Holiday horror hit Nocona as Nine Ten Films and Delco-Cut Productions came to the area to shoot their film 'Sick for Toys'.

The film centers on the brother-sister team of Edward and Emilia, disturbed and emotionally stunted siblings who lost their parents and have lived in isolation since. The pair get into the holiday spirit by wreaking havoc and violence on the town. It was the idea of Nine Ten Films owner Jon Paul Bur­khart, a former Dallas resident, to film in Nocona. Burkhart reached out to an old friend to see if the family of local artist and rancher Don MacLaughlin still owned the family's old ranch, telling Times Record News,

His answer was, oh yes, it has two houses on it now. I sent a letter to Don and they said yes, we would love for you to come out and look. I came out with Justin Xavier. We were walking around and Justin kept saying ‘I wrote this.’ And so it was pretty clear almost immediately that we wanted to shoot here.

Apart from producing the film, Burkhart will also be appearing in the film as Edward. Burkhart is no stranger to acting, having worked on FX's 'American Horror Story'. David Gunning, owner of Delco-Cut Productions, will also appear in the film as Roy, described as a good guy who is in the wrong place at the wrong time. Like Burkhart, Gunning has experience in television, having appeared on 'NCIS'. The film is being directed by David Del Rio, who appeared in 'Pitch Perfect' and 'Grease Live'. Del Rio said of working with producers who are also acting,

The idea of the work­ing actors also being the producers scares a lot of directors. I’ve been on a lot of film sets and this is the most organized effort I’ve ever been a part of, including some of the bigger pro­ductions.

Apart from filming on the MacLaughlin ranch, Del Rio and the crew filmed in downtown Nocona, where businesses agreed to keep their holiday decorations up. Other filming locations included Daddy Sam’s Saloon, Nocona General Hospital and Gibbs Drug and Gifts, Red River Pizzeria, and Red River Station Inn. Burkhart praised the response of the town to the production,

The city was wonder­ful, I dealt with Revell Hardison (city secretary) and she was great. I’m so happy we’re here, as matter of a fact we’re looking at do­ing another project here. We’ve had so much fun, and it’s not always fun. Sometimes it’s very difficult and this has been fun work.

Once primary filming wraps, the movie will go into the editing phase. After that, Del Rio said it could take years for the film to be distributed. However, services like Netflix and Hulu are giving filmmakers other avenues of distribution to explore.

You can check out the film's details on IMDB.

Sick for Toys movie nocona
Nine Ten Films / Delco-Cut Productions
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