This producer, however, turned out to be the real thing. He had picked up my book in a bookstore and become fascinated by it. Courtney Solomon’s mother had worked in the Toronto film industry since about 1982, so that Courtney grew up immersed in the business. Shortly after his 21st birthday, he convinced the owners of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise to sell him the rights to produce a movie based on the popular game. This was a tall order indeed for somebody who had never produced/directed a major motion picture. While many dyed-in-the-wool D&D aficionados have deplored the movie, I think it has many good things going for it. Apparently, its lack of commercial theater success arose more from the distributor’s PR campaign directed at the wrong age group than the movie itself.

A half-hour talk with Mr. Solomon assured me he understood my book and was going to make a movie that I would be happy to associate my name with. He was also willing to pay a very fair price for the rights, considering the initial story was not of my invention. In essence, he was paying for my solution to the Bell Witch mystery. It took until September of 2004 to assemble backing, cast, and crew. Early on, we discussed Sissy Spacek and Donald Sutherland, and even though Mr. Solomon went through a dozen other actors for the roles of Lucy and John Bell, the best two ended up taking the parts. These oft-lauded actors, interestingly enough, both got their start in “horror” films but both have gone far beyond. I consulted, off and on, with Mr. Solomon concerning the screenplay, right up until August of 2004, and I was very satisfied with what he had.

I was also invited to come to Romania for part of the filming of the movie, and I was much impressed by what I saw. The set and costume designers were first-rate. Adrian Biddle and his film crew, however, became my real heroes. Man, are these guys good! Of course, having done the cinematography on the two Mummy films, Shanghai Knights, Princess Bride, Reign of Fire (the only good thing about the film), Event Horizon (ditto), Aliens, and many more, they’re a top crew in the industry.

The film also stars James D’Arcy, the featured first lieutenant in Master and Commander, and Rachel Hurd-Wood, the most beguiling and vivacious young lady, who as a tyro grabbed the lead role of Wendy Darling in the blockbuster 2003 remake of Peter Pan and who will also appear in Perfume, with Alan Rickman and Dustin Hoffman. I loved that novel.

I was invited up to the Toronto International Film Festival in September of 2005, to see the first North American screening (albeit private, to foreign-rights buyers) of the final cut. It was substantially different from the screenplay I had helped with. It had far fewer speeches, which I felt limited the talents of Ms. Spacek and Mr. Sutherland. What Mr. Solomon finally settled on was a more mood-laden, symbol-filled, “haunting” piece, based on a true event and using my solution, but with many facts omitted. I am sure the purist followers of the Bell Witch story who howled at my extrapolated solution to the cause and finale of the incident will likewise keen at this film. Because Courtney has confided to me that the class of so-called “horror” movies he favors are the original The Haunting, The Uninvited, and The Innocents, I understand the look of his work. I am so immersed in my own research and story that I frankly cannot be objective. I do understand that movies are not books and should be judged on their independent merits. I enjoyed the movie as a movie. The rest of the audience seemed to be very pleased by the film, and the rapt silence among about 200 viewers throughout the piece also indicated as much. Moreover, internet movie database chat lists show input from those invited to test previews. One, from a self-proclaimed “professional movie watcher” proclaimed the rough cut shown in April to be “The best film I’ve seen this year.”

One thing is certain: to get the 360 degree view on this historical haunting, you will need to read my book and at least the family diaries.

The official movie website is www.anamericanhauntingonline.com.

The movie released on May 5th and ranked #3 its first week, with Mission Impossible 3 being first.  
It brought in $13.33M in the U.S. alone.  It is now out in R and Unrated versions on DVD.