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HANNIBAL, MO. -- Dozens of Tri-State residents traveled to Hannibal Saturday afternoon in hopes of getting on the big screen.

They auditioned for parts of a horror flick called, "The Dead End."

It's the second film by Bill Houser, an amateur horror filmmaker from Hannibal. Houser along with his partner made their first amateur film called, "Hidden," which was picked up for national distribution.

People from as far as Donnellson, Iowa and Kirksville, Mo. came to audition for roles as zombies and some of the movie's lead characters.

Dakeeta Planty starred in the first film and is back for her second round.

"I actually had a lot of fun in our first film. You know, we did a lot of in the woods, running and screaming and hollering and that kind of thing. It's a lot of fun. For me, it's one of the things I like to do, so it was pretty cool," Planty said.

The film's director calls it a post apocalyptic zombie movie. But he says the story is about more than zombies, it has an emotional heart as well.

"The story is actually a story about a woman trying to protect her kids in an apocalyptic situation. You could substitute a disease, you can substitute zombies, it really doesn't matter. The story is about the main character Molly and her children," Houser said.

Houser says there are a lot of people who have always wanted to be in a movie, but don't realize that because of technology, they don't have to go all the way to Hollywood to make that dream come true.

"People just don't realize that there are people making movies in small towns now. I know ourselves ,of course, have done it and we're gonna do it again. And there's a small production company out of Quincy that I know has done it and is trying to do the same again," Houser said.

Houser and his partner held auditions for their new movie in Hannibal Saturday at the old fire station on Market Street.

Those who did well in their auditions should get call backs in the next week.

You can find more details on the main roles and other requirements on their website at: http://www.confusionfilms.com/.