Stay Out Stay Alive

GOLDEN is a modern day psychological morality tale set firmly in the thriller-horror genre about a group of hikers who discover an abandoned 19th century goldmine in the Yosemite region. An earthquake plummets one of the group members down the mine shaft where she is pinned under a rock. The group then has to choose between immediately saving their friend by calling the park rangers for assistance, or taking the time to unlawfully mine the discovered gold for themselves before they summon the authorities. Much betrayal, greed, psychological torment, and violence ensues with haunting overtones of real (or imagined) Native American supernatural involvement. GOLDEN is loosely based on true events and inspired by both the historical Gold Rush-era Mariposa Indian War and the foreboding curse of Chief Tenaya issued as a result of that brutal conflict between gold miners, settlers, and Native Americans, as well as the very current phenomenon of people exploring the 500,000 abandoned mines across the U.S. in search of treasure and adventure and falling afoul of the many deadly hazards these treacherously inviting mines pose.