VelociPastor 2 Wraps Principal Photography

10/05/2023 06:56 am EDT

VelociPastor 2 wrapped principal photography on Wednesday night. The indie film, funded partially by crowdfunding, is a sequel to the 2019 instant cult-classic The VelociPastor, and stars Greg Cohan and Alyssa Kempinski, reprising their roles as Father Doug Jones and Carol, a "hooker/doctor/lawyer." ComicBook.com paid a visit to the set of VelociPastor 2, and will have some interviews and photos to share once the films' release inches closer. At present, it is not yet clear who will distribute VelociPastor 2 or when it will be made available, with director Jesse Gouldsbury saying in September that they are still in conversations with potential distributors. Production took place over five weeks in and around New York.

In Velocipastor, priest Doug Jones (Gregory James Cohan) becomes infected by a curse in China, resulting in him turning into a Velociraptor when he becomes angry. Working with a prostitute the dinosaur saves (Alyssa Kempinski), Father Jones decides to kill criminals, including drug-dealing ninjas, by using his transformation. By the end of the movie, the initial wave of ninjas are defeated, but Doug has a price on his head. That's where the sequel picks up.

Announcing the end of principal photography, star and producer Alyssa Kempinski took to Instagram, saying that production has been "the best five weeks of my life" and that "I can not wait to share this movie with you." During our time on set, Kempinski was helping production get a bridge location for a big showdown between Doug and some villains. That bridge was one of the final locations, used during yesterday's final day of filming.

Inspired by Italian Giallo films, folk horror, and '80s cold war movies, the sequel to The VelociPastor is explicitly set in the 1980s, as opposed to the first movie, which took place in the 1970s, but did not include any in-story events or references that would have made that clear, leaving the audience to wonder whether it was a period piece, or just a movie made to look "timeless."

Here's the synopsis for VelociPastor 2:

Doug and Carol travel to the port city of Milan, where they have to solve a series of murders committed by a masked slasher at an Italian Fertility Festival. And Soviet Spies. INTERPOL's there, too. 

Original VelociPastor writer/director Brendan Steere will return as writer and producer, tapping Jesse Gouldsbury, who served as a producer on the first movie, to co-write and direct. Most of the crew from the original movie returned, including Emmy-winning makeup and prosthetics artist Jennifer Suarez, fresh off some work on The Walking Dead: Dead City.

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