A nightmare for Dutcher: video's cover

If you go to a video store this weekend and see "Brigham City" on the shelf, notice the cover art.

You might see Richard Dutcher holding a gun "Dirty Harry"-style, with co-stars Wilford Brimley and Matthew A. Brown behind him, and a faint LDS Church steeple in the upper left-hand corner, along with the theatrical poster tagline: "Nothing attracts a serpent like paradise."

Or, you might see the dripping-blood title "Brigham City" above an eyeball peering out of a leather mask, and outstretched bloody fingers, along with this tagline: "Your neighbor is a serial killer. Welcome to your worst nightmare."

More correctly, "Welcome to Richard Dutcher's worst nightmare."

Video retailers have their choice of the two covers, but the "Dirty Harry" art came only after Dutcher asked for an alternative.

"Brigham City" was Dutcher's second LDS film, after writing, directing and co-starring in the surprise hit "God's Army," about Mormon missionaries in Los Angeles.

"Brigham City" — with Dutcher in the lead role of a sheriff and LDS bishop in a small Utah town — is a conventional murder mystery with unconventional religious trappings.

While the film's thriller components are pure Hollywood, the LDS elements, especially the ending, as the sheriff comes to terms with having to shoot someone, is about as far from "Dirty Harry" as you can get. It's a bold look at the empowerment of faith and a validation of religious beliefs, something you'll never see in a Hollywood movie.

So, after selling the film's North American video rights to Spartan Home Entertainment, imagine Dutcher's chagrin when he saw the box art, which looks like a cross between "Jeepers Creepers" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."

"I laughed when I saw it, and I didn't think they were serious," Dutcher said by telephone from his Provo office. "But I did give them the right to market it as they see fit. When I signed the deal with an L.A. distribution company, I lost control over how it's marketed. Being so independent as I have been, it was kind of hard, but at same time I trusted that they would know what they were doing."

Dutcher was able to talk Spartan into the second cover, which better represents the film — but he worries that the horror cover "may sell more copies, but the people that would enjoy this film might not rent that cover as it stands. My hope is they're right, that this is the best way to get it into as many stores as possible.