Sin-Jin Smyth
film directed by Ethan Dettenmaier

Sin-Jin Smyth is an unreleased horror film written and directed by Ethan Dettenmaier, based on the urban legend surrounding Kansas's Stull Cemetery. The story involves the Devil simultaneously appearing in two places, the high plains of India and one cemetery in Kansas every Halloween at midnight.
The film stars Roddy Piper, Jonathan Davis (vocalist of the nu metal band Korn), Richard Tyson, Don Stroud, and Jacqueline Moore and also features Kevin Gage, Camden Toy, Billy Duffy (guitarist of the hard rock band The Cult), and Charles Cyphers.
Synopsis
Sin-Jin Smyth takes place over the weekend of Halloween in an America that has become a police state. On November 2 (The Day of the Dead) two federal marshals report to a jail in Shinbone, Kansas, to transfer a prisoner, known as Sin Jin Smyth, during the tornado warning.
Release problems
The film was slated for release in late 2006 but was delayed. There was speculation as to whether the movie will ever be released, but IMDb revised the project status in January 2007 to “post-production”, even though principal photography had yet to be completed. The original page on IMDb was subsequently deleted and a new one created with the title Sin-Jin and a release date of 2009. As of September 2026, the film has yet to complete principal photography, with some online sources citing a lack of funding. One of the actresses in the film, Eileen Dietz, remarked in 2008 that the film was “never coming out”.
The public source identifies “Sin-Jin Smyth” as film directed by Ethan Dettenmaier. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Sin-Jin, Smyth and film.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Sin-Jin Smyth”, the useful work is to connect “film directed by Ethan Dettenmaier” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 11, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q3484844. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2026.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Sin-Jin Smyth”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Sin-Jin Smyth primary sources, Sin-Jin Smyth archive and Sin-Jin research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Sin-Jin Smyth”?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Sin-Jin Smyth” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.