A scary Halloween story set in West Virginia, told by a West Virginian, is now available on Hulu.
Occupational Hazard follows a woman working in coal mines who encounters a green gas and goo, causing her to get sick. The younger brother she seems to take care of asks if she needs help, something she continuously resists as she keeps getting worse.
The short film was written and directed by Ursula Ellis, and can be found as Episode 7 of Season 2 of Bite-Sized Halloween on Hulu, a “short film series that ranges from horror comedy to psychological thrillers and everything in between.”
Many of the themes of the short have been touched on by Ellis’s previous work. The multiple award-winning “Crick In The Holler,” one of her previous projects, follows Dawn, who immediately smells something wrong with the water before the press and residents are notified of a chemical plant leak and its potential health effects.
The parallel themes in both works show a story-telling pattern for Ellis, one she is very aware of.
“I’ve wanted to make something in West Virginia that had to do with coal, but that was not an expected kind of genre story. … An overarching kind of theme for me is wanting to, tell genre stories in West Virginia that are unexpected as well. Like, I feel like we’re all familiar by now [with] the Wrong Turn series. Depictions [are typically told from the perspective of] the outsider [looking] in. It’s more about outsider perceptions of Appalachia and fears around that. And, hey, I don’t have that feeling. That’s not my perspective. But I also feel like it is such a cool and atmospheric place to tell genre stories, just not from that angle.”
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| Occupational Hazard’s protagonist, Diana, played by Virginia Newcomb. |
Instead, Ellis turned to her family and places where miners were able to tell their own stories.
“It’s important, for me, to … involve my family, ask questions, and do research. Even though I like to think I know, your own perception about where you’re from is biased. I try to make sure that I’m pulling in enough sources, where it’s not just my imagination. [I read] firsthand accounts of the miners telling their own stories, and I feel what’s scary isn’t necessarily [that it’s dark, cold, and what’s] scary to people on the outside. The scariest stuff is what’s unknown. I read all of these [firsthand] accounts [where miners] kept mentioning that it feels like there could be a whole other world underground. …
This general ‘spooky’ feeling of uncertainty can only take a story so far, however.
“I feel, no matter what genre I’m working in, the core story is always something very grounded and based in real emotions,” Ellis explained. “This is a story about a woman who went through something traumatic. She has this little brother that she’s kind of responsible for and doesn’t really want to tell him what she’s experiencing. The things … dramatically escalate. … At the heart, it’s a story about trauma and siblings.”
She and her family’s experiences with the coal industry and COVID-19 inform this as well, grounding the supernatural stakes in a real-life intersection of health issues coming from different places.
“My parents were both in the military. I grew up living all over, but West Virginia is my family’s home. … Previous generations of my family did work in coal, were miners. I have uncles and different people in my family who still do but, of course, it is a dwindling industry. … My mom got sick with COVID in West Virginia. I have a great uncle who has black lung who got COVID and recovered, thankfully. … I was thinking a lot about the health risks of working in and around coal or just living around coal, and how to communicate anxieties about that.”
The result is eerie and spooky, while also working to dispel the “outsider gaze” often present in horror films set in West Virginia and Appalachia. Ellis’s happiness with the result was obvious, and she celebrated the feedback that’s come in, from casual viewers, reviewers, and family.
“The feedback really has been positive. [We had a review on a podcast that] totally understood everything I was talking about, [finding a place to tell] stories in Appalachia that aren’t exploitative. … And my grandparents watched. My Paw Paw was a Pentecostal preacher for a time and [was] not necessarily your biggest horror fan. [After he saw it], my mom relayed [to me] that he said something like ‘oh, you know, for that kind of movie, it’s pretty good.’”
Arbi Pedrossian, 20th Digital Studio VP of Development, says, “We are extremely proud of Ursula and all the filmmakers who safely, in the time of COVID, produced these excellent films. We know audiences will love these twisted, culturally relevant stories and leave wanting more.”
The project got started after Ellis pitched several projects during the pandemic.
“I was introduced to the 20th Digital Studio folks [when] I pitched a different slate of projects to them. It was [about] three or four days into the initial March lockdown in Los Angeles, we had no idea what the future would hold at that point. … Then, this spring, I reapproached … the VP of development at the studio. And he’s like, ‘oh yeah, we’re [going] to pitch a new slate of projects … [and] they’re all going to be released on Hulu.’ … I pitched one project set in West Virginia, and then three others that could be set anywhere. [The other three] were more sci-fi, but I think I won everybody over just how much I wanted to make something back home.”
The studio project was Bite-Size Halloween, a collection of stand-alone horror short films available on Hulu.
Production was done in West Virginia, allowing Ellis to bring in West Virginia film talent to the stage. The protagonist was portrayed by Alabama actor, Virginia Newcomb, but the second lead came from a surprising place.
“I came in from LA, my producers came in from LA and Seattle, but a lot of people we worked with were local. We actually cast the character of Robbie locally as well. It was really awesome, we reached out to all of these college theater departments and high school theater programs. We ended up finding our actor Ben Long, who’s from Buckhannon. He just started college, WV Wesleyan, too. … [His] audition was great. I knew immediately – it was really awesome to be a part of his first film set experience, and I hope he continues to pursue acting. But that was one of the things about shooting back home, … involving people who work in the film industry there.”
This local talent included First Assistant Director Tijah Bumgarner, First Assistant Camera Taylor Napier, Gaffer Kenneth Thomas, Key Grip Anthony Greene, Hair and Makeup Artist Karhlee Zambos, Second Assistant Camera Kadin Tooley, Second Assistant Director Hunter Way, Site Manager (and Ellis’s mom) Gena Ellis, and Transportation from Ellis’s dad, John Ellis.
Ellis thanked everyone involved in the production as many times as possible when speaking with The West Virginia Daily News, both those in the wider film industry and the West Virginia film industry.
Occupational Hazard is now available on Hulu, nestled into Bited-Sized Halloween.
