Veteran Actor David Raizor Stars as Paul Lightwood in Joshua Morgan’s Southern Gothic Horror Feature Blake Buried a Body; Principal Photography Complete, Film Now in Post-Production
Writer-director Joshua Morgan’s sophomore feature Blake Buried a Body has completed principal photography and is now in post-production, with veteran Florida actor David Raizor delivering a central performance as Paul Lightwood, the fading, faith-haunted founder of a decaying Old Florida roadside attraction. The film expands Morgan’s acclaimed short of the same name into a full Southern Gothic horror odyssey of guilt, inherited violence, religious delusion, and the “peculiar darkness” of the Florida landscape. Festival screenings are anticipated in the coming months.
Blake Buried a Body follows 17-year-old Blake as he struggles to care for his dying grandfather Paul, keep his younger brother Charlie safe, and prove he will not become the violent man his father was. After a freak accident leaves Paul severely injured, Blake hides him on the property of Lightwood Groves rather than let him die. Paul insists the Lord has told him he will not last the night. Cosmic forces, buried family trauma, and a mysterious tunnel beneath the orange groves begin to unravel Blake’s grip on reality. The story blends psychological horror, family drama, and surreal Florida Gothic atmosphere.
The project reunites Morgan with Raizor after their earlier collaboration on Morgan’s feature debut Children of the Pines (Audience Award, 2024 Gasparilla International Film Festival; worldwide VOD). Producer Lucas A. Ferrara, who partnered with Morgan on both Children of the Pines and the short Blake Buried a Body, is again attached. Production company Open Casket LLC shot the feature in and around Central Florida.
About Joshua Morgan
Joshua Morgan is a Tampa-born filmmaker, writer, director, editor, and actor who began performing at age eight in local theater before moving behind the camera. He wrote Children of the Pines at 17 and directed it in his late teens; the film later earned festival awards and digital distribution. His dark-comedy short Tapioca and the 18-minute Blake Buried a Body (streamed on ALTER after festival play including Gasparilla, Sunscreen, and Central Florida Film Slam, the latter with a live orchestral score) established his voice: psychologically driven horror that treats family trauma and moral inheritance as the real monsters. The feature Blake Buried a Body is his second full-length film. Morgan has described his work as occupying the border between drama and nightmare, often filtered through a Florida-specific sense of heat, decay, and buried history.
About David Raizor
David Raizor was born and raised on a family farm in Kentucky before moving to Florida. An amateur magician who later trained at clown school and performed with Ringling Bros. clowns including Master Clown Frosty Little, he studied improv at SAK Comedy Lab in Orlando and the Meisner technique. He has appeared in more than 100 independent shorts and features plus hundreds of live shows (magic, improv, clowning, theater, and murder-mystery). Credits include the Lifetime film You Can’t Take My Daughter (Judge Bonner, opposite Kirstie Alley) and a co-lead in Sandpaper, which won Best American Feature at the New Vision Film Festival Amsterdam and earned him a Best Actor nomination at the Garden State Film Festival. He lives in the Windermere area and is known for disappearing completely into character.
In an exclusive interview with VIEWTIES Magazine (interview by Vanesa Miraglia), Raizor discussed the second collaboration with Morgan and the demands of playing Paul Lightwood, a man trapped between crumbling memory, religious fervor, and a roadside attraction that has itself become a kind of character.
On the evolution of their working relationship:
“On Children of the Pines it was the first time I worked with Josh so I didn’t know his style of directing… On Blake Buried a Body Josh let me give my take on the scene and if he wanted it refined or didn’t go in the direction he wanted we discussed how to proceed. However, overall on BBAB I feel Josh and I were in sync as he didn’t do a lot of redirecting. So I believe we are improving on our shared frequency. That is not an instant thing but rather a building of trust between director and actor and insight of the director’s vision and the actor’s portrayal of the character.”
On protecting his own spirit while inhabiting a mind rewriting its reality:
“My answer to this question might not be the most politically correct answer. But the truth is my spirit is never threatened by outside forces. I am firm in my belief of God and His Grace.”
On the residue of dark roles:
“When I play really dark characters I have no fear that I will become them. What sometimes hangs with me after ‘Cut’ is called are the emotions of the character. One of the hardest emotions is digging deep to play that sense of loss. That one is hard to just shake off and/or redo another take of it. Those takes play out as they do and if the director wants a retake ‘just like that one again.’ That is sometimes really hard to hit it again.”
On vocation itself:
“Jobs are unstable, income is unstable, but my passion and love of this craft has never been unstable.”
Raizor also recalled the highest compliment he has received: after a premiere of another film based on real events, his wife told him, “When I watch the movie I don’t see David up there. All I see is the character.” He added, “That is what I am after—not to see me but rather who I am playing.”
VIEWTIES editor’s note described the performance as a “profound evolution” of the Morgan–Raizor shorthand: Raizor “fearlessly navigates the harrowing boundary between cognitive decline and religious fervor, transforming a man’s fading memories into haunting myth.”
Director Joshua Morgan said of the current stage of the project:
“I’m incredibly excited about where Blake Buried a Body is heading in post-production. Watching David disappear into Paul Lightwood on set—nursing a man whose faith and mind are both coming undone in the Florida heat—was a gift. The creative shorthand we built on Children of the Pines went even deeper this time. I can’t wait to share this film with the world soon.”
Blake Buried a Body is scheduled to begin its festival run in the coming months. Further announcements regarding premiere dates, distribution, and additional cast will follow.
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READ DAVID RAIZOR'S EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH VIEWTIES HERE!
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