Lady Belladonna: The Clandestine Queen of Camp

Lady Belladonna’s Tales from the Inferno premieres Friday, October 5 at the Telshor 12 Cinemas at 7:30 p.m. in Las Cruces, 2811 N. Telshor Blvd as part of the Borderlands Film Festival. This latest feature-length film by writer/director David Salcido, in association with Borderlands Media and PRC Productions, is the highly anticipated follow up to Lady Belladonna’s Nightshades.

Both films are anthologies that center on the character of Lady Belladonna (played by Tawnya Bass), the self-described “top soul broker of the Abyss.” She, along with her minion Addy (played by Donny Prosise), weave a deliciously dark theme through a collection of separate short films whose plots take up various positions on a violence, murder and revenge-filled spectrum.

In this latest installment Bass and Prosise must contend with Ed Wood (portrayed by Rafael Medina), the king of campy, kitschy B movies, who throws a monkey wrench into Lady Belladonna’s shady dealings by presenting her with an offer she can’t refuse.

“This film follows the same formula as the first,” Salcido said. “Lady Belladonna is the top soul broker and as always, she has distractions to deal with. This time the crisis to deal with is filmmaker Ed Wood.”

Salcido admitted he chose Wood as the foil character simply because the film auteur is one of his heroes.

“I love his movies,” he said. “It’s just one of those weird, kitschy things; he’s so terrible.”

The press release for the film describes it as “Interspersed with never-before-seen stories of vampire vengeance, misplaced curses, alien invasions and more tantalizing trips beyond the veil . . .”

Cheeky, low brow humor, a high camp factor and exceptional special effects create a rich, textured story line and exponentially raise the Wow appeal.

“This is Lady Belladonna’s domain as I always envisioned it,” Salcido said. “I can’t wait to put it in front of audiences and, hopefully, build upon the fan base we’ve already established.”

Salcido plans to premier the film in Phoenix later this month. He added the press generated from both premieres will help get the movie added to the rosters of micro cinemas throughout the country.

The Borderlands Film Festival kicked off earlier this month. It’s held at the Telshor 12 Cinemas.

Tickets may be purchased through the website at www.BorderlandsFilmFestival.org or at the Telshor 12 box office. To find out more about PRC Productions and the films distributed by Borderlands Media LLC, visit the websites at www.PRC-Productions.com and www.BorderlandsMedia.com or call 575-646-5214.