American Comedy Horror Film GUNFIGHTER PARADISE Premieres in New York and Los Angeles
New York: February 27 – 28, AMC Lincoln Square 13
Los Angeles: March 6 – 12: Laemmle Glendale
Q&As to follow
In Jethro Waters’ new comedy horror film a camouflaged man
returns to the rural family home as the fabric of his reality disintegrates.
Guided by the voice of God and stocked up with ammunition,
he considers his destiny.
GUNFIGHTER PARADISE is a dark comedy centered around Christian Fundamentalism and the rising tide of Christo-Fascism in the United States. Set in the very unfortunate here and now of the southern United States, where neighbors have become the “other,” this satire blends comedy and horror to explore the cultural Frankenstein of irreconcilable American ideologies.
A hunter returns home to North Carolina with a mysterious green case. Following the death of his mother, he settles back into the family home where his mind begins to disintegrate. Stalked by divine voices and unholy visions, guided by disquiet, his mother’s hand written riddles, and strange visitors further complicate an already splintering mind. A cable man, a mummified cat, zealous neighbors, and a killer swirl through this darkly comic southern gumbo.
Starring Jessica Hecht, a Primetime Emmy and Tony Nominated actress known for her roles in BREAKING BAD, FRIENDS, THE BOYS, SUCCESSION, SUMMER 1976 and numerous other roles in TV, Film, and plays on and off Broadway.
Writer & Director Jethro Waters, is an Emmy Award Winning filmmaker whose documentary feature F11 AND BE THERE was a New York Times Critic’s Pick and his music video work with John Cale, Angel Olsen, and many others has reached many millions of viewers. Executive Producer Nancy Buirski is a Pulitzer Prize, Emmy Award, and Peabody Winning director, producer, and photographer. She is also the founder of the renowned Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, NC. Producer Sara Ayele is a Producer and actress from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A longtime collaborator of Jethro Waters, she played the lead in “Yene Fikir” which premiered at MASS MoCA and was in the official selection at Sidewalk Film Festival 2020.
CRITICAL ACCLAIM!
“Gunfighter Paradise is a glorious film to behold.” – Richard Propes for The Independent Critic
“Gunfighter Paradise is gothic comedy done right…an equally beautiful and disturbing portrait of spiritual insanity.”
– Morgan Rojas for Cinemacy
“Jethro Waters’s darkly comic dissection of America and masculinity is truly one of the most unique and bizarre dark comedies to come out of the independent circuit.”
– Felix Vasquez for Cinema Crazed
“Writer and Director Jethro Waters masterfully employs a unique brand of dark humor. The picture looks excellent and the cast is killer.” – Bobby LePire for Film Threat
“This flick bravely goes off the beaten track to produce something relatively unique.” – Ronak Kotecha for ReviewRon
“With Gunfighter Paradise, director Jethro Waters has crafted a gauzy, eerily romantic, and disquieting picture about loss, regret, and the dark and twisted capacities of the human mind. It’s a riveting debut feature and the type of grass roots Americana that would make Altman and Lynch extremely proud.” – MAKE BELIEVE SEATTLE
“Many films have been made about the rural American South, often by people who have no understanding or sense of its history, culture, and traditions. The result is often phony pastiche. Not so with GUNFIGHTER PARADISE. Writer/Director Jethro Waters understands it, and portrays it through an unflinching, critical, yet also sympathetic gaze. This is a film as beautiful as it is disturbing. As horrific as it is comedic. It resonates with a genuine understanding of human nature, particularly our violent and religious drives and impulses.”
– DEAN BERTRAM, PhD
