EXCUSE ME, MISS, BUT YOU CAN’T EAT THE GRAVEL. Siren’s Song is a modern version of the Scottish siren legend.

Sirens, those mythological temptresses, have graced the pages of folklore since Homer’s Odyssey. In dozens of folk tales their eerily beautiful music has lured sailors of every nationality to their deaths. Not surprisingly, the enticing siren frame is half woman and half fish or bird. The legend of the siren captivated the fancy of local amateur writer Devon Bell, who adapted the lore into a modern screenplay with the Chippewa River as a backdrop. Bell and her husband, Tony, have a production company called MattMinn Productions, which creates short ‘ghostlore’ pieces. Bell’s screenplay, Siren’s Song, will be their first full-length film.

Siren’s Song is a modern version of a Scottish siren legend in which a seaman betrays his young lover. The woman’s despair drives her to plunge to her death in the ocean where she remains, haunting sailors with her intoxicatingly beautiful song. In Bell’s adaptation, the siren is banished to an enchanted river, where her songs are preludes to more sinister deeds. The story escalates to involve three brothers in search of their missing father, and a journalist investigating the related disappearances of several other men.

The screenplay was completed in early June, and with the help of Eau Claire Public Access, the Bells began filming in July. “This is our first film so I like to call this a ‘no budget film,’ ” Devon explained. MattMinn cast the film with friends and through an ad on Craigslist. Most of the cast members are local, as is the scene of the action. “We filmed way out in the boonies in Dunn County, also at our home here in Eau Claire, at the Northern Colony in Chippewa, and also at the college library on the Eau Claire campus,” Bell relayed.

As a first-time screenwriter, Bell gleans inspiration from the creators of Fenris Unchained, whose zombie horror picture screened at Madison Horror Film Festival this month and had a local premiere at House of Rock.

“It’s cool to hear about people like them, because I don’t hear about a lot of local filmmakers,” said Bell. Though Bell aptly qualifies Siren’s Song as a “mythological thriller,” she says, “I don’t think anybody’s going to fall out of their chair.” The film is “tastefully done,” geared toward an all-ages audience. The film will premiere this January at Micon Cinemas in Chippewa Falls.