''Down a Dark Hall'' is a 2018

supernatural horror film Supernatural horror film is a film genre that combines aspects of horror film and supernatural film. Supernatural occurrences in such films often include ghosts and demons, and many supernatural horror films have elements of religion. Common theme ...

directed by

Rodrigo Cortés Rodrigo Cortés Giráldez (born 31 May 1973) is a Spanish film director, producer, screenwriter, editor, writer and occasional actor. He is best known for directing the 2010 psychological thriller '' Buried''. Early life Rodrigo Cortés was b ...

and written by

Chris Sparling Chris Sparling (born March 21, 1977) is an American filmmaker from Providence, Rhode Island. Career Upon graduating from Roger Williams University and Bridgewater State University with degrees in Criminal Justice, and after writing, directing, ...

an
Michael Goldbach
(as Mike Goldbach.) It is based on the 1974 novel of the same name by

Lois Duncan Lois Duncan Steinmetz (April 28, 1934 – June 15, 2016), known as Lois Duncan, was an American writer, novelist, poet, and journalist. She is best known for her young-adult novels, and has been credited by historians as a pioneering figure in t ...

Summit Entertainment Summit Entertainment is an American film production and distribution company. It is a label of Lionsgate Films, owned by Lionsgate Entertainment and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California. History Independent era (1991–2012) Summit ...

released it in select theaters and through

video-on-demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of ...

in the United States on August 17, 2018. Critics surveyed by

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

called it "more stylish than scary".

Plot

Kit Gordy, a difficult young girl, is sent to the mysterious Blackwood Boarding School after her delinquent behavior becomes too much for her school to handle. When she arrives at Blackwood, Kit meets eccentric headmistress Madame Duret and the school's only other students, four teenage girls with similar behavioral problems (Veronica, Ashley, Sierra, and Izzy). Technology is rarely used, and the girls can only phone their families in the domineering presence of the headmistress. The girls attend a variety of creative and intellectual classes, which begins to draw out unknown talents in them. Sierra is the first to show a troubling obsession with her work, losing sleep, refusing to eat, and going into odd trances while creating amazing works of art. Ashley writes beautiful poetry and stories that deeply disturb her. Kit and Izzy slowly begin to experience the same bad side effects, saying it was like someone else was using their bodies. Only the belligerent Veronica shows no progress, much to Madame Duret's annoyance. During art class Kit notices that all of Sierra's paintings are signed "TC" and searches the school's library for answers. She realizes that Sierra is recreating paintings by the deceased artist

Thomas Cole Thomas Cole was an English-born American artist and the founder of the Hudson River School art movement. Cole is widely regarded as the first significant American landscape painter. He was known for his romantic landscape and history painti ...

, and that the others are producing work from other dead geniuses. Kit convinces Veronica to search the restricted areas of the school, where they come across old student records and more information on the people possessing the girls. When Madame Duret discovers Veronica alone she chains her up in an unused part of the school, explaining that the students are not merely vessels for the dead, but donors, unknowingly sacrificing themselves to be used to continue the careers of famous minds, whom she is able to commune with and channel into the girls' bodies. Kit calls the police and confronts the headmistress about everything. By now Sierra has already died from overwork, and Ashley jumps to her death to stop the possession taking over completely. While struggling to free Veronica, Kit knocks over some candles, and fire quickly spreads throughout the old building. Izzy succumbs to the beauty of the flames, leaving only Kit and Veronica to escape. Madame Duret is eventually possessed by her former pupils and consumed by the fire. Kit passes out and meets her deceased father, who convinces her to stay and live. She wakes up in the back of an ambulance with her mother by her side.

Cast

AnnaSophia Robb AnnaSophia Robb (born December 8, 1993) is an American actress, model, and singer. She began as a child actress on television, making her leading debut as the titular role in '' Samantha: An American Girl Holiday'' (2004). She made her feature ...

as Katherine "Kit" Gordy ** Julia Stressen-Reuter as Young Kit *

Uma Thurman Uma Karuna Thurman (born April 29, 1970) is an American actress and former model. She has performed in a variety of films, from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action films. Following her appearances on the December 1985 an ...

as Madame Duret *

Victoria Moroles Victoria Moroles (born September 4, 1996) is an American actress. She played Andie on the Disney Channel show ''Liv and Maddie''. She has also played Hayden Romero on MTV's ''Teen Wolf'' in seasons 5 and 6 (2015–2017). She also starred in the ...

as Veronica * Noah Silver as Jules Duret *

Isabelle Fuhrman Isabelle Fuhrman (born February 25, 1997) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Esther in the horror film ''Orphan'' (2009) and its prequel '' Orphan: First Kill'' (2022). She also portrayed Clove in the dystopian adventure film ' ...

as Izzy *

Taylor Russell Taylor Russell McKenzie (born July 18, 1994) is a Canadian actress. She has starred in the Netflix science fiction series ''Lost in Space'' (2018–2021). In film, she has starred in the critically acclaimed drama ''Waves'' (2019), for which she ...

as Ashley *

Rosie Day Rosie Jane Day is an English actress, director and writer. She is known for her roles as Mary Hawkins in the Starz series '' Outlander'' and Sarah Jessica Parker's daughter in the comedy film '' All Roads Lead to Rome''. She starred as Tina Pem ...

as Sierra *

Rebecca Front Rebecca Louise Front (born 16 May 1964) is an English actress, writer and comedian. She won the 2010 BAFTA TV Award for Best Female Comedy Performance for '' The Thick of It'' (2009–2012).Jennifer Lipma"Bafta for Jewish actress Rebecca Front" ...

as Miss Olonsky *

Jodhi May Jodhi Tania May (''née'' Hakim-Edwards; 8 May 1975) is a British actress. She remains the youngest recipient of the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival, for ''A World Apart'' (1988). Her other film appearances include ''The Last ...

as Heather Sinclair *

Pip Torrens Philip D'Oyly "Pip" Torrens (born 2 June 1960) is an English actor. Known for playing urbane, authoritative figures, Torrens portrayed courtier Tommy Lascelles in the Netflix drama ''The Crown'', aristocrat Lord Massen in the HBO series ''Th ...

as Professor Farley *

Kirsty Mitchell Kirsty Loretta Mitchell (born 28 June 1974) is an award nominated Scottish actress, She is the Scottish voice of Mòrag Ladair in ''Xenoblade Chronicles 2''. In 2019, she began appearing in the BBC medical drama series '' Casualty'' as ACP Fait ...

as Ginny * Jim Sturgeon as Dave * David Elliot as Robert Gordon * Brian Bovell as Dr. MacMillan * Ramiro Blas as Disfigured Man * Josep Linuesa as Wilhelm Kestler

Production

Stephenie Meyer Stephenie Meyer (; née Morgan; born December 24, 1973) is an American novelist and film producer. She is best known for writing the vampire romance series ''Twilight'', which has sold over 100 million copies, with translations into 37 differ ...

optioned the Lois Duncan novel in April 2012. In July 2014,

Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...

acquired the film. Rodrigo Cortés was announced as the director the same day, and screenwriter Chris Sparling was set to work using a previous draft by Michael Goldbach. In early October 2016, AnnaSophia Robb was announced to play the main role, and

joined the cast three days later. On October 24, Victoria Moroles joined the cast as Veronica. To promote the pending release,

released a trailer online for the film on May 22, 2018.

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

began in October 2016 in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. with

Jarin Blaschke Jarin Blaschke (born September 28, 1978) is an American cinematographer, best known for his work on the psychological horror film '' The Lighthouse'', which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. Early life and ...

as the director of photography. After four weeks of shooting in Barcelona and two weeks in the Canary Islands, filming ended in December 2016.

Release

''Down a Dark Hall'' was released in Italy on August 1, 2018, and in Spain on August 3, 2018. In the United States, the film was released on August 17, 2018, by

simultaneously in select theaters and via

. The film was released on Blu-ray combo pack and DVD on October 16, 2018, by Lionsgate Home Entertainment.

Reception

the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews and has an average rating of . The site's critics consensus reads: "''Down a Dark Hall'' is more stylish than scary, although its foreboding atmosphere may raise a few goosebumps among younger viewers." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 56 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

References

External links

* {{Lois Duncan 2018 horror films 2018 horror thriller films 2010s ghost films 2010s supernatural horror films 2010s supernatural thriller films American ghost films American haunted house films American horror drama films American horror thriller films American supernatural horror films American supernatural thriller films Films set in boarding schools Films about spirit possession Films based on American novels Films directed by Rodrigo Cortés Films produced by Wyck Godfrey Films shot in Barcelona Films shot in the Canary Islands Films set in country houses Gothic horror films Spanish ghost films Spanish horror thriller films Spanish supernatural horror films Summit Entertainment films Nostromo Pictures films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films