http://tenthemovie.comTEN is a collectivist, post-exploitation psychological thriller devised as a possible explanation for the events of the 1972 Spektor Island Massacre. On a cold December afternoon, ten women arrive at a mansion on Spektor Island, famed for years of reported hauntings and strange activities. Will they live through the night?
The all-female cast film is a response to exploitation, slasher, and thriller films, with particular focus on the kind of storytelling prominent in b-movies and genre films from the 1950s to the 1980s. It explores the meaning and fluidity of identity and takes a number of surprising turns, paying homage to filmmakers and producers such as Alfred Hitchcock, Roger Corman, John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Jim Wynorski, Jean Rollin, Lloyd Kaufman, and Andy Sidaris.
The film was conceived by Sarah Wait Zaranek, Michael J. Epstein, and Sophia Cacciola as a two-minute trailer for the 2012 Brattle Theatre Trailer Smackdown. After selection as a "curator's choice" at the Smackdown, several of the people involved considered turning the story into a feature. Michael J. Epstein and Sophia Cacciola decided to look at the possibility of making TEN their first feature film. A successful Kickstarter campaign with 258 backers raised a portion of the budget for the production and the pair went full-force into rapid pre-production, working with Jade Sylvan and trailer collaborator Sarah Zaranek to generate a full screenplay treatment and full cast in less than a month. Principal shooting took place in December 2012 with expected festival release in 2013 and wider release in 2014.