Quite a few horror films claim to be based on a true story, despite the reality that they are not in fact based on actual events. It is alarming to learn that a scary story is based on facts, especially in the case of urban legends. In 1999, The Blair Witch Project used a clever marketing campaign to convince audiences the found footage film about three college students who go missing in the Black Hills Forest in Maryland, while making a documentary about a local legend known as the Blair Witch, was real. While the film is fictional and not actual footage from the missing college students, the concept may have been inspired by the story of Moll Dyer, a woman who lived in Maryland in the 17th century and was accused of practicing witchcraft. The Blair Witch Project was not the first found footage horror film, but it definitely energized the subgenre, and it continues to influence genre movies to this day.
Filmmaker Aaron Irons grew up in the Appalachian mountains of East Tennessee and has had a fascination with local urban legends, stories of cryptids in the woods, and folklore since he was a child. His first feature film, Chest (2022), follows amateur documentary filmmakers seeking to uncover the truth behind the legend of a mysterious box located in a cave in an area in the woods in the Appalachian mountains called “Jeffrey’s Hell.” Jeffrey’s Hell is a real place in the mountains of East Tennessee and Irons actually spent his childhood searching for the cave containing the chest, after hearing stories about it growing up.
Irons’ follow-up to Chest is the meta mockumentary found footage film Jeffrey’s Hell, which is the story of a filmmaker, played by Aaron Irons as himself, who goes missing in the wilderness of East Tennessee, while looking for a cave that no one is sure even exists. Jeffrey’s Hell is utterly enthralling and features immensely believable interviews with the cast and crew of Chest, with Jasson Cring, Josh Croft, Marissa Kaye, Dean Shortland, Sarah VanArsdal, and Ted Welch all playing themselves. In addition to writing and directing, Irons was also responsible for editing and the captivating cinematography in Jeffrey’s Hell.
In Jeffrey’s Hell, after posting in online forums asking if anyone knows the story of Ebenezer Jeffrey, who Jeffrey’s Hell is named after and is a real-life story about a man who chased his dogs into a cave and was never seen again, Irons receives an encrypted email that only contains geographical coordinates. When he enters the coordinates into Google maps, he realizes the location is what is known as Jeffrey’s Hell wilderness. Irons then plans an expedition with his crew to find the location and prove the existence of the cave. When his crew doesn’t show up as planned, Irons decides to hike through the woods alone and document his experience. He is never seen again. Eventually, a chilling video is posted on the dark web claiming to be the lost footage of Aaron Irons.
Jeffrey’s Hell is a uniquely creative, well-written story that weaves together real Appalachian folklore, fiction, and thought-provoking commentary. Some of the footage is unnervingly claustrophobic, allowing the audience to experience the sensation of crawling through a dark cave, but from a safe distance. The visuals in Jeffrey’s Hell are intense and horrifying without relying on jump scares or elaborate effects. Much of the story is told from Irons’ point of view, which is strange, unusual, and dread inducing, sometimes reminiscent of Twin Peaks, The Descent, and Hellier.
If the cave exists, is it a portal to hell? Did Irons fake his disappearance, or did he simply go mad? Jeffrey’s Hell explores all these possibilities and more in a brilliantly imaginative, poignant, and surreal addition to the found footage subgenre.
Jeffrey’s Hell premiered at Panic Fest 2024, which offered a hybrid festival experience this year.
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