is a fun and nostalgic throwback to edge-of-your-seat horror classics like Friday the 13th and The Nightmare on Elm Street,” Gordon says. “Halloween is going to be a lot scarier this year!” While it may be tough to live up to those horror classics, the film’s chilling premise sounds promising.
Set in the Dutch countryside, the movie follows a group of stranded tourists who seek refuge in an abandoned windmill where, legend says, a Devil-worshipping miller used to hide the bodies of his murder victims.
If that doesn’t convince you, the cast of international thesps might: Noah Taylor from Peaky Blinders is on board, alongside Charlotte Beaumont, Patrick Baladi, Ben Batt and Tanroh Ishida. It’s a group that makes director Nick Jongerius proud, and he was equally proud to include aspects of his Dutch heritage in the film—however creepy they may be.
“It was my aim from the beginning to use Dutch heritage and locations as the film’s backdrop,” he says. “I’ve always been fascinated – and scared – by windmills. I can assure you that people will look at them differently after seeing the film.”
I don’t doubt that for one second.
The Windmill premiers at FrightFest next month, then debuts in theaters in October.
