St. Charles filmmaker pledges scarier sequel to locally shot horror movie 'Munger Road'
St. Charles writer and director Nicholas Smith is planning a sequel to his first film "Munger Road," a horror movie set in his hometown that hit theaters over a decade ago.
He plans to begin filming next fall.
Released in 2011, "Munger Road" was based on folklore surrounding the train tracks in Wayne. It was shot on the actual road in St. Charles as well as in Bartlett, Elburn, Geneva and Sugar Grove.
The film starred Academy Award nominee Bruce Davison and had a great deal of success for an indie film.
Smith said "Munger Road Part 2" - set in St. Charles 15 years after the original - will be a grittier, much scarier, action-packed ride. The original was rated PG-13, but Smith anticipates the sequel will be rated R.
While he is trying not to give away any spoilers, Smith hinted at some new and returning characters.
He said he plans to film throughout St. Charles and feature many familiar places including Hotel Baker.
The sequel will be the final Munger Road film and will tie up any loose ends left by the original.
"I think people are going to be really excited to catch up with a lot of these characters and see the conclusion of how everything unfolds," Smith said.
Smith hopes to begin shooting around September and aims to release the film in the fall of 2025. He said he plans to use several St. Charles actors and residents as extras in the film, and hopes to hold auditions next summer.
He said filming on site and using locals enhances the feeling of reality in his films, and not just for audiences familiar with the area.
Smith was raised in St. Charles, where he graduated from St. Charles North High School in 2003 before attending film school at Columbia College.
The films were inspired by his own experiences with the eeriness of Munger Road.
"It's a really spooky place," Smith said. "At night, it's just creepy, there's something about it that makes it a really eerie area."
Smith said the original cast and crew experienced some "weird things" of their own over three nights filming on Munger Road, including one actor's microphone picking up sounds of a crying baby while in the woods at 3 a.m.
Smith reported that the sequel will have a "sizable budget" compared to the first and will be shot on RED digital cameras, similar to those used by David Fincher in his Netflix movie "The Killer," which was also partially filmed in St. Charles last year.
Since the release of his first film, Smith got married, had three children and opened two restaurants in Elgin: Alexander's Cafe in 2016 and Old Republic in 2018.
Smith began writing the sequel before the original was released, and while he originally intended to get right into making the sequel, he became too busy with his new family and his restaurants.
He said this feels like a good time to start making part two.
"It was always a two-part story," Smith said. "As we get farther away from some of the challenges of the pandemic, I just felt like, 'Hey, now it's time, let's finish the story.'"
The original "Munger Road" is currently streaming on Prime Video.