The game has become reality

Young filmmaker Taylor Riley is back in the director’s seat.

Last spring, the 2018 Timberlake High School grad released “Odd or Even,” a movie based on a game he and his brothers play. He and his team will return to the big screen with “Odd or Even 2: Arcane Nightmare” when the film premieres at the Hayden Discount Cinemas April 29.

“It’s such a privilege to reunite with my old friends and fellow creators to put together an outstanding presentation for the community,” said Riley, who is currently studying at Brigham Young University and aspires to be a professional speculative screenwriter. He also runs a startup business called Primitive Cut, an editing service that edits videos for hunters and sportsmen.

“Last year, we surprised ourselves with a theater screening at Hayden Discount Cinemas, something we had never anticipated as a cast and crew,” he said. “Now this year, we have upped our game to an even more professional production we hope will surprise the community.”

Filmed in eight days during the cast’s Christmas break, “Arcane Nightmare” goes further into the plot introduced in the first film, which featured characters rolling a die for choices that would be decided once they declared "odd or even." If it landed on what they called, the next sequence of the game would be favorable.

Written and directed by Riley, with an overarching story based on this game, Riley explained that “Arcane Nightmare” brings the dark magic from the game world to reality. He reassures that the mood and plot are nothing the audience would ever expect to come from him and his newest release.

“When writing the script, I did my absolute best to avoid any of the cliche. I want the audience to walk away with not only great ideas, a memorable theme and a great experience, but also them telling each other that the film was nothing they expected,” he said. “The cast did a phenomenal job and impressed me with their performances and how much more serious they took the sequel. I think the pressure of a nagging director and only a week to film was enough to perform their best in front of the camera.”

The film stars Boots Davis, Libby McCaslin, Jordan Hardy, Christian Riley, Gage Benefield and Taylor Riley, produced by Timberlake graduate Jordan Hardy with current Timberlake student Kylie Marneris as associate producer. The original soundtrack was composed by Jared Bledsoe and Elijah Jacobs, both students studying music composition at Brigham Young University. Taylor worked with Marcus Pappas, a visual effects artist and student at Timberlake, behind screens to complete essential computer graphics and animations necessary for bringing the story to life.

"I think this project will have a huge impact on high school students and aspiring filmmakers alike," McCaslin said. "It shows that enough hard work and dedication can take a project a long way, no matter who you are."

Sheldon Kistler, who plays a thug in the film, said he enjoys the imagination that has gone into the storyline.

“It's also pretty funny how the actors are able to put their own flavor into their characters,” he said.

“Arcane Nightmare” was filmed in North Idaho at locations such as downtown Coeur d’Alene and “the ghostly Mountain View High School” in Rathdrum, as Riley describes it. He wrote the 53-page script in November.

The film premieres April 29 at 4:30 p.m. and 5:45 p.m. at the Hayden Discount Cinemas. Tickets are $3 at the door or on primitivecut.com/shop. Blu-ray copies will be available at the theater and are available for presale on primitivecut.com/shop.