Outta the Way! Goes to the Movies part 1

Besides having an a fascination with visiting odd and mysterious places, I also have an obsession with watching odd and mysterious movies. Since visiting all these strange locations has inspired me to write a travel zine about them. I thought I'd share some movies that were inspired by these places as well.

The campy sci-fi classic The Blob, which was filmed outside of Philadelphia inspired us to write a zine just visiting some of the spots made famous by the film. The Colonial theatre in Phoenixville is a great place to start a "Blob" tour, or just take in an art house film the mainstream theatres don't show.

One of the most notorious places we visited was a stretch of rural by-way known as Devils road. This stretch of road is shrouded in tales of Satanism, racial hangings, and even a house of inbred mutants. These are of course just tales, but director M. Night Shyamalan was so intrigued by the area he used it in the filming of The Village. Maybe he was aware of the heinous activity which occurred in the late 1970's on this farm lane. A notorious gang of tractor thieves had four teens buried in a shallow grave nearby. The story is much too detailed for me to give you all the information here. I would advise you to take a look at the film At Close Range, which gives a good dramatization into these heinous murders.

Another film to deal with a grisly murder is Apprentice to Murder. This film delves into the murder in the "hex hollow". It's loosely based on the murder of Nelson Rehmeyer an apparent sorcerer. Donald Sutherland does a fine job portraying the imposing man but the film falls into too much 80's cheese. So grab a bucket of popcorn and take a trip outta the way through the movies.

Rehmeyer's Hollow in Pennsylvania

Shortly after midnight on a chilly November night in 1928, one of York County's most infamous murders was about to occur. A local farming neighbor with his two teenage accomplices were about to burn a man alive. All for a book, a book of spells. Mr Rehmeyer was going to become a man that legends are built around.

Rehmeyer was a Pow Wow doctor or a witch. His neighbor Mr. Blymire was having trouble on his farm and blamed Nelson Rehmeyer for these troubles. What ensued that chilly, rainy night on November 28, 1928 was sure to change history and become one of the most prominent murders in American history.

{For directions to Rehmeyer's Hollow and more information, along with 3 other stories, check out the Outta the Way Zine, Volume 7: Southern York County. }