LORAIN, Ohio (WJW) — “A troubled young man accepts a job at an abandoned lighthouse … then encounters eerie and puzzling events.”

That will be part of the trailer for “Beneath The Light,” a horror movie that just wrapped up production at the 106-year-old Lorain Lighthouse.

*Scene from Beneath The Light

In one of the images shared with Fox 8 News from “Beneath The Light” which is a John Baumgartner Film, Baumgartern’s photo shows a young actress staring eerily through a window at the ligththouse.

Los Angeles-based movie director John Baumgartner, who has worked in Hollywood for 25 years, could’ve shot his movie Beneath The Light almost anywhere, but chose the historic lighthouse on Lake Erie built in 1906.

Baumgartner is a Northeast Ohio native and so is co-producer Cindy Seng. As they thought about where to shoot on location, it dawned on them: How about the picturesque Lorain Lighthouse with a legend of already being haunted?

  • Courtesy: John Baumgartner: Film crew
  • Courtesy: John Baumgartner: Film crew
  • Courtesy: John Baumgartner: Film crew
  • Courtesy: Ron Jantz: How the Lorain Lighthouse usually looks

“Filming on Lake Erie meant we were constantly at the mercy of its changing weather,” Baumgartner told FOX 8 News. “Storms, strong winds and waves come up suddenly, which made for some harrowing days for the film crew.”

Baumgartner said the changing dynamic of Lake Erie scenery “resulted in some of the best footage that Hollywood cannot recreate.”

The film crew transformed the recently renovated and meticulously kept lighthouse to make it look like an abandoned structure. The production crew gave it a “mysterious and creepy” feel by adding broken shutters, rust, shattered windows and more.

*Courtesy: Lance Aerial Media: Above photo shows how the film crew temporarily made the usually picturesque Lorain Harbor lighthouse look “scary”

“Beneath The Light isn’t just a mysterious horror movie, it’s also a suspense thriller that includes the hope of romance and redemption,” Baumgartner said.

The crew put the lighthouse back to its “beautiful and photogenic self” when filming wrapped up.

*Movie poster for Beneath The Light*



For more information about the indie movie, you can click here. The movie is expected to be released in the spring.