Krista Corner Havre Daily News kcorner@havredailynews.com
Love horror flicks? Love music? A mix of both will surface Saturday at the Montana State University- Northern/MAT Little Theatre. The Havre Rock-n-Roll Horror Picture Show begins at 7 p.m. with “Diablo Highway” an independent film shot in Havre. Live performances by the Magpies, Cheeseboot, Punished and Sharky the Vampire round out the evening. Admission is $5. “Diablo Highway” is the most recent of four independent films by Tolan Harbor of Amethyst/Scriptide Productions. The film is about an indie-rock band on a tour that ends in disaster. The band desperately searches for a gas station for gasoline and beer, but makes a wrong turn onto Diablo Highway where they get a flat tire in the middle of nowhere. Also out of nowhere appears a deranged, cowboy who bludgeons band members to death with a tire iron. Those who escape the madman run wildly and blindly through the woods all night in sheer terror. The film was shot in and around Havre. Harbor also filmed “Burnt Sienna,” a film about two felons on the run who fall in love, “Stranger than Fiction,” a flick about a burned out screenwriter who returns home to small-town America and finds himself in the midst of a series of events that could only happen in a Hollywood movie script and “Transcending,” a film about the Blue Amanita, a rare species of fungi with powerful psychedelic properties and the ancient Shamanic mushroom rituals in the rainforests of Mexico. Harbor said his ideas for his movies come from various places. “Sometimes I just have a dream,” he said. “Sometimes it writes itself out and I just have to write it down, which takes about two months.” All three of his prior movies were sent to film festivals around the country and all three received recognition from at least one festival. "Burnt Sienna" won official selection honors at the 2003 Mill Valley Film Festival, "Stranger Than Fiction" became the official selection of the 2007 Asheville Re j e c t s F i lm Fe s t i v a l a n d "Transcending" was the official selection at the 2007 Deep Fried Film Festival. “Diablo Highway” will be sent out sometime this week to film festivals as well, though Harbor added, he may not find out if it got played. “Some festivals are really nice and fly you out and treat you like you’re Martin Scorsese,” he said. “Others might not tell you your film got played.” Inspiration to tackle filmmaking hit about 1999, Harbor said. “I tried to make a film on 16 millimeter (film) and spent more money and I blew it,” he said. “It’s the film that will never be finished.” Starring in “Diablo Highway” are locals Dave Martens, Samantha Pollinton-Harbor, Tylyn Carmean, Jay Pyette, Casea Pollington, Donald Mayer, Luka Latkovich, Tony Salminen and a variety of other locals who had bit parts. Harbor makes a brief appearance in the film. Also in the film are Ramon Hilario, who played the Portugese Captain in “Master and Commanders” and Bob Kelli, who’s been in numerous commercials and in all four of Harbor’s movies. For more information about “Diablo Highway” and to view the trailer visit www.myspace.com/diablohighway. For more information about Harbor’s production company or the other movies, visit independents.com or contact Harbor by e-mail at amethystprod@ hotmail.com or by phone at 945-0640.
