“Horror on Campus: Seton Hill is setting for George Romero’s new anthology” recounts a day of filming on the low-budget opus, “On Sabbath Hill,” part of an anthology called GEORGE ROMERO PRESENTS…DEADTIME STORIES. The film is actually written and directed by Jeff Monahan, with Romero and his wife Christine acting as executive producers.
The story of how Seton Hill became “Sabbath Hill University” shows how local film productions might benefit Western Pennsylvania communities, as well as how filming in those communities can benefit the companies themselves.
But it also points up how many filmmaking professionals either have ties to the area or choose to live here, despite the lure of places such as Los Angeles and New York.
“Sabbath Hill” writer/director/co-producer Jeff Monahan is one of those professionals. He maintains a New York apartment, but he and his family moved back to his native Connellsville in 1996, even as he continued acting in films such as John Sayles’ “Lone Star” and Mr. Romero’s “Bruiser.”
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When he suggested a horror anthology series to Mr. Romero, a friend and the Pittsburgh filmmaker of “Night of the Living Dead,” Mr. Monahan already had Seton Hill in mind as the setting for the “Sabbath Hill” episode.
“Sabbath Hill” is about a caddish professor who rejects a student when their affair leaves her pregnant. He begins to regret his required attendance policy when he finds the girl, now dead, is still coming to class.
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Although still working on a distribution deal for the series, co-producer Michael Fischa said he hopes “On Sabbath Hill” will reach television in the spring.