Thank you so much Girls In Film for featuring and premiering The Tell-Tale Heart.

https://www.girlsinfilm.net/videos/the-tell-tale-heart

And thank you for watching!

Edgar Allan Poe still lives on.

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CREDITS:

Director: Elisa Victoria elisavictoria

Director of Photography: Silvia Lara thesilvialara

Editor & Colorist: Whitney Weir poorlaurapalmer

1st Assistant Director: Antonieta Carpio antonietacarpio

Producer: Gaby Ono

Costume Designer: Elisa Victoria

Hair and Makeup: Jake C. Barber jakecbarber_artistry

Wardrobe: Lizzie Flores elizabethesperanzaa

Wardrobe: Kaitlin Cochran planned_obsolescence_

1st Assistant Camera: Ric Keyes ready_steadi_ric

2nd Assistant Camera: Beatriz Lanzas

2nd Assistant Camera: Ian Deleon iandeleonarts

Property Master: Antonieta Carpio

Gaffer: Blake Smith

Key Grip: Julian Molina julian_film

Grip: Eli Wehr ill.eli

Grip: Rick PB dp_mares

Sound: Sam Lulloff samlulloff

Property Master Assistant: Shelby Paige creepazoid36

Production Assistant: Jaclyn Kully jaclyn.kully

Music: Elisa Victoria

Producer: Elisa Victoria

Sound Mixer: Lucas Bakker iamlucasbakker

CAST
Lenore: Alexandra McVicker alexandramcvicker

Old Man: Martin Speer

Officer: Chris Labadie chrislabadie

Footage was found after a reporter disappeared from her cabin, which was the infamous cabin 113. The cabin of horror. A long time ago, a woman named Mary was murdered right after her wedding in Cabin 113. They call her Bloody Mary because they found her with blood all over her beautiful wedding dress. Legend has it, if you look in the mirror and call her name five times, she will pay you a visit. She is a vengeful spirit who is not at rest. They never found her killer, so if you call her name, beware, she might think you’re her killer… And you wouldn’t want that. Needless to say, she has trust issues. So if you go camping and you happen to stay in Cabin 113, I wouldn’t look in the mirror and say her name five times. Don’t even think about it, I mean it.

(Fiction.)

Location, ‘Fox Lake Park’ in Mims, Florida. It’s about 3 P.M. on a Saturday in August. The Florida Water is calm as I sit on a wooden bench watching a gator float peacefully on the lake. His reptile eyes are staring straight at me, looking into my soul. I feel like he’s talking to me? Maybe he’s reminding me that still waters run deep, and that there are secrets in the water, secrets people don’t want me to find.

I grew up here. Things are so different now since I was a kid, the water is so different now… Being a Floridian, I was always around some sort of body of water. As a child, I loved Florida. I loved the water that Florida had to offer. Beaches, lakes, pools, water parks, and the rain. Yes, I even liked the rain. I’ve gotten some of my best ideas while it was raining. Florida was paradise. Until it wasn’t.

I was seventeen when my perspective of the joyful Florida water started to change. I had a boyfriend, a new boyfriend, Will. We were together two weeks to be exact. Even though it was only two weeks, it was lustful and fast. First teenage love at its finest. We met in biology class. We mostly made out and went to the beach. I watched him surf, while I soaked up the sun. “Your dream date.” I know. It was cute.

One day, Will and I were at the beach. Seemed like a normal day… Will came in early from his surf because he got a cut on his foot from the coral reef. From my memory. It wasn’t a huge cut. There was a good amount of blood, but the bleeding stopped shortly after he cleaned it up and put a bandaid on it. I didn’t think twice about it. We put a bandaid on his boo-boo and it was suppose to heal. It did not heal. It did the opposite, it killed him. A flesh-eating bacteria parasite killed my boyfriend. The ocean entered his bleeding wound and now he is dead. After the beach, he dropped me off at my family’s house and he kissed me goodbye. That was the last time I saw Will.

The next morning my mom came to my room and told me that Will passed away. Just like that. My first boyfriend died and water murdered him. The infection was so bad, it killed all of his insides, especially his brain. His ecosystem had no chance for survival. I was devastated.

Rare case they said. Yeah at the time it was rare. Now, it’s common. All types of body of water in Florida are infected. A flesh-eating, parasite infestation. People are frightened to go to some beaches, and I don’t blame them. A lot of beaches and lakes look like ghost towns. Empty. Hazard signs. Not welcoming at all. Florida isn’t doing well. And the crazy part is, it’s mostly effecting the east side. The west side of Florida is fine. This has made such a big divide between economical classes. The rich claimed the west and wants nothing to do with the east. The mayor wants to build a wall between the east and the west.

And you thought Florida was in the headlines a lot back then, you should see the headlines now. And what has become of Florida. You see something is happening to the mind’s of the Florida residents. Florida is scary right now. More homicides have been happening, more unusual homicides, yes, unusual for Florida. And a lot has to do with the water.

People are either dying because of the water or accidentally becoming psychopaths. It’s doing something to the brain. See what happens is, if the infected water goes up your nose or in your ear. The parasite attacks the brain where empathy is stored. You can be innocent one day and a psychopath the next. The state of Florida is lacking empathy, in more ways than one.

This case has been a full circle for me. I’m in my thirties now and still have a strong memory of the past. I witnessed the downfall. My job is important to me. Being a homocide detective on the east side is dangerous, but purposeful. I know I can solve this, because I know deep down inside there must be a reasoning for this. A human or humans are to blame and I know it.

I’m still looking at the lake, thinking it’s going to whisper all the answers to me. The gator begins to move with the shift of the sun. “Later gator,” I say out loud to it. They can survive any climate, they always have. He finally goes under the mysterious water, I watch the ripples he just made grow wider and wider. Cause and effect. Gators are good at hiding and so are people. This isn’t just an average pollution or eco imbalance problem. Someone is behind this. Why is it just affecting the East side of Florida? The answer is swimming, waiting for me to catch it.

The Florida death poll rises everyday, as the prisons and mental hospitals on the east get overpopulated. Floridemic, it’s a Florida pandemic. And it’s getting bad. What happened within the last fifteen years or more? What happened to the sunshine state?

Detective Richards - On the case.

I was in High School when my English teacher taught us about Edgar Allan Poe. She played a VHS tape and we watched a little biography video on him. The thing about Edgar Allan Poe is, once you see his face, you can’t unsee it. Once you hear a poem or two, you can’t unhear it. The word, “Nevermore,” is timeless. Poe is the original emo and is still relevant. I’m not an expert on Poe. But I always been mentally called back to him. The rhythm of his dialogue, his perspective on loneliness, and his haunting imagery, like a black raven tapping on a chamber door, or an evil vulture eye.

Not only did I learn about it in English class, my High School also put on a play of Poe’s work and that’s when I saw Poe’s words acted out. I was particular drawn to The Tell-Tale Heart. I thought it was maddening.

There is a reason that “The Tell-Tale Heart” has been redone A LOT. If you search for it on youtube, you will find so many versions of this tale. It was told before me and it will be told after me.

My version is abstract and includes dialogue from “The Raven.” I even named the lead character “Lenore,” the maiden from “The Raven.” I basically directed an eerie love letter to Poe. We filmed one of the two days on his birthday, January 19th. I wish I could say I did that on purpose, but it was just when people were available. Maybe his spirit came to visit us on set. Maybe his spirit came knocking, tapping, rapping, at the chamber door of the house I rented on Giggster.com.

Starring, Alexandra McVicker, Chris Labadie, and Martin Speer.

Full Credits Here

I enjoyed working on this film and can’t wait to share more about it. Until then, here is the synopsis and trailer.

“Meet Lenore, a lonely maid who hates the look of her employer’s nasty teeth. Overwhelmed with ick, Lenore decides to take the life of the Old Man after a beautiful dinner she made for him. Happy as can be and rotten mouth free. Her joy is interrupted when she hears a knock, a tap, tap, tapping on the chamber door.”

First, let’s talk about birthday parties. I don’t know if I’m good at throwing them for myself… Maybe not the best at throwing them at all.

I am having a birthday next month and it made me think of celebrations and how overwhelming they can be. If I’m not good at throwing a birthday party, I know throwing a wedding party would stress me the F*ck out. Last spring, I was at a wedding, a decent size wedding, bridesmaids, groomsmen, rented acres, FOOD, alcohol, you’ve been to a wedding, you get it. And if you haven’t… You’ve seen them in the movies right?

Anyway, it made me realize, maybe I don’t want a big wedding. Not even a medium one. I want a SMALL, the smallest one. Less attention on others and more on my future husband and this special moment we are about to endure. I think getting eloped is more up my alley. And you get to save the BIG BUCKS, am I right? Money aside… The energy is more me. Very small, family, courthouse/chapel, chic wedding dress that I will keep forever. That one chapel in Vegas looks cute, forgot what it’s called. It appears on my for you page. It’s for the vintage lovers and I am a vintage lover.

And if I were to do the courthouse choice. I want it old. Like a historical courthouse. Something timeless with an old soul.

My introverted ass would love it. A simple little eloping. What about you? Do you want a big wedding?

“Miss Reaper’s Gallery” is a horror anthology comic book series hosted by Miss Reaper. Miss Reaper’s grandma facade is charming and comforting, but her true identity is revealed as the Grim Reaper. Over the years, she picked up a hobby, photography. She loves taking photographs on the job. She has a gallery full of photographs of people close to death, close to her... Each photograph has a story.

Illustrated by: Derek Eads.

Here are some examples of what is inside:

My second book is called,

“Spooky Tales of Fiction” is four spooky tales told through poems and illustrations that include, Mummy, Slime, Moon, and Mirror.

Illustrated by: Crow Phantom

Here are some examples of what is inside:

Very proud of both of these amazing spooky books. Just in time for Halloween!

Buy them here:

BOOKSTORE

For more information and credits. Click on the IMDB page link.

IMDB PAGE

Thanks,

Elisa Victoria