From Within (film)

From Within
Teaser poster
Directed by	Phedon Papamichael Jr.
Written by	Brad Keene
Produced by	Chris Gibbin Adrian Butchart
Starring	Thomas Dekker Elizabeth Rice Adam Goldberg Rumer Willis
Music by	Jason Cooper Oliver Kraus The Hoosiers Ane Brun
Distributed by	After Dark Films Lion's Gate
Release date	January 9, 2009
Country	United States
Language	English

From Within is a horror film directed by Phedon Papamichael Jr. and written by Brad Keene. Filming took place in Maryland in fall 2007. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April-May 2008.

Premise

When a series of suicides start happening in Grovetown, the townspeople turn a blind eye and cling to their beliefs. Lindsay (Elizabeth Rice) is a student who instead investigates the mystery of the suicides and befriends Aidan (Thomas Dekker), a non-believer. Lindsay discovers that something evil is behind the suicides and that she is next to die.

Plot

The film begins with a teenage girl, Natalie (Rumer Willis) sitting with her boyfriend Sean as he reads from a black book in a foreign language. As he finishes reading, he kisses Natalie passionately. Natalie evidently believes he wants to have sex with her - until he pulls out a gun and commits suicide.

Back in the main town a dowdy high school girl, Lindsay is shopping with her alcoholic mother, Trish, for new church clothes. As they argue, Natalie bursts into the shop, which is owned by her father, covered in blood and mumbling about a girl following her. Her father takes her into the back room, and goes to call the police. Lindsay watches over her and notices the black book she holds. Sent to fetch Natalie's father, Lindsay is surprised when the door to the back room slams shut on her the moment she leaves. Natalie's father eventually knocks down the door, only to find Natalie dying, with a pair of scissors lodged into her neck.

That night Natalie's father is haunted by a ghostly figure that only appears when the lights are turned off and is found the following day, hanged in the same room Natalie died in, by his niece Molly.

On Monday at school Lindsay's putative boyfriend, Dylan, who is the son of the local evangelist Pastor Joe, is found publicly attacking Aidan Spindle, a newly-returned local misfit. Dylan blames Aidan's family for the recent deaths, given their reputation for witchcraft. Following the one-sided fight, in which Aidan refuses to participate, Lindsay helps him with his minor wounds and drives him home. It turns out that Aidan's brother is Sean, the young man who killed himself at the start of the film but whose death has been overshadowed by Natalie's. Aidan reveals that his mother, long thought of as a Satanist, was actually a fan of children - only adults made her uneasy. Aidan also reveals that his mother was murdered by local townsfolk, not as a result of an accident as previously declared.

The same night, Natalie's cousin, Molly, starts seeing manifestations of a ghost that looks exactly like herself. Although fleeing from the sight, Molly's doppelganger catches up with her and slits her wrists across some broken glass.

The following day, Lindsay's best friend Claire drives past Molly's body, and immediately begins to hear voices. Later the same day, a duplicate of Claire is seen in the toilets while Claire is using the facilities.

Simultaneously, Lindsay becomes aware of the religious fervor Dylan is stirring up against Aidan among the townsfolk and goes to warn him of the danger. On entering his house, she meets his cousin, Sadie who had traveled down from New York for Aidan's brother Sean's funeral. Lindsay's warnings fall on deaf ears.

Meanwhile, Claire encounters and unsuccessfully tries to evade her doppelganger. It finally catches up with her as she is driving and her car explodes in front of Lindsay's mother Trish's horrified eyes.

Aidan takes Lindsay to a stream running underneath a bridge, and confirms that his mother practiced a form witchcraft, which may be the cause of the suicides. He tells her to get away from Grovetown.

Lindsay arrives home that night and is abducted by Dylan and Roy, Trish's lover, with Trish's consent. She is taken to the local church to be "purified" as the evangelists start to believe they are cursed because Lindsay has fraternized with Aidan. Returning home that night, Trish is jubilant about "being saved" but is later haunted by doppelgangers of herself on the television. After being stalked throughout the house, Trish's doppelganger compels her to drink bleach, believing it to be whiskey.

Lindsay finds Trish's body immediately afterward. She rushes to Aidan's house, frantic in her belief that a curse has gotten inside of her and will demand her death. Aidan admits that victims of the curse see themselves, but swears that all victims commit suicide because they are compelled to, not because something takes them over. Aidan supplies Lindsay with an oil on her skin that will slow the progress of the curse. Aidan realizes that the black book is the key to lock up what Sean had unlocked.

Lindsay suggests the church as the new location of the book and Lindsay and Aidan break in. Lindsay the ghost is still after her, but they grab the book and leave before the ghost can draw close.

On reviewing the book, Aidan realizes that he needs more supplies to stop the curse.

Dylan, Roy, Pastor Joe and Paul, another member of Joe's congregation, realize that Aidan retrieved the book. Pastor Joe reveals that he suffers guilt over what happened to Aidan's mother, Candice. After Roy and Paul leave, Pastor Joe confesses to Dylan that it was he who had killed Jimmy Grogan, the returned veteran Aidan's mother was accused of killing, in order to cover up an affair between Joe and Jimmy. Dylan is disgusted and leaves, but refuses to let Pastor Joe reveal the truth.

Back at Aidan's home Sadie pulls a gun on Aidan and Lindsay; she wants the book and explains that Sean deliberately killed himself at the start of the film in order for the curse to start. Sadie reveals that the curse was originally Aidan's idea, as he wanted everyone in Grovetown dead. Shocked, Lindsay refuses to go with him, but Aidan says that if Sadie destroys the book, she'll die.

They manage to rescue the book just as Sadie attempts to burn it. Paul, Roy and Dylan burst into the home, unannounced. Aidan and Lindsay escape to the woods, Dylan and Paul following as Roy guards Sadie. While running, Aidan and Lindsay split, intending to meet up at the pier. Dylan has a rifle and attempts to shoot Aidan.

Back at the home Roy tapes Sadie's mouth shut as he tells her how he became a religious man, he was visited by God who wanted him to become one of his soldiers. Roy covers Sadie with gasoline and sets her alight, claiming that he is doing God's will.

In the woods, Lindsay makes it to the pier, but her doppelganger ghost is hot on her tail. She stops at the edge of the platform and starts reciting a prayer, when she falls into the water.

Meanwhile Dylan continues to hunt Aidan but he is surprised from behind by Aidan. Aidan puts Sadie's gun to Dylan's head and is about to murder him when Lindsay's screams for help draw him away. He pistol whips Dylan instead and runs off to find her.

Lindsay panics in the water as her doppelganger emerges from the water behind her. Lindsay quickly climbs out of the water alive, then blood drips onto her back, the ghost's eye is bleeding as Lindsay sits up. The ghost grabs the rope and hands it to Lindsay, who starts to wrap it around her own neck, the ghosts hands moving in the same motion as hers before tightening it and making Lindsay strangle herself.

Aidan rushes to her and stops her, they continue with dispelling the curse, he merges his own blood with Sean's on the book, when he says to Lindsay that a sacrifice started the curse so a sacrifice must end it. Aidan passionately kisses her and tells her to burn the book, before seemingly shooting himself.

Dylan and Paul then show up, Dylan believing Lindsay to be a devil worshiper he pulls his gun on her. Lindsay stands, Sadie's gun in her hands as she begs Dylan to walk away, as he's about to shoot Lindsay gets him in the chest first. Paul quickly runs off. Not long after the cops arrive, but they find that Aidan's sacrifice doesn't count; Dylan had actually shot him in the chest as Aidan was pointing the gun at his own head.

In the woods, Lindsay tries to burn the book, but to no avail as the curse is still around, the ghost creates a gust of wind blowing the fire out before claiming Lindsay.

As the credits roll, small scenes of other suicides including; the sheriff who shot his own head, Paul who electrocuted himself in the bath, the janitor from the high school surrounded by blood and a young girl motionless in a park. The curse is still at large.

Cast

• Elizabeth Rice as Lindsay, the film's central character.
• Thomas Dekker as Aidan, a supposed Devil worshipper
• Kelly Blatz as Dylan, Lindsay's religious boyfriend
• Laura Allen as Trish, Lindsay's religion-obsessed stepmother.
• Adam Goldberg as Roy, Trish's lover
• Rumer Willis as Natalie, girlfriend to Sean
• Margo Harshman as Sadie, Aidan and Sean's cousin
• Brittany Robertson as Claire, Lindsay's best friend
• Jared Harris as Bernard
• Steven Culp as Pastor Joe, Dylan's father
• Amanda Babin as Molly, Natalie's cousin
• Michelle Babin as Evil Molly, a form the entity takes on when targeting Molly
• Shiloh Fernandez as Sean, Natalie's boyfriend and Aidan's brother
• Mark A. Cummins as Classroom Teacher

Production

In July 2007, director Phedon Papamichael was hired to direct From Within, a thriller based on a script by Brad Keene. The film was financed through a European equity fund. Production began in July-August 2007 in Maryland. The writer described the film: "I wanted to write something that was scary and high concept and dealt with personal issues, namely religious beliefs and how they play a part in who we are and the way we lead our lives." Papamichael desired to make From Within in the tradition of The Shining (1980) and Rosemary's Baby (1968). For From Within, filming took place in Perry Point, Maryland, a defunct estate with homes that would be torn down after the completion of production. The film entered post-production in August 2007.

Release

Filmmakers originally planned to finish production in time to release the film for the Sundance Film Festival in February 2008, but not being complete in time, From Within ultimately had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival that runs between April and May 2008. The film entered the festival "riding a considerable wave of buzz and expectation", but The Hollywood Reporter reported that it played to "mediocre reception". From Within later won awards at the Solstice Film Festival in June 2008, for Best Feature Film, Best Original Score, Best Actor (Thomas Dekker) and Best Actress (Elizabeth Rice). It was chosen for the Official Selection at the London FrightFest Film Festival and the Fantasia Festival in Montreal.

The film was released on January 9, 2009 as part of the third After Dark Films 8 Films to Die For series.

External links

• From Within at IMDb
• Photographs at Baltimore Sun
• Review at Fangoria