Independent filmmaker Nick Kitchens premiers an adaptation of Man From The South with a cast of local actors.

After viewing an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents that adapted Roald Dahl’s short story "Man From The South," independent filmmaker Nick Kitchens was left wanting. “I wasn’t pleased with the tension. I thought it could be stretched a little more,” he says.

Kitchens went to work gathering a cast of other local actors, set his camera to black and white, and created a darker rendition of the short story, which he calls The Man From The South—adding “the” at the beginning of the title.

Rather than setting the story by a pool outside a casino hall in the daytime, like the TV version with Steve McQueen and Peter Lorre, Kitchens’ film is set at night.

The same bet is made: A young gambler is challenged by a man named Carlos, the titular character, with lighting his Zippo lighter ten times. If he is able, he wins $10,000 (the original story was a Cadillac car), but if he loses, his pinky finger is chopped off.

Monterey County locals are cast in the 20-minute film, with Maddox Haberdasher playing Carlos, Andrew Renteria as the gambler, plus Samantha Barnettt and Les Roberts in supporting roles.

Music for the film is performed by local “bad boys of R&B” Glenn Bell and Schuyler Horn, who form the band SEA.LVL. But though Kitchens has been making films for most of his life, this short story is the first narrative film he’s made in over a decade.

“I tried to make it scarier than Roald Dahl had it,” Kitchens says, explaining that his story took a few drafts to get it right. “I was trying to make it as intense as possible."

One alteration that Kitchens made was to remove characters surrounding the gambler during the bet. He explains that there are other characters essentially rooting for the gambler in the original version of the story, which dilutes the suspense. In Kitchens’ adaptation, it’s just Renteria versus Haberdasher onscreen surrounded by darkness and without color saturation.

Kitchens is used to making films for others or for himself, but with the help of Haberdasher the movie will premier on Thursday, Sept. 17 at Monterey Touring Vehicles in Monterey.

While the car-centered setting for the film’s debut is purely coincidental and not an homage to the prize the gambler is striving for in the original story, the venue allows for a drive-in setting for attendees if they want. Goers who opt for the latter can view the film while sitting in one of MTV’s vehicles. The film has also been accepted into the Pinnacles Film Festival in King City, where it will be exposed to another audience on Oct. 10.

The Man From The South premiers 6:30pm, Thursday, Sept. 17 at Monterey Touring Vehicles, 2228 Del Monte Ave, Monterey. $25, $35 for drive-in experience.