Cameron University’s Dr. Matt Jenkins will premiere his latest feature film, “Rage, Fear, Love,” on Monday, February 13, at Lawton’s Vaska Theater. The movie will start at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free.
“It’s always exciting to watch a feature I produced along with other film people from southwest Oklahoma and Texas at the Vaska,” Jenkins says. A professor in the Department of Communication, English and Foreign Languages, Jenkins wrote the screenplay and produced the film through his production company, Misfits of Film. Cameron alumnus Charles Stanley directed the feature.
“Rage, Fear, Love” is the story of art rep Walter Breen (Paige Phillips), who commissions a cruel portrait of his cheating wife Ester (Victoria Yap). In a rage, Ester fights Walter's efforts at divorce. As the couple battles, they drag portrait painter Bluster Dabro (Ronald Calzolari) and Ester's boyfriend Peter Jepsen (Jenerro Wade) across the thin line separating fetish from paranoia. Ester becomes fearful someone is trying to kill her.
Under deadline pressure to finish a review of the portrait, art critic Jonathan Heck (Pat Bishow) encourages the audience to consider if the evidence regarding attempts to murder Ester is real or from her imagination. Peter repeatedly saves Ester at the last minute in an effort to gain her love. Or is he behind the attempts?
Tell Tale TV critic Cade Taylor said of the thriller, “The film easily transports the audience into a series of events that induce suspense and fear, provide a subtle comedic factor, and, most of all, keep the audience longing for more at the end.”
Randy Traxler, director of photography for the film, says he has always loved the worlds that movies create for the audience, referring to them as “mini-adventures where viewers immerse themselves in a different time and place.”
“This love has flared since filming ‘Rage, Fear, Love’ in Houston,” he says. “I can’t wait to be lost in the final product and steal shared knowing looks with the cast and crew as others enjoy the adventure we created.”
Filming took place in various locations in Baytown and Houston, Texas; New York City; and Manassas, Virginia. The movie features cult movie director Pat Bishow of Amusement Films as well as Cameron alumna Sylvia Corkill, reporter for KWTV in Oklahoma City who was previously seen in the Netflix series, “Tiger King.”
“Rage, Fear, Love” was an official selection at the New York Movie Awards, picking up the Silver Award, and was named the Best Crime Drama, Feature at the Creation International Film Festival, as well as a winner at the 2022 Monkey Bread Tree Film Awards. The film has been nominated in two categories by the 2023 Top Indie Film Awards and was also selected for the Calcutta International Cult Film Festival, Midnight West Fest, Crown International Film Festival and Hollywood Blood Horror Festival.
For more information, visit https://www.misfitsoffilm.com. or email mattjproductions@outlook.com.
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