The Bloody Benders: America's First Family Of Serial Killers

Could this award-winning film soon be coming to a movie theatre near you?

TUCSON, Ariz., Jan. 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The true story of America's first family of serial killers, the Bloody Benders, is finally being told on screen. Adapted from Nicholas Nicastro's bestselling book, Hell's Half-Acre, this short film has already piled up awards on the film festival circuit.  It won Best Indie Short at the LA Indie Shorts Festival, Best Narrative at the Toronto Indie Shorts, Best Actress in a Leading Role at the Brooklyn International Short Awards, the Gold Award at the Paris Film Awards, an Award of Merit at the IndieFEST Film Awards, and is an official selection at the Allentown and Jacksonville Horror Film Festivals.

"When their crimes were discovered in 1873, the family known to history as the Bloody Benders shocked the nation," said Nicholas Nicastro, who wrote and directed the film. "Nobody knows if they were actually related, but they would take visitors along the Osage Trail into their remote cabin/store ... and kill them."

"The Bender case is compelling not only in the depths of its depravity," says Nicastro, "but in its female focus. The Benders were a 'family' led by an intelligent, outspoken woman, Kate. She called herself a 'professor' of the occult arts. To this day, it is one of only a few cases of serial murder with a woman at its center."

In addition to Kate, the "family" consisted of three other people: her taciturn "mother" Almira, simple-minded "brother" John Jr., and the brutish "Pa" Bender. While charming Kate entertained visitors, Pa would attack them with a hammer from behind a canvas screen. By carefully choosing their victims from among outsiders to the area, the Benders were able to evade detection for almost three years, until they killed a man related to a powerful state politician.

As the net of suspicion closed around them, the Benders disappeared into the frontier, leaving some fifteen bodies buried on their land ... and the mystery persists to this day.  The case has never been solved, though several people went to their graves claiming they had tracked down and punished the Benders.   None of their stories has been independently corroborated.

The public is invited to help Nicastro expand this short into a feature film that finally does justice to one of the old West's most striking— yet under-told— true stories.  Shooting is scheduled to continue in April at the Mescal Movie Set in Benson, Arizona.

A Kickstarter campaign is now underway:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nnicastro/hells-half-acre-the-movie 

Who knows?  You might even have the chance to be an extra in the film!

Contact:  Nina Trasoff at 520-349-0676 or [email protected] to arrange an interview with Mr. Nicastro.  The trailer for Hell's Half Acre can be found at the Kickstarter page referenced above.

Additional background on Mr. Nicastro:  https://www.nicastrobooks.com/

SOURCE Nicholas Nicastro