THE ACID KING is an independent feature-length documentary about infamous American "ritual murderer" Ricky Kasso that will be released in 2019 for the 35th anniversary of the incident. This crowdfunding campaign is being launched in the hopes of getting the film available to stream on Amazon and Vimeo by Halloween 2019, along with a Blu-ray release!
"SAY YOU LOVE SATAN..."
THE ACID KING is a brand-new true crime documentary chronicling the life of one of the most bizarre and intriguing characters in American history - Ricky Kasso.
In June 1984, Ricky was a 17-year-old high school dropout living in the woods and surviving off of the pocket cash he made selling PCP and LSD to his friends in suburban Northport, Long Island. One of these friends, 17-year-old Gary Lauwers, decided to steal ten bags of Ricky's PCP one night at a party, and his fate was sealed. Only a few weeks later, Ricky exacted his revenge by luring Gary into Northport's fabled Aztakea Woods, and stabbing him to death - all while commanding him to pledge his allegiance to the Devil.
Ricky, along with two other friends, covered Gary's body under a pile of sticks and leaves, and for the next two weeks, led tours to the gruesome site. Finally, on July 1, 1984, an anonymous tip was phoned in to the Northport police, and Ricky was arrested three days later.
However, before any justice could be served, Ricky hanged himself with a bed sheet inside his Riverhead prison cell.
The international media instantly latched onto this story and its occult aspects, alleging that Ricky was the leader of a group of Satanists known as the "Knights of the Black Circle."
In the 34 years since this horrific incident, Ricky's story has been told through nearly two dozen popular songs, one fictionalized book, and a handful of films.
Unfortunately, most of what the public has been told about Ricky Kasso and Gary Lauwers amounts to little more than tabloid gossip.
With this film, the producers plan to show you the shocking true story as never told before - through the recollections of those who were there and the artists who have been most inspired by this terrifying chapter of American culture.
What We Need & What You Get
As some of you may know, we've been working on this documentary for the past two years. Long story short, we had a couple offers from networks who wanted to adapt it, but they simply weren't the right fit. So, being the stubborn people we are, we decided to walk away from these potential deals, and film this ourselves. Thanks to our backers from the first crowdfunding campaign, we were able to make two trips to Northport in 2017 and 2018 to film b-roll and interviews with friends of Ricky and Gary, the detective who arrested Kasso for grave robbing, Tommy Turner, who - along with David Wojnarowicz - filmed the first movie based on Kasso, 1985's "WHERE EVIL DWELLS", and Brendan B. Brown of Wheatus, who was bullied by Kasso as a child.
We were also able to hire a second unit to shoot interviews with Lori S. from the legendary stoner metal band ACID KING, author Nick Mamatas, and David Breskin, who wrote the groundbreaking 1984 Rolling Stone article "Kids in the Dark". This is the first time all of these people have agreed to be interviewed on film regarding Ricky Kasso.
In August 2019, we completed the final edit of the film and screened it at a True Crime event in Connecticut, where it received a standing ovation.
What we need now to release the film to a wide audience is this - in order to upload the film to Amazon Prime Video and Vimeo, we are required to provide subtitles for the film. We have a service lined up to do this, but it will cost a few hundred dollars. We also need professional cover art, which will require the hiring of a graphic artist, and this, too, will be expensive. In addition, in order to host it on Vimeo so people who don't wish to support Amazon and its policies can view the film, we will need to pay host fees, which are also expensive.
In addition, if we meet our goal, we would like to have a limited run of Blu-ray discs made so we can offer them for purchase. This will cost several hundred dollars and will require additional artwork to be created, further adding to the costs.
However, if we can achieve this goal, THE ACID KING will be available to stream and maybe even purchase on Blu-ray by Halloween!
"What's in it for me?" you might ask.
Well.
We have some awesome rewards in store for you including - but not limited to - free 11x17 posters from the film, access to behind the scenes footage, your name in the credits of the film, free DVD copies of the film, and a free CD of the soundtrack. You will also receive an autographed first edition of Pollack's book THE ACID KING if you pledge at a certain level.
None of this is to line our pockets or make us a profit - we just want to get the film up and ready to stream by Halloween. No corporate overlords telling us what to edit, no fake scenes designed to "enhance" the drama - just real-life gritty Satanic Panic true crime told by the people who lived it and shot by the people who spent nearly half a decade researching it.
The Impact
Simply put, your contribution will make this film finally available for all to see. Without it, the film will likely take another year or two to be released. Luckily, we don't need very much! Check out what we've already been able to create by watching this exclusive sneak preview!
Risks & Challenges
We just need to get the film onto Amazon and Vimeo and hopefully Blu-ray. Everything else, we can handle.