On a Dark and Bloody Ground is the latest film from writer and director Nathan Thomas Milliner, and it looks to be one of his most personal and haunting stories yet. Also, the film is produced by Ken Daniels, who has produced countless other projects like Wicked Ones, They See You, and Phantom Fun-World. Set deep in the heart of Kentucky, the film explores a land scarred by violence, legend, and buried secrets that refuse to stay quiet. Milliner, known for his love of classic horror and strong character work, takes audiences on a dark journey where the past bleeds into the present. It is a story about grief, vengeance, and the way history can haunt a place and the people who call it home. Especially to those familiar with going down to the country and south.
In 1986, the town of Miller’s End, Kentucky, was plagued by a sinister force. As more residents fall prey to this dark presence, a determined lawman and a grieving father join forces to uncover the truth and protect their community. Filled with all kinds of monsters and an ever expanding story, you’re in for a real treat.
I had the chance to have a personal screening of the film and I was hooked from the beginning to end. “I grew up in the 70s and 80s on a healthy diet of Spielberg and King,” Milliner says, “and the rural horror stories by Stephen King always hit hard for me. My family comes from rural Kentucky, though I grew up in the suburbs of Louisville. Visiting the country felt like stepping into a whole other world—and sometimes, a scary one.” That contrast between the safety of the suburbs and the haunting mystery of the countryside stayed with him, planting the early seeds of the story he would one day tell.
Milliner’s love for Kentucky folklore and horror began taking shape in high school, where he wrote short stories based on family ghost tales, personal fears, and anything that sparked his imagination. Years later, after the film Volumes of Blood, he began developing a segment for the sequel. “I pulled from two of those old stories a werewolf story and a zombie story but mashed them together, and rewrote a lot of it. I loved the script, then called The Dark and Bloody Ground, but I realized it felt like the third act of a larger story.” That realization pushed him to dig deeper into his archive of old stories, eventually landing on a vampire tale that would become the film’s opening. Over the next two years, he stitched together several ideas into a single narrative that would grow into a fully formed feature. It truly is an epic of the indie horror world. Something that I believe is strongly needed in the genre.
It’s so great to see this as a love letter to a dozen of films that could fit so well with one another. Pet Sematary, IT, Cujo, Silver Bullet, The Shining, and Children of the Corn. He was also raised on Spielberg films like Jaws, E.T., and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the kinds of movies that made you feel something. Alongside those were cult horror favorites like Pumpkinhead, The Evil Dead, Dark Night of the Scarecrow, and Halloween. But it was not just horror that left a mark. Films like No Country for Old Men, At Close Range, The Wild Bunch, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly stuck with him for their grit and emotional weight. “I wanted to make something that felt like those movies,” he says. And boy does it fit very well.
Milliner’s goal with On a Dark and Bloody Ground was to capture the spirit of the movies he grew up with, the films that were not just scary, but also deeply emotional and character driven. “I wanted to make something that felt like the movies from the 80s,” he says. “The ones that scared you, moved you, and stayed with you.” At its core, the film is about fear—not just the kind that lurks in the dark, but the kind that grows with us over time. “It is really about fatherhood, about the fears we carry from childhood into adulthood, and how those fears change as we grow. I wanted to explore that in a way that felt honest.” The film explores multiple deeper meanings with performances that are very touching.
A lot of times in indie horror, character development can be a hard thing for the average viewer to really get into. But for this film, you really want to see Sheriff Leslie Falk, played by Jason Hayes, to really get to the bottom of the strange murders and happenings in this sleepy town of southern Kentucky. The character of Pete James portrayed by Chad Zigmund, really makes you feel the love the father has for their children, and how men want to “fix” things that are out of our control. The cast is filled with actors/actresses and fans of this genre that wanted to make this vision come true for Nathan.
On a Dark and Bloody Ground isn’t just another horror film—it’s an epic. The kind of sweeping, emotional, and terrifying story that rarely gets made anymore. Clocking in at around two and a half hours, it refuses to play it safe or follow trends. Which I love and I know filmmakers around the world do too! Instead, it unfolds like a living, breathing thing, constantly evolving and shifting in tone, keeping viewers locked in from start to finish. There’s nothing else out there quite like it. It’s bold, personal, and unafraid to take its time telling a story that blends fear, heart, and atmosphere on a scale the genre rarely reaches.
I think it’s a perfect horror movie to watch as summer winds down and fall begins. The outside atmosphere really puts it into perspective and does it justice. Also, as a fellow Kentuckian, I’m glad we finally got a TRUE Kentucky horror film!
I highly recommend this film to horror fans who are always looking for something fresh and different. Movies like this don’t come around very often. With its comic book style, it stands out as one of my favorite recent horror films, especially within the indie scene.
