Lifelong Prince George’s County resident Derrick Parks’ “Return of the Goatman” premiered Sunday with at Silver Spring’s AFI Silver Theatre. Parks is self-taught, and this is his first film. Tell me about the film.
“Return of the Goatman” is based on a Maryland urban legend that there were experiments that took place in the 1950s and ’60s where the U.S. Department of Agriculture mixed animal genes with human genes and a creature escaped from its holding facility at the USDA. It’s allegedly going around killing small animals, dogs and cats and occasionally a resident. This movie is fast-forwarded to present time, and [follows] two detectives who try to solve some grisly murders. It starts off with four University of Maryland students doing a thesis paper on Maryland urban legends, and they meet their untimely demise during this investigation. These two police officers take up this investigation to attempt to solve this murder.
How did you come up with the idea?
I was a security contractor at the USDA. USDA is about 300,000 acres and has about 300 buildings — run-down buildings that are no longer used. This is allegedly where some experiments took place.
Are there are a lot of believers?
Absolutely. It’s not beyond the realm of possibilities. We have stem cell research. We already know the government did unauthorized experiments in Tuskegee [Ala.]. Is it beyond the realm of possibility that they were working on something that adds super strength?
Is there a particular citing you found interesting?
There’s a hospital in Glenn Dale that’s been closed down for about 40 years. Allegedly they kept some of the mentally insane there and some of the creatures that were created. That’s the biggest place where people have allegedly seen the goatman.
What’s next?
We’re trying to get the movie picked up so it can be seen on the big screen. We may do one or two more screenings for county residents.
– Rachel Baye
