As bloody mayhem unfolds in the upcoming movie “The Time Capsule,” Delaware viewers may notice something about the island setting that seems oddly familiar.
If all goes according to plan, the independent slasher horror film, set in the 1990s and offering a nostalgic nod to the campy classics of the era, will feature scenes of an ill-fated weekend, shot on location in Slaughter Beach.
The story will feature a group of friends getting together on an island for one last beach house vacation, says director Matt Bucurel, who is based in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. A tropical storm unearths a chest, and with it a secret history.
“(This) group of friends are going to find out really quickly they should have probably left that box alone,” Bucurel says.
Producer Jillian Russo, who vacationed in the area during the summer as a kid, immediately thought of the location when she read the film script. “I know the perfect location,” she told the crew.
There’s the name too. It’s a quiet town, perhaps best known for having beaches where horseshoe crabs lay eggs. But Slaughter Beach does have a fitting ring to it if you’re looking for a place to film a horror movie.
Bucurel and Russo chose many actors from the region and also offered local residents a chance to work as extras.
Town leadership was enthusiastic, Russo says. They had to film in February and March to work around those iconic horseshoe crabs. They’re also shooting some of the movie at Sun Center Studios in Aston, Pennsylvania, hoping to finish that stage of production by the end of the summer and release the movie as early as 2027.
“What I’m seeing from Delaware is that when you put your heart and soul into a project like this,” Bucurel says, “the community’s going to get behind you 100%.”
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