''Wicked Spring'' is a 2002 American historical-based dramatic

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that wa ...

directed, produced, and written by Kevin Hershberger, as his first narrative feature film. The fictional portrayal is based on several actual events from the American Civil War, notably fictionalizing an event that took place in 1862 during the Battle of Crampton's Gap. The film focuses on a Harrison Bolding, a

Confederate soldier The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

in 1864 who, at night and with two other soldiers from his company, becomes lost while in conflict at the

Battle of the Wilderness The Battle of the Wilderness was fought on May 5–7, 1864, during the American Civil War. It was the first battle of Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate ...

. The three meet and befriend a trio of

Union soldier During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

s that night, but don't realize it until the next morning when the six find themselves trapped between Union and Confederate defenses. ''Wicked Spring'' had a budget of an estimated $500,000, and while initially screening only at film festivals, aired for the first time on ABC Television WJRT in June 2005. The film was produced by Richard J. Perry (DJ Perry) and executive-produced by Leonard J. Krawezyk for LionHeart FilmWorks, and the

MPAA The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...

rated the film PG-13.

Plot

In 1861, Harrison Bolding (Brian Merrick) bid farewell to his wife and went off to war. In 1864, during the

, as fighting wears down and night begins to fall, Bolding and two other soldiers, James Hogg (Terry Jernigan) and After Stand Kennerly ( Aaron Jackson) get separated from their company and in the darkness they become lost in the thick woods. They happen to run into three other soldiers, John Sunderlin ( DJ Perry), Augustus Elliot (Curtis Hall), and Pietro Brolo (Mark Lacy) without realizing they are soldiers from the opposite side. The six weary men socialize by the campfire, telling stories and sharing any food they have left. When the sun rises the next morning, the soldiers realize they are from different sides of the conflict. As tensions grow, they are also stuck in between the rest of the Confederate and Union soldiers, approaching each other. The two sides come closer and closer, before firing simultaneously. The barrage of fire kills all the men, ending the movie.

Cast

* Brian Merrick as Harrison Bolding * Terry Jernigan as James Hogg * Aaron Jackson as After Stand Kennerly * DJ Perry as John Sunderlin * Curtis Hall as Augustus Elliot * Mark Lacy as Pietro Brolo * Rebecca Lawlor as Parthenia Sunderlin * Lindsey Ingram as Virginia Gordon * Rebecca Lawlor as Parthenia Sunderlin * John D. Pagano as Confederate Major * Anthony Hornus as Union Colonel Holden

Production

The Battle of the Wilderness took place in Spotsylvania and

Orange County, Virginia Orange County is a county (United States), county located in the Piedmont region of Virginia, Central Piedmont region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was ...

. While all filming was shot in Virginia, none occurred at the actual battle site. Filming was conducted over 29 total days between January and August 2000 at five different locations throughout Virginia. Total cast includes approximately 100 actors and re-enactors from across the United States. Director Kevin Hershberger reunited almost the entire cast and crew from his previous short film, "The Nest" for the production of ''Wicked Spring''. Production was confirmed in December 1999, with announcement of plans to film in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

during 2000. To maximize the budget, filming was broken up over most of 2000. The opening of the picture was shot over several days in January 2000, then production broke while the actors grew beards and longer hair and lost weight to film the battle scenes at the end of March and early April 2000. Gathering additional budget money, the production then shot in May 2000 for all of the character scenes of meeting in the woods at night, campfire and morning wake up before the next day's battle. With rain and other natural elements disrupting filming, production shot for an additional 3 days in August 2000 (at a different filming location) to finish out the film, shooting the important "letter writing" sequence which is important for the end of the second act. The band Carbon Leaf wrote "Dear" as an original song for the movie's closing credits. The song appears as a hidden track on their 2001 album ''Echo, Echo''.
."LionHeart FilmWorks".

Recognition

Critical reception

Awards and nominations

* 2002, won 'Best Action Film' at New York Film Festival, New York International Film and TV Festival * 2002, won 'Best Feature Film - Action' Genre Award at New York International Independent Film & Video Festival * 2002, won 'Best Director Feature Film Award' at New York International Independent Film & Video Festival * 2002, won 'Michigan's Own Award' for 'Best Feature Film' at East Lansing Film Festival * 2002, won 'Best Cinematography' at Great Lakes International Film Festival * 2004, won 'Best Action/Drama' at

Los Angeles International Film Festival LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service (transportation), Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a ...

Filming locations

Fort Pickett Fort Pickett is a Virginia Army National Guard installation, located near the town of Blackstone, Virginia. Home of the Army National Guard Maneuver Training Center, Fort Pickett is named for the United States Army officer and Confederate G ...

( Blackstone, VA) * Frontier Culture Museum of Virginia (

Staunton, VA Staunton ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,750. In Virginia, independent cities are separate jurisdictions from the counties that surround them, so the government of ...

) *

Petersburg, VA Petersburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,458. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines Petersburg (along with the city of Colonial Heights) with Dinwi ...

* Science Museum of Virginia (

Richmond, VA (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

) * VMI (

Lexington, VA Lexington is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 7,320. It is the county seat of Rockbridge County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines t ...

)

References

External links

*
''Wicked Spring''
at

AllRovi RhythmOne , previously known as Blinkx, and also known as RhythmOne Group, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went pub ...

* {{IMDb title, 0235048
Making of an Independent Epic: ''Wicked Spring''
at Indieflix 2002 films American Civil War films American war films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films