Scene and Heard: Jordan Pacheco’s Provoked

Don’t lose faith in the Paranormal!

Hey folks! In my last column I wrote about Villanelle, one of the three  films chosen to premier on Full Moon Streaming’s newest extension, called Wizard Studios. It sort of Provoked me to write my new column rather soon, because a new film has been picked up from RI, and marks another coup for the film making community here.  This film will also will be on the roster at Full Moon Streaming, and the film is called, you guessed it, Provoked.

Provoked is the brain child of writer/director Jordan Pacheco (no relation). The story follows a group of amateur paranormal investigators who, despite working for months on a case, have never found any proof of anything like this happening. During the group’s most recent jaunt they come up empty, causing Matt, one of the investigators, to lose faith in the whole existence of the paranormal. Matt attempts to provoke the spirits through some very risky behavior, which at first seems to produce nothing. However, while on his way home, the investigating equipment starts to register at its highest level. Matt has indeed been answered, and things go from bad to worse for him and his girlfriend as they attempt to defend his home against these ghastly intruders.

It’s interesting to note here that Pacheco is an actual paranormal investigator, and after the first day of filming, cast member Jami Tennille, along with director Pacheco, producer David Langill, and crew member AJ went back the following day and performed an actual paranormal investigation at the Lizzie Borden House. You know the place, the one where it is alleged that dear Lizzie took an axe and gave her parents a number of whacks … yes, that one. It just happened to serve as a main location for the film. Great idea for a flick with bad energy running through it, wouldn’t you say?

In addition, Pacheco wrote the film with horror icon Tony Moran (he plays Doug) in mind, and Tony signed onto the project in 2012. Many RI and MA actors  also appear in Provoked – Jeanne Lohnes, our own NE Kids Actors Group  kid (the group I founded with Natasha Colonero) Charlie Tacker, Camille Farnan, Jamie Tennille,  Kati Salowsky and more. See the full cast and crew at the IMDb page here: imdb.com/title/tt2360586/?ref_=ttpl_pl_tt

This was no easy road for Pacheco, though. He spent 10 years doing other things that had nothing to do with film, and finally refused to settle for a life that did not suit or excite him. When he first started out, he looked for a way to break into film, and did so by learning some basic FX /makeup effects. Not long after, Jordan met Eric Rodrigues, who just happens to be a distant cousin of Lizzie Borden. Eric learned his craft from the Tom Savini Special Make-Up Effects Program. The two then worked for RI directors Richard Marr-Griffin and Rick LaPrade (the writer and director of Villanelle. Pacheco built a network of talented film professionals while working on seven features, and felt it was time to create his own film.

Remember, he’s a paranormal investigator too, so he had this fear that someday a not-so-friendly entity might decide to follow him home, a perfect inspiration for his first film. Pacheco then teamed up with Langill and Griffin as cinematographer/editor, and Provoked was born. His dream was now a reality. Pacheco and Langill have teamed up again for Dead Bounty, a zombie flick, and are in pre-production on their third feature.

Provoked will premier online at Full Moon Streaming on March 7 and you can see it here: fullmoonstreaming.com/wizard-movies/provoked .  I am pretty confident that Provoked will get the full distro deal and be available on all platforms, but you can certainly help by going to that aforementioned URL for Full Moon, and sign up for 3 months. In the meantime, you can follow Jordan Pacheco on Twitter @HauntedDirector  or you can visit the website for the film here: provokedfilm.com/

Oh, and it might be wise to heed Pacheco’s words when it comes to the dead — DON’T anger them.