Courtesy ‘House of Demon' director George Ortiz (center) used his own money to film.

Shooting a horror flick in a house that many Lytle residents claimed as haunted, George Ortiz figured he was onto something special — and somewhat spooky — with his debut feature film, “The House of the Demon.”

As for the film's actors, they — unlike their director — couldn't share in that chilling sensation because, quite simply, Ortiz didn't tell them about the house's allegedly haunted history.

The film is about a college student who inherits a scary old house from an uncle

So Ortiz, keeping the secret safe, trudged on in filming his first horror film. That was for the best, considering the end result is receiving quite a bit of praise.

“The House of the Demon,” about 80 percent of which was shot in Lytle, has been selected — along with 25 other feature films — to screen at the Full Moon Horror Convention and Film Festival. The winner of the festival, taking place Oct. 26-28 in Little Rock, Ark., secures a distribution deal with Full Moon Features.

Among the celebrities/horror icons appearing at the convention, some of whom also will help pick the winners of the film festival, are Linda Blair (“The Exorcist”), Shawnee Smith (the “Saw” franchise) and Tony Todd (“Candyman”).

“I'm so happy, doing my first film and getting called by the festival,” said Ortiz, who moved to San Antonio seven years ago. “It feels good.”

“The House of the Demon,” which features actors from the San Antonio and Austin areas, centers on college student Charlie Cooper. After inheriting a house from his deceased uncle, and with his friends looking for a cool Halloween-night party spot, Cooper offers his new house up as the prime location.

Unfortunately for the collegiate revelers, a demonic predator awaits them. The picture even has the tagline: “Entering the house was one thing. Leaving it was another .....”

“It's very low-budget, and I used my own money,” said Ortiz, who shot the film for 12 hours every Saturday between 2005-2006 to accommodate everyone's schedule. “The special effects are pretty cool ..... but if I get some more money, I think I could do a lot of things.”

Should Ortiz's “The House of the Demon” prevail at the Full Moon Film Fest, he'll receiv
e such funding.
He'll also have accomplished his second goal — helping put S.A. on the filmmaking map.

“Filming in San Antonio, I think it has a lot of places to film,” Ortiz said. “That's my goal and what I'm focusing on, trying to get the industry down here.”

You can watch the film at thehouseofthedemon.com.

CLINT HALE | 210SA