Sep 9, 2014 4 min read

Movie credits for a low-budget torture film suggest Charleroi attorney Alan Benyak once had a role few people know about.

The movie, “Breeding Farm,” produced in 2013, depicts the torture of women and lists Benyak as a star. In August, He also made an appearance in a commercial for fellow Democrat Tom Wolf for governor.

Very few people apparently watched or heard of the low-budget movie produced by former Claysville Weekly Recorder publisher Cody Knotts. But it is making headlines in the campaign for Pennsylvania governor.

Benyak said Nancy Ellis, former Charleroi mayor, recruited him for the Wolf commercial, which was shot in August in Forward Township. Benyak appears in front of his Jeep, the same make of vehicle that has been associated with the Democratic gubernatorial candidate since he launched his campaign.

The Internet Movie Database lists Benyak as “an actor and producer known for ‘Lucifer’s Unholy Desire’ (2012) and ‘Breeding Farm’ (2013).” The same database also lists 46th Senatorial District Republican nominee Camera Chatham Bartolotta as an actress and producer known for “Lucifer’s Unholy Desire,” plus “Pro Wrestlers vs. Zombies” and “The Fault in Our Stars.”

The database categorizes “Breeding Farm” as a horror movie, directed by Cody Knotts, and describes it this way: “After a night of partying, four friends are kidnapped by a mysterious man. The friends wake up in a basement and realize they are part of something horrifying. A human breeding farm. They are to be milked, bred, and much, much worse.” An entry on the Internet states the “Breeding Farm” trailer of July 2012 was banned from YouTube for adult content and carries the warning, “This trailer is unrated. It contains strong graphic nudity, strong language, violence and disturbing images. It is strongly advised that no one under 18 view this trailer.”

Knotts describes “Breeding Farm” as “torture porn, not porn. It’s not people having sex; it’s torture.”

Being listed as one of the stars of “Breeding Farm” bewilders Benyak.

The attorney said Tuesday afternoon he was told his two lines, delivered when he was fully clothed, were left on the cutting room floor.

“I regret helping a friend, which is what I did, when Cody was launching his failed film career. I’ve never seen the movie.

“I don’t appreciate being a fodder for some political game.”

Benyak questioned if Knotts, a former Republican candidate for state Legislature, inserted him in the film after the Wolf ad appeared.

Knotts, of Uniontown, refutes any allegation of changing the film after its March release.

“(Benyak) has been in the film since before the Tom Wolf ad came out,” Knotts said, adding Benyak appeared in multiple scenes and had at least five lines.

Knotts said he first saw the Wolf ad online Sept. 3.

When Benyak ran for Washington County judge last year on both the Democratic and Republican ticket in the May primary, “Breeding Farm,” was never an issue.

“I’m shocked by this a little,” said Benyak, a former member of the U.S. Army’s Judge Adjutant General Corps.

“We were unaware of Mr. Benyak’s involvement in the film, and we are making changes to the ad,” wrote Wolf press secretary Jeffrey Sheridan in response to an email inquiry.

“Dozens of supporters who own Jeeps volunteered to be a part of this ad. We did a partial vetting and this did not emerge, but it’s disappointing this has become a distraction from (Wolf’s) plan to fund education, create jobs and get Pennsylvania moving again after four years of Tom Corbett’s failed policies.”

A group called Action of PA, which has endorsed Republican incumbent Tom Corbett, in a news release Tuesday, called for the Wolf campaign to remove the advertisement featuring what it called a “torture porn actor. … A grisly description of the movie talks about rape, cannibalism and worse.”