• Like

Lifetime Television is looking to shake up its normal programming with the upcoming world premiere of "Within," a supernatural thriller about a young girl who can perceive malevolent spirits.

Directed by Hanelle M. Culpepper, and based on a script by Rebecca Sonnenshine ("The Haunting of Molly Hartley"), the film debuts July 31 at 9 p.m. ET.

"Within" centers on young Rachel Weiss (Mia Ford), who struggles to process the death of her mother, and who soon realizes that hostile entities move freely about, seeking their next victim.

Enjoying a successful festival run, the film captured recognition at the Tabloid Witch Awards, including Best Horror Feature Film, Best Child Actress and Best Supporting Actor. It also earned Outstanding Feature Film at the Big Bear Horror Film Festival, and Best Actress nominations for Ford and Sammi Hanratty at the Strasbourg International Film Festival.

With a budget of just under $1 million, "Within" was actually an independent film spearhead by Bigfoot Entertainment. Lifetime stepped forward after the film's completion as Bigfoot looked at distribution options.

Lifetime is known for programming that is slanted toward women, or that feature women in lead roles, and "Within" reflects that standard. However, this film marks the network's first venture into horror.

"They liked it ['Within'] because they wanted to have something a little more edgy on their channel," said Culpepper in an interview with Rabid Doll. "But they didn't want to go too far. They actually described 'Within' as … 'Orphan' like.

"I think that is what appealed to them about it -- they got something a little edgy that didn't go too far, because it's not something that would have been rated R. ... I think it's a good experiment, and I hope it does very well."

Culpepper points to the two young female leads as an anchor that the Lifetime audience will find compelling.

"Even though they are children, I think they'll really like seeing them because they do such a great job," she explained. "To me it's always cool when you see females running, holding the film, and not needing to be rescued by the male protagonist."

And for horror fans, Culpepper says those who enjoy scares over gore may really gravitate toward this film.

"I was actually really nervous when I finished this," she said. "I was not sure how the horror fans would react to it because what I do think most horror fans want is a body count.

"I always wanted the film to be something that was rated PG or PG-13. I never set out to make this a movie that would be rated R. That was actually another reason why I like this script, because it didn't have lots of gore and body parts thrown all over the place. And it didn't have sex and nudity ... I'm really more drawn to the horror films that have this really great story that they are telling."

Some of the films she used to guide her approach to "Within" were "The Shining," "The Others," "The Sixth Sense," "The Bad Seed."

"I am a fan of the genre," Culpepper said. "I definitely went through those films for inspiration. And also being that this is my first horror film, I really wanted to make sure that I internalized the conventions to make something scary."

Now that "Within" is poised for its premiere, Culpepper is already looking ahead to her next projects, which include scripting a 3D genre film and helming a low-budget thriller called "Hide."

And could another trip into the spirit-infested world of "Within" be on her horizon?

"I would love to do that," she said. "I definitely see that it could be a sequel for sure. And a series would be great. I almost feel like the series would be sort of like 'Ghost Whisperer' meets 'Touched by an Angel' in a way. I would totally be into doing it."

After all, the fact that horror plays a key part in her career currently is hardly a concern for Culpepper.

"I guess if I become the female Wes Craven, that's not so bad," she said.

"Within" also stars Lori Heuring, Sam Jaeger, Brent Sexton, Stacy Haiduk.