An American Haunting (2005)

Director:

Courtney Solomon

Writers:

Brent Monahan (novel)
Courtney Solomon (writer)

Release Date:

5 May 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Possession Knows No Bounds

Plot:

Based on the true events of the only case in US History where a spirit caused the death of a man.

Plot Keywords:

Doll | Supernatural Rape | Family | 1810s | Schoolteacher

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Donald Sutherland	...	John Bell
Sissy Spacek	...	Lucy Bell
James D'Arcy	...	Richard Powell
Rachel Hurd-Wood	...	Betsy Bell / Entity Voice
Matthew Marsh	...	James Johnston
Thom Fell	...	John Bell Jr.
Zoe Thorne	...	Theny Thorn
Gaye Brown	...	Kathe Batts
Miquel Brown	...	Chloe
Vernon Dobtcheff	...	Elder #1
Shauna Shim	...	Anky
Madalina Stan	...	Ethereal Girl
Philip Hurd-Wood	...	Partygoer (as Phillip Hurd-Wood)
Vlad Cruceru	...	Richard Bell (aged 6)
Alin Rosca	...	Joel Bell (aged 10)
Andrei Serban	...	Joel Bell (aged 6)
Isabelle Almgren-Doré	...	Jane
Susan Almgren	...	Elizabeth Powell - Mother
Howard Rosenstein	...	David - Father
Lila Bata-Walsh	...	Little Ghost Girl
Courtney Solomon	...	Entity Voice (voice)

Directed by
Courtney Solomon

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Brent Monahan		novel "The Bell Witch: An American Haunting"
Courtney Solomon		writer

Produced by
Andrei Boncea	....	co-producer
Francis Delia	....	co-executive producer
Alessandro Fracassi	....	associate producer
Simon Franks	....	executive producer
Zygi Kamasa	....	executive producer
Matthew Kuipers	....	line producer
Nelson Leong	....	co-executive producer
Robert Little	....	executive producer (as Robbie Little)
Lawrence Steven Meyers	....	executive producer
Christopher Milburn	....	producer
Julien Remillard	....	executive producer
Maxime Rémillard	....	executive producer
André Rouleau	....	producer
Courtney Solomon	....	producer
Allan Zeman	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Caine Davidson

Cinematography by
Adrian Biddle		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Richard Comeau

Casting by
Gary Davy

Production Design by
Humphrey Jaeger

Costume Design by
Jane Petrie

Makeup Department
Adina Andrei	....	assistant makeup artist
Camelia Borcan	....	assistant makeup artist
Cristina Chilu	....	assistant makeup artist
Andreea Dardea	....	assistant makeup artist
Réjean Goderre	....	key hairdresser: Montreal
Manuela Grosu	....	hair stylist
Nicky Hamilton	....	makeup artist: Montreal
Florina Oprescu	....	assistant makeup artist
Lucia Simonescu	....	assistant hair stylist
Edwina Voda	....	assistant makeup artist
Mircea Voda	....	makeup designer

Production Management
Nathalie Brigitte Bustos	....	co-production manager
Pierre Laberge	....	unit production manager
Misu Predescu	....	production manager
Andreea Stanculeanu	....	executive in charge of physical production

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Pierre Bouchard	....	second assistant director
Ingrid Cristea	....	first assistant director
Theodor Halacu-Nicon	....	first assistant director: second unit
Adriana Itu	....	third assistant director
Larry Maronese	....	first assistant director
Cleopatra Medvetchi	....	second assistant director
Dave Norris	....	first assistant director (as David Norris)

Art Department
Dana Andreianu	....	art department coordinator
Cornisor Cosmin	....	assistant property master
Annie Gilhooly	....	props buyer: UK
Liviu Marcu	....	sculptor
Ilie Mihai	....	construction coordinator
Andreea Popa	....	assistant art director
Vlad Roseanu	....	draftsman

Sound Department
Andi Arsenie	....	boom operator
Petra Bach	....	sound effects editor
Gregg Barbanell	....	foley artist
Keith Bilderbeck	....	sound designer
Pierre Blain	....	location sound mixer
Michel B. Bordeleau	....	supervising sound editor
Mario Choquette	....	sound effects editor
Jérôme Décarie	....	foley artist
Ed Douglas	....	sound designer
Denys Dufresne	....	assistant sound editor
Natalie Fleurant	....	dialogue editor
Marc Gagnon	....	sound effects editor
Martin Lemieux	....	sound effects editor
Derek Marcil	....	sound re-recording mixer
Lemieux Pedro Martin	....	sound effects editor
Mireille Morin	....	adr editor
Miguel Nunes	....	sound re-recording mixer
Sylvain Richard	....	assistant sound editor
Jonathan Rimas	....	adr mixer
Lionel Strutt	....	adr supervisor
Eric Raber	....	sound effects editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Nick Allder	....	special effects coordinator
Ryal Cosgrove	....	special effects coordinator: Canada
Ricky Farns	....	special effects floor supervisor
Melvyn Pearson	....	special effects technician
Adrian Popescu	....	special effects technician
Marc Reichel	....	special effects technician
Mark Roberts	....	special effects technician

Visual Effects by
Simon Allmark	....	visual effects editor
Kris Anderson	....	digital effects artist
Jeremy Appelbaum	....	compositor
John Attard	....	visual effects producer
Robin Beard	....	digital effects artist
Gavain Browne	....	digital compositor
Simon Carr	....	visual effects supervisor
Adam Christopher	....	digital colourist
Tom Collier	....	digital compositor
Richard Collis	....	digital effects artist
Peter 'Beak' Cvijanovic	....	lead Flame artist
Chris Del Conte	....	visual effects producer: Digital Dimension
Pascal Favron	....	senior flame artist
Simon Frame	....	visual effects supervisor
Antoine Gagné	....	I/O supervisor
Sébastien Gagné	....	Flame artist
Benoit Girard	....	visual effects executive producer: Digital Dimension
Tom Hocking	....	digital compositor
Matthew Jacques	....	digital artist
Isaac Layish	....	digital compositor
Pier Lefebvre	....	matte painter
Jesse Lehrman	....	software developer
Jesse Lehrman	....	systems administrator
Sean Looper	....	pipeline technical director: Digital Dimension
Landon Medeiros	....	visual effects production assistant: Digital Dimension
Jerome Morin	....	visual effects executive producer: Digital Dimension
Jean-Francois Morissette	....	tracking
Peter Murphy	....	visual effects production assistant
Tom Pegg	....	digital compositor
Kate Porter	....	digital compositor
Pablo Renedo	....	digital compositor
Chris Ryan	....	digital compositor
Paul Saint-Hilaire	....	Flame artist
Jean-Sébastien Savard	....	CGI production manager
Tammy Sutton	....	visual effects
Antonin Messier Turcotte	....	CG artist
Sebastien Veilleux	....	digital compositor
Joan Collins Carey	....	visual effects supervisor (uncredited)
Kevin Phelan	....	film recording producer (uncredited)

Stunts
Dicu Aurel	....	stunt double
Ricardo Cruz	....	stunt coordinator (as Ricardo Cruz Moral)
Kelly Dent	....	stunts
Serban Gabriel	....	stunts (as Gabriel Serban)
Mihai Ionita	....	stunts
Alin Luchian	....	stunts
Mihaela Elena Oros	....	stunts
Rasvan Puiu	....	stunt coordinator: Romania
Eugenio Alonso Yenes	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Adam Biddle	....	cinematographer: second unit
Andrei Cretan	....	assistant camera
Mathieu Décary	....	assistant camera: "b" camera, Canada
Pat Garrett	....	key grip
Cristu Ghigiu	....	video assist operator
Clive Mackey	....	first assistant camera
David Mackie	....	second assistant camera
Sorin Nainer	....	still photographer
Ben Perry	....	assistant camera
Tony Rowland	....	best boy grip
Jaromir Sedina	....	director of photography: second unit
Bogdan Stanciu	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Bogdan Stanciu	....	steadicam operator
David Worley	....	camera operator

Casting Department
Domnica Circiumaru	....	casting: RO

Editorial Department
Simon Allmark	....	digital intermediate on-line editor
Ryan Helsley	....	assistant digital intermediate producer
Curtis Lindersmith	....	digital intermediate editor
Tiberiu Teodorescu	....	assistant editor
Andy Thompson	....	post-production coordinator
Alex Panton	....	digital intermediate producer (uncredited)
Kevin Phelan	....	film recording producer (uncredited)

Music Department
Mikael Carlsson	....	executive soundtrack producer
Caine Davidson	....	conductor
Darren Fung	....	orchestrator
Benoît Groulx	....	lead orchestrator
P.J. Hanke	....	composer: additional music
Robert Houston	....	assistant scoring engineer
Jamie Luker	....	music scoring engineer
Malcolm Luker	....	score producer
Malcolm Luker	....	scoring mixer

Transportation Department
Cristi Chitu	....	unit transportation coordinator

Other crew
Cristina Benu	....	assistant to cast
Jo Cameron Brown	....	dialect coach
Adrian Codoi	....	assistant to location manager
Raul Cosma	....	key set production assistant
Steven Edwicker	....	production accountant
Christopher Gallagher	....	assistant production accountant
Zoltan Horkai	....	head animal trainer
Peter Ivanyi	....	head animal trainer
Max Kuipers	....	floor runner
Mariana Lina	....	script supervisor
Amalia Morar	....	cast accountant
Geneviève Ouellette	....	production secretary: Montreal
Russell Owen	....	assistant to producer
Maria Pampu	....	assistant to director
Iulian Pana	....	location manager
Gyorgy Szabo	....	animal trainer
Andy Thompson	....	production coordinator: UK
Judith Windsor	....	voice coach

Thanks
Adrian Biddle	....	in memory of
Randy Solomon	....	dedicatee

Production Companies

• Allan Zeman Productions (presents)
• Midsummer Films (in association with)
• Remstar Productions (as Remstar Films)
• Media Pro Pictures
• After Dark Films
• Redbus Pictures
• Sweetpea Entertainment

Distributors

• Distribution Company (2008) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• FS Film Oy (2006) (Finland) (DVD)
• Freestyle Releasing (2006) (USA) (theatrical)
• Golden Village Entertainment (2006) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Lions Gate Films Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Lionsgate (2006) (UK) (all media)
• Odeon Films (2006) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Pandasia Entertainment (2006) (Taiwan) (theatrical)
• Redbus Film Distribution (2006) (UK) (all media)
• Splendid Film (2007) (Germany) (DVD)
• Take Off (2006) (France) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD) (rental)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD) (retail)

Special Effects

• Effects Associates (practical on-set special effects)
• Big Bang Digital Studios (visual effects)
• Men From Mars (visual effects)

Other Companies

• All Deco International  sculptures
• Bank of Ireland  production financing provided by
• DDDecor  set construction
• Lip Sync Post  film recording
• London Symphony Orchestra, The (LSO)  music performed by
• Marcella C. Public Relations  special publicity
• Mayflower Studios  adr recording studio
• MovieScore Media  soundtrack
• Panavision UK  camera equipment provided by
• Widget Post Production  sound post-production

Also Known As:

An American Haunting - The Billwitch Story (Philippines: English title) (poster title)
Cauchemar américain (Canada: French title)
Apariciones (Argentina) (Venezuela) [es]
American Haunting (France) [fr]
Amerikan büyüsü (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
An American Haunting (Finland) [fi]
Demon - Historia prawdziwa (Poland) [pl]
Fluch der Betsy Bell, Der (Germany) [de]
Maleficio (Spain) [es]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for intense terror sequences and thematic material.

Runtime:

USA:91 min

Country:

UK | Canada | Romania | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Taiwan:R-12 | South Korea:15 | Netherlands:16 | Australia:M | UK:15 | USA:Unrated | Germany:16 | Iceland:16 | Argentina:16 | Indonesia:Dewasa | USA:PG-13 | Philippines:R-13 | Portugal:M/16 | Malaysia:18PL | Finland:K-15 | Ireland:15A | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

MediaPro Studios, Bucharest, Romania

Company:

Allan Zeman Productions

Trivia:

While the historical events are based in fact, the letter mentioned in the present-day plot line is purely fictional. There is no evidence that John Bell ever molested a member of his family, or that Mrs. John Bell killed her husband.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: In a night scene where the light from the candles and fireplace are systematically blown out, James Johnston immediately picks up his Bible and begins reading in the dark.

Quotes:

Richard Powell: But it is only present on this property!

Movie Connections:

References The Exorcist (1973)

Sound, Visuals Overwhelm Weaker Story

I really don't have any major complaints about the film except it was more of a visual-audio experience than a memorable story. That makes me wonder how times I would watch this, since I already own a lot of great visual movies. Cinematography-wise, this film reminded me a bit of Sleepy Hollow, but not quite as dramatically filmed as that. There also is excellent 5.1surround sound in here. Being a ghost story, and one that is trying to scare the viewer here and there, sudden jolts of sound is important and utilized well here.

I also appreciated this was done without almost any profanity and with famous actors like Donald Sutherland and Sissy Spacek. I expected some Bible-bashing since that's normally the case in these ghost or witch stories, but it wasn't bad here. However, the "surprise" almost political-correctness ending didn't really surprise me, considering how films are these days.

A decent movie but 50-50 whether I would watch it again.