Ogden Filmmaker Debuts Horror Feature

A scene from “Obsession’s Rising” described by filmmaker Andrew DeBennet as the "you first" moment. Photo credit: Ricky Taitt

Ogden-based filmmaker, Andrew DeBennett, first developed “Obsession’s Rising” as a short film while at the Los Angeles Film School. “Obsession’s Rising” is a psychological thriller about a coffee shop owner who develops an uncomfortable obsession with a customer. After winning awards for his short film, DeBennett still felt there was more to the story, so from there, he began to develop “Obsession’s Rising” as his debut feature film.

To help get the story ready for a feature film, DeBennett brought in local screenwriter Shane Nolan. Nolan comes from  a more traditional writing background, but first started screenwriting roughly only three years ago after moving from New York to Utah.

Nolan had found himself wanting to put more traditional writing on the back burner in order to focus on his screenwriting; he says he cannot go a day or two without writing a script or working on a project.

DeBennett and Nolan met through a Facebook post that Nolan made in search for other local filmmakers to collaborate with. 

“I was new to screenwriting and the film community…and Andrew reached out within minutes,” Nolan said.

From there, Nolan and DeBennett worked together to flesh out the characters and story to bring the movie to life. Nolan gravitated towards what DeBennett had already done with “Obsession’s Rising” as he felt the film's thematic ideas were a hot-button topic and it seemed like a good opportunity to work on a longer script. 

Kevin Smith, who emerged onto the indie film scene in 1994 with his debut film “Clerks,” is one of DeBennett’s favorite filmmakers. DeBennett also says horror films from the indie film scene such as “The Blair Witch Project” and “Paranormal Activity” are some of his favorites. 

Similarly, Nolan finds a weight to the horror genre that cannot be found in other modes of storytelling. Nolan says that even if the project he is working on is not directly horror, there are normally elements of the horror genre throughout the project. 

DeBennett filmed “Obsession's Rising” around Ogden with additional filming in Salt Lake City, and says shooting locally was an amazing experience for him. 

“I got to meet new people who are masters in their craft and we bonded. I created some great friendships that I still continue to this day outside of the project,” DeBennett said. 

DeBennett said making a movie of this scale is a lot of work and requires help from many talented people. He would not have been able to make “Obsession’s Rising” without the help of co-writer Shane Nolan and his wife, Rebekah DeBennett, who served as the first AD and production assistant.

It did not take long for Nolan to feel at home within Utah’s film community as he says it’s a welcoming community where people love working together.

DeBennett and Nolan hope audiences see the ways in which  their film explores the idea of obsession gone unchecked and how true crime can be glorified by people in the wrong way. 

“People do true crime and somehow it is still fiction to them, but it is not fiction … we have the opportunity to show in a non-traditional way how the horrors of obsession can go,” Nolan said.

DeBennett premiered “Obsession’s Rising” at this year’s Zepstone International Film & Music Festival in Murray, which ran Aug. 31 to Sept. 5. The film was nominated for awards in six categories: Best Horror, Best Feature, Best Original Soundtrack, Best Alternative Song, Best Song Lyrics, and Song of the Year. 

Chloe Vonkoelsch won for Best Song Lyrics for “Sickness” that was written for the film.

DeBennett plans to host a private screening of “Obsession’s Rising” on Oct. 15 at the Megaplex Theatres at Jordan Commons in Sandy, where he will hold a raffle for attendees to win various props from the film.