West Virginia native premieres film ‘Dark Hollow’ at Beckley’s Marquee Cinemas

By Dakota Baker, RealWV

BECKLEY, W.Va — Filmmaker Daniel Byers brings his passion for storytelling, horror, and Appalachian culture together in his new independent film, Dark Hollow, which honors the state’s history, beauty, and people.

Daniel Byers’ Background and Education

Daniel Byers grew up in Pendleton County, W.Va., and once he graduated from high school, he went on to attend Brown University in Rhode Island. From there, he attended graduate school at Columbia University, where he studied screenwriting and directing for three and a half years. Byers began his career in film as a documentary filmmaker, traveling to 60 different countries while working with National Geographic filming large predator species such as lions, tigers, and wolves. 

A Childhood Interest in Storytelling and Monsters

When asked if he had always been interested in film as a career, Byers told RealWV that he was recently cleaning out his childhood bedroom and he found his first recorded book he had made when he was two years old. “I couldn’t write at the time so I dictated it to my mom, but I illustrated it. It was a compendium of monsters, 16 different monsters, and they would all fight until the best monster wins. So, I think even at that age I was interested in storytelling, monsters, and the combination of the written form with visual media. I spent a long time writing, doing visual art, and I was really into drawing growing up, which all kind of transitioned in high school and college into discovering film.” 

Returning to West Virginia to Create Dark Hollow

Always having an interest in monsters and horror movies, Byers was also making short films along the way. “This is what makes Dark Hollow so special,” Byers said. “It was the first time that I was able to come back to West Virginia to actually make a film.” 

From Eradication to Dark Hollow

Byers’ first feature film was released in 2022 on Tubi, called Eradication. The success of this film gave Byers the ability to raise the equity needed to come back and shoot Dark Hollow, his second feature film. 

West Virginia Culture and Cryptid Inspiration

Byers told RealWV he has always wanted to tell a West Virginia story. “Growing up here, I had been surrounded by both the incredible, unique landscape, that is as beautiful as anywhere on the planet, and also with all the culture, especially the cryptids. I grew up in a family that is obsessed with cryptids. My dad was always out looking for Bigfoot tracks… and my mother worked for the Department of Natural Resources, so she would get calls all the time about Bigfoot sightings and other conspiracy theories.” 

Exploring the History of Coal Mining in West Virginia

The stories he grew up hearing and his love for cryptids were a major inspiration for much of the dialogue in Dark Hollow. Byers grew up in West Virginia during the pit-mining boom of the 1990s, which was local to the Beckley area. Byers stated he was specifically excited to screen the film in the Beckley area, as a lot of the film was shot in the Beckley  Exhibition Coal Mine. This history has always been important to him and he wanted to tell a story based on that history. He wanted to explore what happened to the land, the people on that land, the water, the air, and how things were heavily impacted by that massive geoengineering project. It was important to Byers, that if he was going to tell a story based in West Virginia, he touched on that history and the culture. 

Showcasing West Virginia’s Landscapes

The majority of the project was filmed in West Virginia, including scenes at the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine and some shots on Spruce Knob. Byers wanted to showcase the state’s beautiful landscapes while challenging the film industry’s tendency to use Appalachia as a storyline without accurately portraying Appalachia’s distinctive scenery. 

Not Using the Same, Overplayed Appalachian Horror Storyline 

Byers also told RealWV, “It was important to me, as a West Virginian, not to do another Wrong Turn movie. Not to do another movie about outside city people coming in, and getting hunted down by inbred West Virginia cannibals. I wanted a story that was about West Virginians. They were the heroes, and it was from their point of view.” 

While there are different points of view in the film, Byers said the only real villains are the ones that come from outside, which reflects the state’s history. 

“I was interested in making a horror movie, but one that reflected the history a bit better, and one that was centered on West Virginia and from the point of view of West Virginians, without shying away from some of the hardships, but also dignifying and respecting the stories of the people who are from here, while trying to capture some of that surly West Virginia humor as well.” 

The Screenplay’s Origins and Austin Film Festival Win

The screenplay for Dark Hollow was originally titled “Paradise,” based on the song by John Prine about a boy going back to rural Kentucky and finding that the town he grew up in was gone because it had been strip-mined. The screenplay went on to win at the Austin Film Festival in 2023. 

Supporting West Virginia’s Local Talent

In addition to honoring West Virginia history, Byers worked with numerous cast and crew members who are West Virginia natives. Local cast members from the Elkins, Beckley, and Parkersburg areas came on board to play a number of crucial roles, as well as essential crew members on the production, special effects, and camera team. 

Byers emphasized the amount of talent in West Virginia: “There is so much talent in this state, and sometimes because it is kind of rural, it is distant from the main industry. So, sometimes people are not given the opportunity to use that talent on something like a movie. My experience here was overwhelmingly positive in terms of the quality of the work, the dedication, good humor, and the experience of working with the people in the state.” 

“I don’t think this movie is quite like any other movie, and that’s the way it should be,” Byers said. 

Next screening: Oct. 21 at Floralee Hark Cohen Cinema, 226 Capitol St., Charleston, W.Va. 

Check out the movie’s website: https://darkhollowmovie.com/