After bringing thrills for 100 years, the Medina County park closed in 1978 with the rides and buildings left behind to rot.  Mother Nature quickly took over as trees twisted through the wooden roller coaster and Ferris wheel.  The ballroom eventually burned down and the Funhouse collapsed, leaving behind a haunting irony that the summer-time fun had died.

Although that concept may be depressing to some, film maker Jay Woelfel relished the opportunity to use the property as a backdrop for a scary movie.  "The rides are a key, key element in the film," he explains.  "The park itself is trapped in time.  So what I wanted to do was trap characters in the park and deal with what being trapped there in time meant."

LISTEN to Ryan Haidet's extended report on the film -- includes interviews with the director, an associate producer, director of photography and several actors.  Runs 28 minutes.  Originally aired on 1590 WAKR and 97.5 WONE on Sunday, February 28.

The story surrounds three main characters -- a man and woman, both in their 30s, along with a creepy carny.  The characters are forced to experience and re-live some of the park's lurid legends. 

An associate producer, Ted Rypel said the rides provided haunting imagery, which was perfect for the film.  "It's a bizarre wasteland.  It looks like these rides have tried to crawl up out of the ground or something and revive themselves from their graves."

Interns from Bowling Green State University were brought in to help with production as Medina High School students were on hand to paint some sets.  Rachel Thailing, who is a freshman at Revere High School has a small role in the film alongside her mother, Michelle Falcone.  "The park was really amazing," Falcone gushes.  "It was so strange because we went there for the first time and it was almost like life had just stood still.  It looked like everything was still waiting for people. ...  When you walked past one of that stands that had collapsed, you could still smell french fry grease.  It was very haunting, very surreal (and) super spooky at night."

The film will first be screened on Saturday, March 13, at Monster Mania, which is a horror movie convention in Cherry Hill, Jersey.  Woelfel expects to have a big premiere in Medina County this coming May. 

Woelfel hopes the movie will eventually be given a wide release on DVD soon.