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When "Children of the Hunt" has its theatrical premiere on the big screen, Patty McIrvin hopes one person will be there in spirit: her son, local film producer Adam Ross.

"That's something to celebrate," McIrvin said. "I hope he's there."

Ross, whose real name was Ross Adam Halevy, passed away last year from meningitis before the film was completed. Director and co-writer Matthew B. Moore, who worked on the project for three and a half years, ensured the film would make it to the big screen.

"Children of the Hunt" will premiere Jan. 31 at The Carousel Luxury Cinemas in Greensboro.

A science-fiction film set in the future, "Children of the Hunt" depicts a world in which the elite murder the poor for sport. But when one of the officials who coordinates the hunt (David Stevens) is cast out among the hunted, he helps the struggling lower class in its fight for freedom.

The original idea behind the movie's story came from Ross' love of genre films that were made 30 years ago.

"Ross showed up one day and wanted to make an '80s movie, just all jazzed out on 'Superman,' 'Masters of the Universe' and 'Krull,' " Moore says.

"And all those movies from that time period, they were dorky, but they have a certain 'last-ability' or whatever, and Ross wanted to make an '80s movie really badly."

Ross handed Moore a screenplay he had written titled "Kyla the Huntress." Because the film was different from Moore's own storytelling sensibilities, Ross allowed him to rewrite the project, which became "Children of the Hunt."

"He was willing to compromise with other people," says Sarah Halevy, Ross' wife. "He was always interested in finding the crossroads between Matt's interests and his."

"Children of the Hunt" is not the first movie Moore and Ross filmed together. Their other feature projects include "Dawn of the Redneck Samurai" and the 3-D horror anthology "Vault of Darkness," both in different phases of production.

Because Ross was constantly ready to start new projects, Moore says, they would often halt editing and other post-production work on previous titles they had filmed. And although Moore had completed principal photography on "Children of the Hunt" in the summer of 2006, Ross persuaded him to put off completion of that project to begin filming "Vault of Darkness" the following summer.

"He was way too impatient for post(-production); he just didn't like it." Moore says. "He liked action; he liked things moving around all the time; he really liked seeing people have a great idea and making it happen."

Havely says, "I also wonder if there wasn't some sort of premonition of his own death and wanting to get as much (filmed) as possible. We couldn't possibly know when we are going to die, but maybe he had some sort of inner thought or something."

For McIrvin, watching some of Ross' clips from unfinished movies was tough. She and Ross would often joke about how she couldn't watch his movies because of their violent content, she said.

"And it doesn't take much for me to think a movie's violent," McIrvin says. "It could be rated PG-13 and I think it should be rated R.

"So if I looked at it and saw blood spurting, I would say, 'I'm sorry, but I won't be there.' "

But now that her son's film is ready for the big screen, she plans to see it regardless.

"I'll just close my eyes during the violent parts and wait for them to end," McIrvin says. "I can tell when they're over by the soundtrack, so I am going to be there."

Contact Joe Scott at movieshowjoe@gmail.com