Las Cruces filmmaker releases horror short 'The Shadow' ahead of Halloween
Andrew Jara's locally filmed horror short 'The Shadow' arrives on YouTube ahead of Halloween, with a theatrical screening planned in El Paso.
Andrew Jara's festival-screened film, shot inside the abandoned Doña Ana County courthouse, is now available on YouTube
Organ Mountain News
LAS CRUCES - The old, abandoned Doña Ana County courthouse provides a creepy backdrop for The Shadow, a new short horror film from local writer and director Andrew Jara that is now available to watch on YouTube.
Released ahead of Halloween following appearances at film festivals in the United States and London, the film follows a haunted house security guard who encounters a mysterious shadow that grows more threatening the longer she tries to ignore it.
Actress Valerie Alene, who previously worked with Jara on The Empty Space, stars as the security guard.
“The story is basically about the dangers of ignoring something you know is bad,” Jara said in a news release Wednesday, Oct. 21. “I think with everything going on now when it feels like so many bad things are all happening at the same time it’s easy to be discouraged but I think that makes it more important than ever to make sure you don’t just look away.”
A haunting filmed in Las Cruces
Produced by Jara's Nothing Ventured Media and Las Cruces-based IShape Productions, The Shadow also stars Maura Moreno and Nora Brown.
The production used the abandoned courthouse in Las Cruces as its filming location, providing a suitably unsettling setting for the supernatural story.
“We had a great time shooting in the old jailhouse,” Alene said. “Creepy location!”
Alene said she welcomed the opportunity to reunite with Jara after their previous collaboration.
Before its online release, The Shadow screened at London's Docklens Film Festival, New Mexico's Sovereign Lens Film Festival and California's CalaSCAREus Film Festival.
Jara's previous feature, The Empty Space, won Best of the Fest at the Sacramento Horror Film Festival and was picked up by multiple streaming services, including Screambox and Tubi.
His other feature films include The Last Ones and Borderland. His production company is also completing postproduction on another short film, Followed.
Watch 'The Shadow'
The Shadow is available on the Jara Films YouTube channel.
The film is also scheduled to screen at Premiere Cinemas in El Paso on Halloween, Saturday, Oct. 31, according to the filmmakers. A screening time and ticket information were not included in the announcement.
The project adds another locally produced title to the region's independent film scene, bringing a Las Cruces location to audiences beyond Southern New Mexico.
