Local artist Aaron Corbitt premiers movie 'Beware! The Hitchhiker' at Polk Theatre
Lakeland artist Aaron Corbitt loves to make people laugh. And this weekend, he's hoping to add some screams.
"Beware! The Hitchhiker," a comedy and horror film created by Corbitt and three friends – Tugce Erol, Phil Couture and Jon Thompson – premiers at the Polk Theatre on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
The idea for the film came from Corbitt, his brother and his friend, Couture, making films when they were kids.
“We were all artists, and instead of doing what other kids did, we made movies. This was one of the characters that we created as an excuse to test our imagination and have fun,” Corbitt said.
When Couture, who is also a lead in the movie, visited from Poland, they decided to revive their character.
“We thought wouldn’t it be fun if we made fun of all the reboots and the sequels. So why don’t we do our own as a joke? It just snowballed and blossomed into something much bigger than we expected,” Corbitt said.
Corbitt, 37, says horror is the easiest genre to create.
“Depending on your imagination, it’s a great excuse to do whatever you want within your means. It’s a great vehicle to play with any ideas you may have,” he said.
Corbitt is multifaceted as a filmmaker, musician and fine artist.
“Filmmaking lets you do all of them. It’s how I learned that I wanted to be a musician,” he said.
Corbitt’s target audience is not limited to adults. He looks forward to publishing the children’s books he has written and turning them into animated films.
“I want to do entertainment for all ages. I don’t want to keep anybody out of the fun because I love it all,” Corbitt said.
The showing at the Polk Theatre is the public premiere for "Beware! The Hitchhiker." Corbitt hopes to get the movie on Amazon and was invited to a film festival in Tampa.
The film is rated R for violence, language and nudity. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at www.polktheatre.org.
Breanna A. Rittman writes news features for The Ledger. Send your feature ideas to BRittman@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Local artist premiers comedy/horror film at Polk Theatre on Saturday
