Movie studio opens at area scream park

— A studio MADISON TWP. for film, television and video production has opened on the grounds of the Land of Illusion Haunted Scream Park outside Middletown, the park’s owner announced Friday.

Land of Illusion runs only a limited time each year. Opening the 110acre venue in the offseason to film crews is a way to grow business at the property while also bringing new jobs and investment to the community, owner Brett Oakley said.

“We sit between New York and Beverly Hills and we’re in a perfect spot for a lot of movies, and a lot of film artists, film producers to really save some money come here and facilitate them,” Oakley said.

The Land of Illusion Studios & Backlot, as the new business is named, is working with the Film-Dayton and Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Film Commission to promote the availability of this new location, according to Oakley.

“What this allows Land of Illusion to do is gradually continue to expand,” he said.

Los Angeles, Calif.based Petri Entertainment started filming this week an independent horror movie at the local Halloween attraction, said Petri President Andy Palmer. The movie, titled “The Funhouse Massacre,” includes actors Clint Howard and Robert Englund, who played the fictional serial killer Freddy Krueger in the “Nightmare on Elm Street” film series, said Palmer, the movie’s director.

Palmer said he was attracted to Ohio because the script was written by Ohio natives and set in their home state.

Filming will last through April 19.

Ohio offers incentives that pay up to 25 percent of a film’s production costs and wages, as well as up to 35 percent for Ohio resident wages. A film can win up to $5 million in credits, depending on how much it spends.