Two Los Angeles-based filmmakers are preparing to shoot a movie about a family of southeast Kansas innkeepers who killed about a dozen travelers in the 1870s.

The film will be called “The Bender Claim.” Director John Alexander called it a “Hitchcock-like psychological thriller.” He and producer JC Guest will shoot the movie from July 10 through Aug. 11 at locations in Junction City, El Dorado and Wichita.

Alexander and Guest met at Harvard University and decided they wanted to make a film based on a true legend of the western frontier.

Alexander said the story of the Benders gave him goose bumps. The Benders are accused of killing travelers and burying their victims in their apple orchard before the crimes were discovered.

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Associated Press information from: The Topeka Capital-Journal