'Munger Lore'

ST. CHARLES – The ghostly lore of Munger Road has long attracted attention from thrill-seeking teens and people living near the 3-mile roadway northeast of St. Charles.

Twenty-six-year-old Nick Smith heard the stories growing up. All, he said, gave different theories as to why the road was haunted.

So, when this 2003 St. Charles North High School graduate set out to make his first feature-length film last year, he decided to create his own back story for Munger Road.

A year after spending 16 nights in St. Charles, Bartlett, Elburn, Geneva and Sugar Grove filming the movie, "Munger Road" is set to premier at an invitation-only event at Charlestowne 18 on Sept. 26 and will debut to the general public at that theater on Sept. 30. A wider release in metropolitan Chicago – including theaters in South Barrington, Schaumburg and Warrenville – is scheduled for Oct. 7.

St. Charles Mayor Don DeWitte said the movie bodes well for the community.

"I think that the city was presented with a wonderful opportunity to showcase itself," DeWitte said. "Having seen some of the shots that were taken and some of the scenes that were made, I think people will be surprised how well the city physically comes off in the movie."

Although the movie was filmed here, the post-production work – such as color correction, editing and sound design – was done in Los Angeles, Smith said. There, he said, the theatrical mixing was completed at Todd-AO, the largest mixing stage system in Hollywood and the one used for "Jurassic Park." Academy Award winning sound mixer Myron Nettinga worked on the movie, as did Polish composer Wojciech Golczewski.

Smith described himself as "one very lucky person" for the way "Munger Road" turned out.

"I probably picked the hardest business to break into," he said.

It wasn't a career path he intended to pursue. He originally planned to study structural and mechanical engineering, but a video assignment in high school changed his mind, he said, noting he enjoyed the filmmaking process and watching people's reactions to his work.

Figuring he would never pursue filmmaking if he were to first study engineering and knowing he could always pursue engineering if his attempts at film failed, Smith earned a film degree from Columbia College in Chicago, he said. He is also co-founder and executive of Insomnia Productions LTD.

Smith credits his success with "Munger Road" to his script, which he said he wrote about six months before production started.

Described as a suspense thriller, the film combines the road's legend with elements of John Carpenter's "Halloween" and aspects of Steven Spielberg's "Jaws," Smith said. It begins on the eve of St. Charles' annual Scarecrow Festival. Two St. Charles police officers are searching for an escaped killer the same night four teens go missing on Munger Road.

Smith, who says he is a self-taught writer, said he modeled his script off of R.L. Stine's "Goosebumps" book series in that almost every scene ends in a cliffhanger.

About a month ago he showed the PG-13 movie to a test audience in Minnesota to gauge how those unfamiliar with Munger Road and St. Charles would react. It was met with screams and laughter, he said. One girl, he said, told him, "'I blame you for my nightmares.'"

Smith plans to attend the 12:01 a.m. Sept. 30 showing at Charlestowne 18.

"I hope people have fun watching it," he said. "It is very cool to come back one year later and live a dream."