Lake Lanier is, without question, one of Georgia’s most famous landmarks, but it hides a very dark secret below its surface. The filmmakers behind the upcoming indie horror film Lanier, whose new teaser trailer has been released, are using the lake’s real, dark history as a basis for their story.
.
Written and directed by William Eric Anderson and Cindy Estenfanie Kunz-Anderson, the film stars Shekeb Sekander, Jarrett Collins, Ali Ashtigo, and Chris Johnson.
In the film, “A detective is forced to come to a realization of the dark truths hidden at the bottom of Lake Lanier.”
Before you see the movie, there are a few things you should know about Lanier’s infamous history. Before construction began on the Buford Dam, the area was the location of Oscarville, a thriving black community, until one event sent things spiraling out of control, ending in bloodshed and a town sunk beneath the depths of the Georgia lake.
Residents of Oscarville
In 1912, a 19-year-old white woman named Mae Crow was found raped and murdered in the woods just outside of Oscarville. Two suspects were arrested, Ernest Knox and Robert Edwards. Knox was sent to a jail in Atlanta. However, Edwards wasn’t so lucky. He was pulled from the local jail by a white mob from nearby towns and was beaten to death before they hung his limp, blood-drenched body from a light pole in the center of town for all to see. But things didn’t stop there. Blinded by hate and ignorance, the mob laid siege to Oscarville. Homes and businesses were burned to the ground, people were brutely murdered, and all 1,098 black residents were driven out of their homes and the town, never to return. This spelled the end of Oscarville.
By 1946 congress had given its blessing to build the Buford Dam. After years of construction, in 1956, the land was flooded, and the town of Oscarviller was hidden under the 59 square mile lake as if they were trying to erase the town’s existence from history.
Oscarville Graveyard Underwater
That’s not the end of the troubles for the area, which currently sees an average of 10 million visitors a year. Since its construction, Lake Lanier has taken over 500 lives. So it’s no surprise there are legends and rumors that the lake and the surrounding land are both cursed and haunted.
Combining history and horror, the director, co-writer, and producer of the film simply titled Lanier, William Eric Anderson, aims to do the memory of Oscarville justice while giving viewers a scare.
There’s nothing more fearful than a real-life intruder coming inside your home. You think they’re on the outside, but they may already be inside. Just the idea of that real-life horror — that’s what really drove me, aside from anything paranormal, because the best horror movies are the movies that could actually happen to you.”
Co-writer and producer Cindy Kunz-Anderson wants to tackle the dark history lurking beneath the water by exploring the long-reported paranormal activity associated with Lake Lanier, as well as the many injuries, disappearances, and incidents involving the spirits that may be seeking retribution for the crimes committed in Oscarville.
There’s a lot of ‘accidents’ and drownings that happen here, and there’s a lot of people that take that very lightly,” she said. “[Lake Lanier] isn’t all fun and games like people think it is; it can be very dangerous.”
That’s what makes Lake Lanier so mysterious, we know about Oscarville, but we don’t know … other things that have happened there that are just evil,” he said. “I think that’s why we still hear about drownings happening today. We hear about deaths happening, we hear about disappearances — the whole nine, in my opinion, is because of the past.” William Eric Anderson states.
Hopefully, the filmmakers don’t use the horrific history of the people and the town as just a gimmick. We’ll find out soon enough. Lanier surfaces on VOD on September 16, 2023.
