Horror movie to film in Yuma

The Hotel Del Sol will be the site of horrific murders later this summer. Local film company Rampant Entertainment will be on site to shoot the movie "Renovation," which will chronicle the terrible fate of a group who decide to stay the night in the spooky old building.
 
"Twenty years ago eight men were involved in the Okie Town Bank Heist and got away with $10 million dollars," said film writer-producer Charles Pisaeno, explaining the history of the movie. "Two of them were arrested, but the other six disappeared. One of the men that was arrested and sentenced to prison was also the proprietor of the Hotel Del Sol, and the keeper of the money."
 
Pisaeno said, in the movie, the hotel has been abandoned for 20 years, and has just recently been purchased by a group of house flippers who renovate houses and sell them for profit. They have just finished a project, and decide they want to sink their teeth into something more daunting. As they buy the hotel, rumors of the lost millions start to circulate.
 
Tragically for the group, they make the profoundly idiotic mistake of locking themselves into the old building, where one by one, each is picked off and exterminated by the mystery murderer.
 
Rampant Entertainment was given permission by the City of Yuma to use the facility.
 
Originally opened in 1926, the three-story hotel at 300 Gila St. is a familiar fixture downtown. Hotel Del Sol has Spanish colonial architecture and it first welcomed guests as the Hotel Del Ming named in honor of former mayor F.S. Ming. It is currently owned by the City of Yuma.
 
It has been abandoned since the 1980s, but has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.
 
"This is a building not being used, and I think the script will go well with the location," said Pete Erlenbach, City Economic Development Director.
 
"It is a beautiful facility in desperate need of repair. It certainly has character. Maybe this film will bring added attention to the building and will help add extra money and contributions to renovation. The concept is a certain percentage of the profits from the film will be given to the city, but the contract is still in the works."
 
Robert Gwinn, the film's director, is a Yuma High alumnus, and has made other low budget films in the area.
 
"I enrolled at the Art Institute of Las Vegas, and graduated in '07 with a bachelors degree in visual effects," Gwinn said. "I made several short films before moving back to Yuma last year."
 
Gwinn said film is a great American pastime.
 
"Film is a reflection of our culture. When you look at films throughout the decades, they mirror where the people are as a culture and in their lives," he said. "It is a picture of who we are. I am also an escapist and sitting in a dark theater for a few hours helps me forget the world for a while."
 
The Sun will provide continuing coverage and updates of this film until its completion.
 
For more information log onto www.rampantentertainment.com.