Feature | Portland Monthly Magazine

Far from the Hollywood hills, innovative directors are casting our state in the spotlight. Discover the Maine movies coming to a screen near you.

THE WITCH FILES

What: A group of misfit teenage girls form a powerful coven.

When: Release pending (stay tuned for Halloween 2018)

Where: Portland; Mackworth Island; Bath 

Who: Paget Brewster (Friends); Holly Tayler; Greg Finley

In 2014, the streets of Portland crawled with the staggering bodies of the undead. This year, the skies overhead will spark with spells and curses. Kyle Rankin, director of the Portland-based comedy/horror movie Night of the Living Deb, returns with more otherworldly antics in The Witch Files. “It’s based around a group of misfit high school girls who meet in detention,” he says. “One of them has certain magical skills, and she leads the others to an island [Mackworth], where they perform a ritual and form a coven.” A world of possibility seemingly opens up to the newly minted witches, but, inevitably, there’s a darker side to the magical allegiance. The movie trailer propels us through familiar haunts, from Exchange Street to Miss Portland Diner, as the spells turn to curses and storm clouds gather. “I was watching Chronicle one day, and it was all these dudes discovering superpowers–I just wasn’t that interested,” says Rankin. “I feel like magic and witchcraft have a particularly feminine energy.”

Rankin lives in LA, where he’s currently working on an action movie. Night of the Living Deb and The Witch Files are self-confessed “passion projects” for the director, who hails from York. “I very selfishly wanted a reason to come back. I spend my time eating and drinking coffee around town. I like to keep an eye on the pool of creativity in Maine and hire local cast and crew for these movies where I can.” Movie-making is a strikingly different experience in this corner of the country. “Both films were incredibly low budget, around $250,000 each,” Rankin says. “No one in Los Angeles can believe it’s possible to make a movie on that amount. But everyone’s so accommodating here. The mayor and the sheriff both came to greet me while we shot The Witch Files in Bath. People lined up to offer filming locations for free. We were made to feel very welcome"… https://www.portlandmonthly.com/portmag/2018/04/maines-close-up/

All images courtesy of Portland Monthly Magazine.