Horror movie filmed locally features Crystal Lake native, ‘Realm of Terror’ haunted house

Sprinkled throughout the latest Halloween horror movie “Haunt Season” are plenty of Chicago-area settings recognizable to local eyes, from Six Flags in Gurnee to the Great Pumpkin Fest in Highwood.

The film also features a local face as its main scream queen: Crystal Lake native and Crystal Lake Central High School graduate Sarah Elizabeth, whose legal last name is Anderson.

“I’ve always wanted to be a final girl in a horror film,” she said. “I definitely got a taste for it and want to do more.”

“Haunt Season” was created by Lake Bluff native and Gurnee resident Jake Jarvi for Epic Pictures Group and is mainly filled at the local haunted house attraction “Realm of Terror” in Round Lake Beach, with some scenes filmed in Oakwood Hills. The slasher film follows a recent theater graduate Matilda (played by Elizabeth) as she works a new job as a scare actor at a haunted house attraction when a masked serial killer starts to pick off the crew one by one. The horror movie reads like a love letter to Halloween and gives an authentic-feeling look into the lives of people who work in haunted houses.

“I really wanted to capture what it’s like to fully engage in Halloween, our pumpkin patches and our Great Pumpkin Fest in Lake County and surrounding areas,” Jarvi said.

Filmed in the fall of 2022, this was Elizabeth’s first time in a horror movie. The hardest part was screaming all day.

“I think I was screaming on and off for at least six hours. Maybe eight hours,” she said.

Just like the character she was playing as, she is also a recent college graduate with a theater background and similar feelings of being unsure what to do after college.

“We’re basically the same person,” she said. “It was very easy in that sense to connect with her because it felt like we were living the same lives.”

Jarvi, who wrote and directed the film, said he “lucked out” with casting Elizabeth as Matilda because she perfectly played the part Jarvi envisioned.

“She’s just so natural,” he said. “I think she’s really fun to watch.”

Jarvi drew inspiration from other classic haunted house horror movies by creating a Halloween atmosphere while twisting the plot by focusing the killer’s victims as the haunt workers rather than the usual patrons, he said.

“I wanted to tell a story from the perspective of the haunters,” Jarvi said in the release. “I love it when movies bring you into a specific subculture and let you soak in it a bit. The idea of creating something special in an incredibly accepting yet slightly dangerous feeling community felt fresh.”

The horror flick released last week and is available on-demand on Amazon Prime and Apple TV. There will be a premiere of “Haunt Season” at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Davis Theatre in Chicago. Many of the cast, crew and production team including Elizabeth and Jarvi will be there to answer audience questions and take pictures.

“It’s really overwhelming, but also exciting,” Elizabeth said. “It’s kind of like those out-of-body experiences.”

For “Realm of Terror” creator Steve Kristof, the film is a unique way to share the haunt with more people as they continue with their 22nd season this fall, according to a Realm of Terror news release.

“Horror is an expansive genre with a cult following and Realm of Terror is a premier haunt destination in the area,” Kristof said in the release. “We’re really excited for the opportunity to share our brand of scares with a larger audience through this film who may not know who we are yet.”

The Round Lake Beach attraction has two new opportunities for people looking for a less-terrifying way to celebrate the season. The haunted house will offer its scary ambiance in a more controlled setting without scare actors present Sunday. Family-friendly nights will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. on Oct. 26 and Oct. 27 with a trick-or-treat walk with limited audio and décor as well as family-friendly activities.

“While we love being a leader in thrilling scares, we always want to accommodate the diversity of our patrons and what they’re looking for in a more subdued Halloween experience,” Kristof said in the release.

The famous haunted house attraction also features a gift shop, haunted bar, local food trucks, themed carnival games and a mini escape room. “Realm of Terror” is open to the public on select dates through Nov. 2. For more information and to purchase tickets to “Realm of Terror,” visit realmofterror.com.