Dating can be dangerous. Swipe right. Swipe left.
The world of online dating these days gave a group of Murray State students and a recent graduate an idea for a movie that will premiere at the Cheri Theater this weekend.
The film follows Zeke as he navigates dating apps. As the story progresses, the audience will see a bond form and the dark aspects of dating apps.
Dustin Wilcox, a Murray State alumnus, said Collide is a tongue-in-cheek take on the world of dating apps.
“It’s a comedy thriller centering on protagonist Zeke, who after becoming increasingly disillusioned with swipe-based romance, finds himself falling for a woman who ultimately proves to be using dating apps to find victims since she is a serial killer,” Wilcox said.
Zackary Claggett, director and co-writer of the production, said they wanted to take a different approach with this film, which is why they planned on a female serial killer while drawing inspiration from other films.
“However, that quickly changed; we took inspiration from how dating apps are used in this day and age,” Claggett said. “We also used some comedy from slasher movies such as ‘Happy Death Day’ and ‘Freaky.’ We tried to use similar horror tones that were seen in the original ‘Halloween’ (1978) film and the 2018 film.”
Writing for the film started in the summer of 2022. Wilcox and Claggett met on Discord to go over ideas and work on dialogue. After several rounds of editing, actors were cast in March and filming began in August.
Holden Mast, a junior theatre and film major, plays Zeke in the film. Mast said he met Claggett after working on another project with him.
“I met Zack when we were working on the university’s first official film project (yet to be released) called ‘Gaming Wisconsin,’ Mast said. “He enjoyed my performance in that and I enjoy performing, so we got to talking and he asked me to read for the three buddies and eventually landed the role of Zeke.”
Mast describes his character as troubled, with a twisted view on women and dating.
“All he can see at first is sleeping around, although there is a slight pull for something more,” Mast said. “I believe he’s relatable, in an indirect way, we all have experienced a ‘Zeke,’ whether he’s your buddy or a bad dating experience. Unfortunately there’s a little too many of him in the world.”
Claggett said this semester has been challenging, as they juggled the film along with other responsibilities.
“We started filming Aug. 26 and wrapped production Nov. 12 – almost three months of filming,” Claggett said. “I would like to say it was very challenging, being that I am a junior in college who is primarily taking a lot of project-based classes where I need to do a lot of work outside of class. I was constantly busy with either working on editing, filming or class projects.”
Since the majority of the movie was filmed in Murray, Wilcox said there is a lot of local influence in the movie.
“We shot scenes and sequences at the Peddlers Mall, Terrapin Station, Cheri Theaters, Corvette Lanes and Cypress Springs Resort,” Wilcox said. “We definitely wanted the shots to be varied in the community to make it look like a lot was happening. Luckily, we knew some great local business leaders who were willing to share their spaces with us.”
Wilcox said he encourages people to support the movie and the work that went into making it.
“If you’ve ever been young, down and in love, you might get a kick or two out of this movie,” Wilcox said. “Thanks to Zack’s input, you might also be spooked by the end of the motion picture. I think it will be very relatable to a wide swath of people, and I hope people can walk away enjoying what they saw.”
Claggett said with the long shoot nights, he appreciates the memories made with everyone who helped with the movie.
“I really appreciate that everyone was cooperative and all equally wanted to see the finished product on the big screen,” Claggett said. “The shoots we did at the Airbnb and our final shoot that we did, which was our shoot of Jessica’s first kill, were two of my favorites… everyone there was so tired by the end of shooting we were all laughing at the most nonsensical things.”
Collide will premiere at 1:30 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 2at Cheri Theatres with a $2 admission. The movie will also be uploaded on Youtube at 3 p.m. the same day for those who can’t make the premiere.
