Last year, New Jersey natives, Jeff Heimbuch and Michael Santo Scardillo, produced Leeds Point, a film about the legend of the Jersey Devil who is said to haunt the Pine Barrens of South Jersey. This year, the film won the “Home Grown Horror” and “Audience Choice” awards at the Garden State Film Festival.

With less than $3,000 and no crew, Scardillo and Heimbuch (who began his filming career at William Patterson University) wrote, filmed, directed, and edited the film in 5 months. The plotline is nothing new—campers disappear in the woods and afterwards, people start pointing fingers. However this time, the culprit is no human; it is an unknown being which people refer to as the Jersey Devil.

New Jersey audiences should be quite familiar with the story behind the monster. Supposedly there have been sightings from the mid-1800s up until now (the most recent in January 2008). A website called “The Devil Hunters” claims to be “The Official Researchers of the Jersey Devil.” There are some New Jerseyans who are, needless to say, obsessed.

As legend has it, the Jersey Devil, or Leeds Devil, is a flying creature with a head like a horse, a giraffe-like neck, huge bat wings, long skinny legs, hooves, and a height that ranges from three to seven feet. Its most remarkable feature is perhaps its high-pitched scream.

The devil dates back to a Native American legend about a dragon, but the most commonly known story begins with its mother. In short, Mother Leeds had 12 children but the 13th child was allegedly fathered by the devil. After the baby was born, it transformed into the creature it is known to be today and has been haunting New Jersey ever since. More information about the legend and sightings can be found on “The Devil Hunters” website.

Leeds Point does not seem to focus as much attention on the origins of the legend but rather on the creature itself. Heimbuch and Scardillo are currently in the process of finding a distributor for their film so keep an eye out for Leeds Point later this year—hopefully in time for Halloween.