The former Enfield resident is gearing up for a highly anticipated horror film

ENFIELD, CT — A lifelong interest in horror movies and television has led to an opportunity for a Suffield resident who grew up in Enfield to produce, direct and star in a horror film that will debut next month.

Chris Mortensen, a 2002 graduate of Enrico Fermi High School, grew up in a house where he played music and watched movies. He was very shy as a child, but his father Ron, a lover of photography and nature, taught him what it takes to make a film and who makes films. Sandy’s mother “was not only a school bus driver, but a disc jockey,” he said.

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Sandy got her son interested in classic monster horror movies and TV shows. He said he used to sneak off and watch scarier ghost movies with his two older sisters. As a teenager, he ventured into scarier horror films like “Halloween” and “Scream.”

“One of my first jobs was working at a video store where I bought movies and studied them,” he told Patch. “I like to collect movies and have a huge collection.”

Mortensen listed his top five favorite childhood movies as “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome,” “Labyrinth,” “Return to Oz,” “Legend” and “Blade Runner.” He cited admiration for directors as diverse as Ridley Scott, Walt Disney, Alfred Hitchcock, Mario Bava, Don Bluth, Wes Craven and Dario Argento.

At the age of 11, he had the courage to ask for his first video camera and teamed up with his best friends, Joey and Matt, and formed CJM Film. In 1996, they started making fun amateur movies, especially horror movies.

He came out of his shy shell in college, working on theater productions like “Lysistrata,” “Into the Woods” and “Laramie Project.” He helped form and produced a theater group in Enfield, Live & In Person Productions, with credits including ‘Clue’, ‘The Lion In Winter’ and ‘Rope’, which was also his first theater production as a director .

Mortensen presented a short film titled “Faith Hope Love” on Fox’s “On the Lot” in 2007. It was a short-lived reality show dedicated to finding America’s next American Idol-style filmmaker.

“Nothing came of this audition, but I didn’t give up,” he said.

In 2008, he married his wife, Michelle, whom he had met at Asnuntuck. They have a daughter, Ava, and a son, Quinn.

With no budget, Mortensen had only a story, a camera, friends and co-workers at Costco Wholesale, where he worked for 20 years. He created a film titled ‘Heathen’ in 2011, shot in and around Enfield and released privately.

“‘Heathen’ is a story about a family falling apart after local crimes bring to light a dark secret in a family’s past,” he said. “As Edgar Allen Poe quoted, ‘The most terrifying monsters are those that lurk in our souls.’

For the 10th anniversary of “Heathen” in 2021, Mortensen remastered everything he could of his old film and released his favorite version on YouTube, calling it “Heathen, the final version / Theatrical version” . He was very proud of his classic and dedicated it to his father, who died in 2019.

After the local mini-success of “Heathen,” he knew it was time to make another thriller. After years of canceled and abandoned projects, he began writing “Tragic” in 2021, using what he learned from Hitchcock and the Italian Giallo genre.

Being a huge fan of cult classics like ‘Whatever Happened to Baby Jane’, ‘Sunset Blvd’. and the rock drama “The Rose,” Mortensen assembled his Costco crew to create his new film. That wasn’t enough, he had to use other options such as his theater colleagues, assistants at Enfield Public Access and resources on independent filmmakers’ Facebook pages.

“Tragic” is a story about three famous actors – Madge Margo, Olivia Victor and Ryan Gavin from the 1980s TV series “Parker & Park in the Park,” he said. “After 25 years, their producer wants his old stars back in action, but some dark secrets and mysterious crimes from their past may interfere with their comeback.”

With a production budget of zero, filming began in autumn 2021, also in and around Enfield. Mortensen did all the filming, editing, and directing, but production was put on hold multiple times due to COVID-19, character reshaping, and the cast’s horrendous conflicting schedules.

“It took three years to complete this production, with filming wrapping up in the spring of 2024,” he said. “With all the bad luck in the journey of making this film in pre- and post-production, I almost gave up many times. I owe a lot of thanks to Bryon Kozaczka, who signed on for a small part as an actor. After reading Amazing Screenplay, Bryon saw the potential and passion of my work and story. After some great meetings, I brought Bryon on as a co-producer and formed a team, “79/83 Productions”.

Mortensen taught Kozaczka about video editing, while Kozaczka shared his knowledge of audio and sound repair with Mortensen. Ava Mortensen was also cast as an actress as well as a makeup artist and production assistant.

“Behind every great man behind the camera is a great wife,” Mortensen said. Michelle served as a production assistant on the film, which also stars Karen Dardanelli, Cindy Graham, Nick Alaimo, Tom Lucia, Fredd Baber and Robert C. Williams.

“Tragic” is set to be released in late summer or fall. Mortensen and crew have secured a chance to premiere the film on the big screen on Saturday, August 10 at 3:30pm at Agawam Cinemas. Admission is $12 per person via Venmo, with reservations required by email at [email protected].

The trailer for “Tragic” can be viewed here.

“I want to thank everyone who helped make this film and remember to never give up,” said Mortensen. “I want to continue to teach and inspire.”