WOODSTOCK, VA (Rocktown Now) – Two free public screenings of “The Hitchhiker Effect,” a feature film shot in Woodstock, will be presented on Friday, Oct. 3, at 9 p.m., and Saturday, Oct. 4, at 2 p.m. in the historic Community Theatre located at 136 N. Main Street in Woodstock.

The first showing of the 76-minute paranormal dramedy will begin at the conclusion of the town’s Wander Woodstock event held Friday, Oct. 3, from 5-9 p.m. on Main Street.  The Community Theatre lobby will open at 8 p.m., an hour before the 9 p.m. screening.  On Saturday, the lobby will open at 1 p.m., an hour before the 2 p.m. matinee.  The film will be screened in the main theater and its 350 seats will be available on a first-come, first-seated basis. 

Another reason to arrive early for either screening: The film’s four lead actors – Michael Beardsley, Allyson Sereboff and John Bigham from Hollywood, and LaVerne Onike Chesson of Maurertown – will be on hand to meet the public and sign a limited number of mini film posters, available for free. 

“The Hitchhiker Effect” synopsis – A beleaguered conspiracy theorist in a contentious relationship struggles to understand the reality of paranormal events that begin when his eccentric neighbors drop by and refuse to leave.  (suggested rating: PG-13)

The film was written, directed and co-produced by Zack Van Eyck, 63, a member of the Central High School Class of 1980, in and outside the Shenandoah River cabin his family has owned since the 1960s.

“From fourth to eighth grade, we lived across from the theater in my grandparents’ house, now the law offices of Woodstock Mayor Jeremy McCleary,” said Van Eyck, a former sports and news journalist who served as the Shenandoah County bureau chief for the Northern Virginia Daily in Woodstock, 1990-91.  “My grandparents would give me a huge roll of movie tickets every year for my birthday in August, so I saw almost every fall and winter Friday night movie from 1971 to 1976.  And I mowed lawns, shoveled snow and babysat to earn money for more movie tickets.

“Directing my first feature and seeing it play in my home-town theater is a vision I’ve held for more than fifty years so this event means a lot to me personally.  I’m grateful to theater manager Shawn Garman and his family for making these screenings possible.  I also see the weekend as a tribute to the theater itself and what it’s meant to this community for the past 85 years.”

Van Eyck said the pair of screenings will serve as a trial run for a potential film series that would feature a different unreleased independent film once a month, or quarterly, at Community Theatre.  He has support from Garman and the Town of Woodstock, he said, but is uncertain whether Shenandoah County residents would be interested in seeing yet-to-be-released, festival-winning independent features before they go into distribution.

“Our movie is comparable in quality and style to the type of new movies being selected by film festivals across the country every year,” Van Eyck said.  “If there’s interest here in making such screenings a recurring event, I’m confident we can bring in an appealing and diverse collection of indie features, along with the occasional program of short films, and provide a festival-like experience – exposing local moviegoers to films they might not otherwise see – without having to leave the county.”

“The Hitchhiker Effect,” Van Eyck’s debut as a narrative feature director, premiered at the Regal L.A. Live cinemas in downtown Los Angeles on Feb. 22, 2024, and won that festival’s Best Sci-Fi Film award.  It has been screened at 30 U.S. and international film festivals, winning 19 awards and collecting 10 nominations. 

The film will be released for purchase or rent on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV/iTunes and Google TV beginning Oct. 28, 2025, and will be available for free on ad-supported streamers Tubi and Xumo sometime in 2026.