Harlan County horror movie fans have a special treat to look forward to soon. A hometown girl has earned the lead role in an upcoming horror feature.

Harlan native Ashe Parker has secured the lead role – her first – in an upcoming horror sequel currently shooting under the title D.F.I.T.W. The film began shooting in Ohio this week.

Parker explained how she landed the job.

“I was actually looking at another director’s projects,” Parker said. “He mentioned the director of this film, Shawn Burkett, may need someone, so I contacted the director personally.”

Parker said Burkett was also considering an actress from Los Angeles for the role when she contacted him.

“They offered the role to me, and I’m really excited about it,” Parker said. “I’ve always wanted to be in a horror film.”

Parker will fill the role of Nurse Vanessa, the head nurse at a summer camp.

“We’ll be filming on location in Oxford, Ohio,” Parker said. “They’re putting us all up in the cabins.”

Staying in the cabins may lead to some on set joking around, Parker said.

“Knowing that group they will probably be pulling a lot of pranks on people, trying to scare them,” she said.

While this is her first lead role, Parker has previously worked in the horror film genre.

“I’ve done the SyFy comedy Piranha Sharks, and I’ve done several of the murder reenactment television shows such as Homicide Hunter with Detective Joe Kenda and Killer Couples on the Oxygen Network,” Parker said. “It seems like I’ve always played a victim, but I did play a murderer in one show.”

Working in a lead role does present different challenges.

“There’s definitely more to memorize,” Parker said. “A good thing about films is you can do it your own way as long as the director is cool with it, and it’s easy for me to put myself in a situation where it comes natural. We’ve got 98 pages of script, and I’m on almost every page. A lot of the reenactment shows I’ve done don’t even require speaking, so there’s a huge difference there.”

This role will also utilize a large number of special effects.

“I’ve seen the teeth they’re using for the creature,” Parker said. “It’s really cool, the way they design things. There will be a lot of blood and things like that.”

Parker pointed out movies require a lot of production work that isn’t exactly glamorous.

“You may set in a makeup chair three to four hours just becoming a bloody mess,” Parker said.

The shooting schedule is expected to last six days, wrapping up in approximately one week’s time. The film is by Burkett and Cheyenne Gordon.

For more information about Parker, go to her website at http://www.asheparker.com/