Wally Kennedy loves to dig for the naked truth in a story. Last week, the longtime Globe reporter — who has spent years covering environmental issues in and around the town of Picher — discovered a story of a different kind.

Apparently, several locations — including a deserted church — in the almost abandoned community were being used by a movie company, deathfactoryinc.com, to film a hard-core horror film titled “Bad Girls Burn in Hell.” Once news of the flick made it around town, and locals took time to check out the company’s Web site, it wasn’t long until “Bad Girls” was forced to shut down production in Picher. Is “Bad Girls” pornography? Or, is it just another “B” movie destined for the bargain bin at a video store? The folks online at joplinglobe.com all seemed to have an opinion.

“The way the town sees it, they are not getting a ‘slice of the pie.’ They are using the excuse of it being ‘pornography’ to force the issue. WHO is it really going to offend when no one is living there anymore? This area is nothing but a ghost town, so why would they complain? They just want compensation. Besides, do they really own the land? Was it our tax money that paid for these buyouts? If so, then who really owns the land? We the people, not the trust. So, if we the people are O.K. with it, that should be the end of it.”

— GREED, GREED, GREED

‘Who cares about this?’

“Whether it’s over greed or sex, people should not want this sort of film to be made. It really shows the low sink of debauchery that society is sinking to. Why would anyone with any values want to film, much less watch garbage like this? Filming this sort of lowlife film in a church shows that obviously they have no respect or fear of God.”

— watching society sink

“Oh for Pete’s sake! The producers obviously have little sense. The participants in this filming ought to be concerned for their health and safety, as should the powers that be. The makers of the flicks are smart enough not to talk about what they’re doing or where. Just another example of the busybody attitudes so prevalent in this area!”

— IntoTheLight

“N.E. Oklahoma is set to be a laughing stock once again. A B-grade horror film just ain’t settin’ too well with the God Squad of the Shiite Baptist Right. Why worry about Islam when we have homegrown.”

— Toddlin’ Tommy Tupper, sheep auctioneer

“My fellow Christians, how can we desire the government to stay out of our lives when we ourselves promote their intervention? Movies like this sicken me regardless if it’s pornography or so-called horror, but if this local government feels like it can stop good money going to good people simply due to hearsay, what’s to stop them from stopping something else? Let God make the final judgment, not government.”

— RS

“Why are people in this area so scared of boobies? I like boobies, and am all for them.”

— Anonymous

Film cast, crew chime in

As the anti-“Bad Girls” comments stacked up, members of the movies cast and crew — several of whom have local ties — mounted a counteroffensive. A Globe blogger posted a link to Kennedy’s story online and his viewership shot up. It didn’t seem to matter, however. Minds were made up. “Bad Girls” are not welcome in Picher, but are great fodder in The Globe’s comments forum.

“I am speechless! I am a California resident, but Oklahoma-born. I am also a cast member of “Bad Girls Burn in Hell.” Not one person has taken the time to find out what we are really doing. I am a Northeast Oklahoma A&M; College theater alum who recently moved to Los Angeles to better myself as an actor. The fact is you took one of your own and publicly humiliated him. Film in Oklahoma could be such a great thing! Thanks Oklahoma for the great homecoming!”

— Chris Burchette



“I have helped numerous times with this film and am a part of the staff! There is absolutely nothing else being done here than what you would see in an ‘R’ rated movie. What we have here are local bumpkins who think they own the town, trying to control what happens in a town that is no longer! Horror films are an important part of cinema legend such as “Friday the 13th” or “Halloween” or “Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”

— BigPoppa

“Oh, and one more thing folks: We sure were good enough to buy three generators from your local tractor supply store. We sure were good enough to support more than a dozen local restaurants for more than months time, thousands upon thousands of dollars each at that! Sure good enough to support your local hotels for lodging and small thrift businesses for some wardrobe. Among many others! Very dumb to push away business like that. Your loss! Very stupid!”

— Nick

“Thanks for the publicity. I’m just getting started ;).”

— Travis Miller





Dave Woods is new media editor at The Joplin Globe.