As if mayoral chaos, property tax increases and the concept of "Allen Iverson, Grizzly" weren't frightening enough, Memphis will become an intentional haunt of horror next month when shooting begins on a new MTV series, "Savage County."

Created by David Harris, a producer with MTV New Media, the 15-webisode program will employ many of the local crew members who worked on Memphis filmmaker Craig Brewer's similarly Web-based "$5 Cover," which made its debut online and on MTV in April after being shot here last summer.

David Harris, with MTV New Media, will be making a horror mini-series in Memphis this summer.

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A horror series without the "reality drama" component of "$5 Cover" (in which local musicians played fictionalized versions of themselves), "Savage County" takes place over a single weekend in a small Texas town where a group of high school kids "unleash the ire of a killer hillbilly clan" after a ring-and-run doorbell prank turns deadly, Harris said.

Shooting is scheduled to begin Aug. 4 and conclude Aug. 23, on a tight production budget of $250,000 (about $50,000 less than "$5 Cover"), with Memphis-area locations filling in for Texas.

"We've been scouring the countryside, looking for scary houses," said Harris, a producer of "$5 Cover," who returns to Memphis next week to continue preproduction on the series, which he will direct.

August will be a busy month for Brewer and his associates. While "Savage County" is being shot in Memphis, "$5 Cover: Seattle" -- the first attempt to transform Brewer's concept into an MTV franchise -- will be in production under the guidance of buzz-generating writer-director Lynn Shelton, dubbed "the female Judd Apatow" for her racy, critically acclaimed, new indie sex comedy-drama, "Humpday."

Although Brewer is executive producer of both "$5 Cover: Seattle" and "Savage County," he will be in California for much of August, directing "Terriers," a pilot for a proposed FX network series, when the MTV programs are being shot.

"$5 Cover" didn't generate the national attention some participants expected, but the series became an immediate financial success for MTV when AT&T signed on as its official sponsor.

"It wasn't a ratings powerhouse, but it held its own," said Harris, 33. "In a world of online production boondoggles, it wasn't one. It was an artistic success for MTV, and a way for MTV to get involved in more music and new music, and all the things critics say MTV no longer does enough of."

The pilot for "Savage County" was shot in California, and Harris originally intended to shoot the series in Texas. But his "$5 Cover" experience convinced him to return to Memphis.

"The thing for me was seeing the amount of talent that Craig mobilized," said Harris, a Texas native who now lives in West Hollywood. "The community seems like it is underutilized. You've got a town with a bunch of talent and fantastic locations."

He said shooting in California would be prohibitively expensive, thanks to "exorbitant location fees" and other expenses.

Erin Hagee, a longtime Brewer associate who was one of the producers of "$5 Cover" (and is Brewer's sister-in-law), also will be a producer on "Savage County," along with Los Angeles producers Corey Wish and Justin Wolske. The series will be a production of Brewer's BR2 company.

Hagee, 31, said about 70 percent of the production's 20 or so crew members will be hired locally.

Harris said the "core cast" of seven lead actors in "Savage County" will include Hollywood professionals and Memphis actors. Longtime Memphis musician, artist and puppeteer Jimmy Crosthwait -- whose signature wild-eyed grin and Rip Van Winkle beard seem made to order for "wrong turn" horror movies -- has been signed to play one of the murderous rustics.

Like "$5 Cover" and its affiliated programming (still online at fivedollarcover.com), "Savage County" will be a Web "experience" as well as a serial that becomes a coherent feature film when the episodes are watched in sequence. Harris said Memphis filmmakers may be hired to create such Web site "streams of content" as surveillance camera video and phone camera footage. The series and site could debut as early as November, barring mishaps.

"Unlike '$5 Cover,' we've got the production demands of dismembering people," Harris said.

-- John Beifuss: 529-2394