Cannibal Nights: Graphic Horror Feature From Anchored Lens Studios Sets Dual Alabama and Oregon Shoot for April 2027

Horror fans and working crew alike should take note: Anchored Lens Studios is moving forward with Cannibal Nights, a graphic survival horror feature that draws direct comparisons to Wrong Turn, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and The Hills Have Eyes. The production is currently in casting and pre-production with a firm filming window of April 4 through April 30, 2027, split across two states: Alabama and Oregon. With more than a year out from cameras rolling, this is precisely the kind of early-stage project where being first in the door matters most. Department heads who get ahead of this one now have a real chance to shape the production from the ground up.

Felipe Cisneros serves as both director and co-writer on the project, giving him full creative ownership over the material. Cisneros brings a writer-director's instinct to the story of Zaire King and a group of old friends whose final reunion weekend turns into a desperate fight for survival as members begin disappearing after dark. The film is positioned squarely in the tradition of backwoods survival horror: bloody, graphic, and unrelenting. Co-writer Acoryé White is pulling triple duty here, also functioning as casting director and executive producer, which signals a tightly knit creative core with a lot of personal investment in getting this film made. Joining them in the producer role is Sydney Williams, with Patrycja Kepa rounding out the executive producer slate.

Two crew attachments here are worth flagging for anyone assessing the production's ambitions. Special Effects Lead Barney Burman is a genuinely significant name in the practical effects world. Burman is a makeup effects artist and designer whose credits include work on Star Trek (2009), for which he and his team took home the Academy Award for Best Makeup, as well as contributions to films across the horror and sci-fi genres. His involvement on a relatively lean independent horror production strongly suggests that the filmmakers are committed to achieving their graphic practical effects sequences with real craft rather than leaning on digital shortcuts. Stunt Coordinator Kirk Riley rounds out the key crew, signaling that the film's survival sequences will carry real physical choreography and performer safety infrastructure. For stunt performers and action-oriented crew, Riley's presence is a meaningful signal of intent.

Anchored Lens Studios is producing the film independently, and the team behind the project has a trackable theatrical footprint. Previous productions from this group have screened at AMC, Regal, Harkins, Marcus Theatres, and a number of regional chains including Malco, Classic Cinemas, and B&B Theatres. That's not a vanity list. Getting into those circuits requires actual distribution infrastructure, and it tells prospective crew that this team knows how to take a film from production through to paying audiences. The stated festival ambitions are ambitious, with targets including Sundance, TIFF, SXSW, Fantasia, and Cannes, suggesting the producers are thinking about the film in a genuinely competitive festival context before its planned theatrical release.

The filming plan calls for locations in both Alabama and Oregon, a pairing that immediately suggests intentional visual contrast and specific geographic atmosphere. Alabama offers a distinctly Southern Gothic landscape: dense pine forests, rural backroads, and isolated rural properties that have served horror productions well for decades. The state does offer a film tax incentive through the Alabama Film Office, though it is more modest than neighboring Georgia's program, and local crew depth varies considerably by department. Productions shooting in Alabama typically source local production support from Birmingham or Mobile while importing some department heads from Atlanta, which is a relatively short drive and maintains an enormous crew base. Oregon, on the other hand, brings a completely different visual vocabulary: old-growth forests, dramatic coastal terrain, and the kind of isolating natural landscape that makes wilderness horror feel genuinely claustrophobic. Oregon has a meaningful film tax credit program administered through the Oregon Production Investment Fund, and Portland serves as a solid production hub with access to experienced local crew. The decision to shoot across two states over a single 27-day window is logistically ambitious for an independent feature and points to a production that has done its homework on what each location needs to deliver visually.

A 27-day shoot for a feature of this scope, particularly one with significant practical effects and stunt work, is a tight but not unusual schedule for the independent horror space. Crew considering this production should expect a fast-moving set with high physical demands, especially in the art, makeup effects, and stunt departments. Given Barney Burman's involvement, the makeup and special effects team will likely be one of the most active departments on the entire production. The film is almost certainly positioning as a union-eligible production given its theatrical and festival ambitions, though formal guild status has not been confirmed in available materials.

With filming still more than a year away, Cannibal Nights is at the stage where the most important crew conversations are just beginning. This is the window when directors of photography, production designers, costume designers, and location managers get aligned with the vision before budgets and schedules lock. If this is the kind of project you want to be part of, now is the time to make yourself known to the team. Head to ProductionList.com for the full production listing, including contact information, office details, and crew list updates as they become available. Bookmark it, because this one will move fast once it gets closer to its April 2027 start.

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