PRESS KIT | SYNOPSIS | STILLS | CAST | CREW | DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT | SOUNDTRACK

LOGLINE
When Jenny has to spend summer vacation with deadbeat dad on his creepy commune, she thinks clean living and boredom will kill her. But some fates are worse than death.

or:

A young virgin finds herself isolated in a remote commune of religious "family" members with a sinister agenda to ensure their supernatural survival.

Chauntal was a FAITA (First Americans in The Arts) 2008 presenter and winner for her role in the Mark L Smith Film SEANCE. She was on THE INSIDER and ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT for LINDSAY LOHAN: FULLY LOADED a YouTube parody that received five million hits in two weeks. Chauntal shined in supporting roles in BEERFEST, COACH CARTER, and THE COMEBACKS. She is recording a record and has producd shorts and music videos. Chauntal's singing is featured prominently in THE COMMUNE where she sings the original song "Take This All the Way" with co-star David Lago (written by Jenn Oberle). She has been featured in radio interviews on MAXIM, PLAYBOY RADIO, and national magazines including WOMEN’S WORLD and CAMPUS CIRCLE where she spoke of THE COMMUNE.
Chauntal's website.

While best known for his Emmy-winning role of Raul Gutierrez on THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, and Jeremy on 7TH HEAVEN, David has guest-starred in a variety of television shows including STEP BY STEP, DANGEROUS MINDS, and PACIFIC BLUE. He was the star of HOLLYWOOD SAFARI, a series for the Animal Planet Network. On the big screen, David has spent the last two years starring in eight independent features. David has written two dramatic screenplays, and is raising money to produce and direct his feature debut. David also finds time to record with his band, Panacea. He performs his original song "In My Room" in THE COMMUNE, and sings the duet "Take This All the Way" with Chauntal Lewis.
David's website.

Stuart G. Bennett Stuart studied acting at the College of William & Mary and at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, DC. He has done over student films, including a role in the award-winning short STATION, shot in Poland. Other film credits include SMOKE SCREEN, VICIOUS CIRCLE, and 2009 film festival circuit fav EUGENE, for which he is also an Executive Producer.
Stuart's website.

An accomplished stage actress, Adrian Lee has starred in DREAMS OF INSANITY at the Mark Taper, GALATEA at the Dreamhouse Ensemble. TV and film work include LOGGERHEADS, EXTREME MEASURES, DEN, CARNIVALE, GREG THE BUNNY.
Adrian's website.

Lis Fies trained in Meisner with Bill Alderson. She's appeared in over 60 shorts and plays, MR. SHOW, USA HIGH, STARSHIP TROOPERS. She won the Cine Paris Best Actor award twice, and was the monster who stole the Green Power Ranger's powers.
Lis's website.

Our sound designer extraordinaire became a lead actor when the originally cast actor's wife went into labor. Ironically, Elisabeth Fies wrote the character based on “Bob” in TWIN PEAKS, created onset by David Lynch when he saw his set decorator in a shot.
Winter's website.

Cindy Baer is a director, producer, actress, activist and entrepreneur. Her feature directorial debut PURGATORY HOUSE won 11 festival awards, 2 Prism Nominations, was on 5 critic's list for "Best film of the Year" and is distributed by Image Entertainment.
Cindy's website.

Trevor Murphy's film and TV roles include STRICTLY SEXUAL, CENTIPEDE!, THE BRIDGE, GILMORE GIRLS, THE NIGHT FERRIS BUELLER DIED, SUICIDE!, GENERAL HOSPITAL, and as Hans in the 2006 Spirit Award-winning CONVENTIONEERS.
Trevor on IMDb.

Full cast list at IMDb

In 2010, the B-Movie Celebration named Elisabeth Fies the Best Emerging Filmmaker. After earning her MA in Media Studies from New School University and graduating from UCLA's Professional Program in Screenwriting, Elisabeth became an associate producer on the Independent Spirit Award-winning feature CONVENTIONEERS. She held over a dozen jobs on THE COMMUNE, winner of the Best International Picture Award from Bram Stoker International Film Festival, including co-writing the lyrics for the two theme songs with musician Jenn Oberle. Lis's unproduced feature screenplay PISTOLERAS won first place in the Action category of Creative Screenwriting Magazine's Expo Contest, and second place at Fade In Magazine. Elisabeth is finishing editing feature horror anthology I HATE LA, is in pre-production on features WITCH and PSYCHOSEXUAL, is co-starring in VIVID and DOGFIGHT (written by the Soska Sisters), and is producing and DPing a documenatry with Katt Shea about the artist's creative process called GO WITHIN.
Lis's website

Heidi Hornbacher appears as Stag's Grove resident Alice. She is the president of Volante Films. Heidi is the award-winning screenwriter of the unproduced romantic comedy feature FIXING EMMA, and is currently raising money to direct it in Italy. She is the President of Impact Personal Safety, a revolutionary non-profit self-defense curiculum.
Heidi's website

Todd Miro has over fifteen years experience in professional editing. He has worked in the documentary, commercial, and corporate worlds, and is highly regarded for meeting deadlines and delivering high-quality, creative work. Clients include Visa, Hewlett Packard, Warner Brothers, Starbucks, Ameriquest, and Banana Republic. Todd was the editor of WYLAND'S OCEAN WORLD for Animal Planet, IN THE LIGHT OF REVERANCE and EMPTY OCEANS, EMPTY NET for PBS.
Todd's website

After years of watching her filmmaking sister Elisabeth, Brenda Fies has made her writing/directorial debut with the intense and disturbing DISTRAUGHT. Brenda is the producer of thriller THE COMMUNE. The acclaimed feature has been reviewed by The Huffington Post, played in a dozen festivals, won the Best International Picture at the Bram Stoker International Festival where it screened alongside inspiration THE WICKER MAN, and is available on iTunes and Netflix. Brenda is currently editing five shorts she wrote and directed for feature anthology I HATE LA. She is bringing twenty-five years of experience as a registered nurse to her tyro feature film in development about suicide attempts gone wrong.

Marc began shooting at 12, using his father’s Porsche to film a car commercial complete with car mounts and chase scenes. By high school he had already completed many music videos, commercials, and experimental shorts. Since graduating from Brooks Institute of Photography, he has worked in the camera department on diverse as GREY’S ANATOMY, BMW, and Bravo Network.
Marc's website

Rockabilly Guitar Legend Danny B. Harvey was born in Texas, and played in the psychobilly band 13 Cats before forming Lonesome Spurs. A well-respected guitarist, record producer, and composer for film (THE RAGE: CARRIE 2, BETTIE PAGE: DARK ANGEL, NORA ROBERTS’ SANCTUARY), Danny B. has worked with Johnny Ramone, Lemmy (Motorhead), and Wanda Jackson.
Danny's website

Winter and Sharon Knight are the owners of El Mundo Bueno Studios in the San Francisco Bay Area. An accomplished sound designer, mixer, foley artist, musician, and actor; Winter is a Renaissance Man for the new age. Sharon is the glamorous lead singer of their band PANDEMONEUM, and a foley artist and sound designer. They are two of the nicest people in the business.
Winter's website

Full crew list at IMDb

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT

Interview With Horror Society

Interview With Rogue Cinema

"It's been a dream of mine to make a psychological thriller that impinges a disturbing wallop on both sexes; movies like they made in the 1970s. It's a huge problem in our society that all women-centric films are now ghettoized as "chick flicks". Without practice empathizing with female characters in our media, men become less adroit at emphasizing with real women in their lives. I decided to make a male-genre-friendly feature film about a ripped from the headlines tale of ritualized sexual abuse, and use every tool filmmakers have to force empathy for the female protagonist while keeping the genre elements sensational and frightening enough that the film wouldn't be banned to Lifetime TV. Judging from the dazed look on audiences' faces and the critical reviews, The Commune team has succeeded in getting viewers to actually think about the female teenage victims of cults instead of sexualizing, objectifying, or dismissing them as mainstream media trains us to do." - Elisabeth Fies

PANDEMONAEON

Sharon Knight and longtime collaborator Winter make up the core. They gained a following among Gothic Pagans, and were well known for their lavish live shows like circuses.

"Kashlimar" is the stunning song in the opening credits. Their beautiful tribal trance music is layered throughout THE COMMUNE, including "Captain Blackheart", "King Willie", "Black Snake", and "This Night I Ride" (over the end credits). You may purchase "King Willie" and "Captain Blackheart" from iTunes or CD Baby. "Kashlimar", "Black Snake", and "This Night I Ride" can be purchased here at iTunes or CD Baby. All payments go directly to Sharon and Winter.

JENN OBERLE

THE COMMUNE proudly features two original songs inspired by the movie: "Take This All The Way" and "Walk Away". They were written, performed and engineered by Jenn Oberle. Lyrics co-written by filmmaker Elisabeth Fies. The main characters' love song "Take This All The Way" is also sung by acting leads Chauntal Lewis and David Lago over the end credits.

Jenn Oberle is currently playing bass in large concerts with 80s' sensation KLYMAXX.

LO - FI SUGAR

Singer/songwriter Heather Pollack and Cosmo Jones's EP The Divine Edit is available on iTunes. The music is a firm and steady understructure for Heather’s devilishly sexy voice. "The Night Divine" is the ethereal song Jenny dances to as she is being watched inside her bedroom. "Why Do Wolves" is the song Mom (Cassie Cross) dances to for her lover.

CHUCK E. WEISS

A living legend in the music industry and former owner of The Viper Club, Chuck E. was immortalized in Rickie Lee Jones's hit song "Chuck E's in Love." Mr. Weiss's latest album "23rd and Stout" is amazing.

His song "Prince Minksy's Lament" is the song Puck and Jenny dance to at the river.

DAVID LAGO

Emmy-winning David Lago is also a songwriter, composer, and perfomer. We are proud to feature him singing and performing as lead character Puck in THE COMMUNE. He wrote "In My Room" when he was nineteen.

PIGEON BRIGADE

Alternative rock band that plays in Hollywood and NYC. "The Last Goodbye" is heard as Puck and Jenny meet.

C-NOTE

A talented songwriter and performer, C-Note was commissioned to create "Sensual Feeling" for THE COMMUNE, and did a great job of making a song reminiscent of (but different from!) Marvin Gaye's classic "Sexual Healing".