''The List'' is a 2007 American

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by Gary Wheeler and based on the novel of the same name by

Robert Whitlow Robert Whitlow is a film-maker and a best-selling author of fifteen legal thrillers. He is also a contributor to a short story ''The Rescuers'', a story included in the book ''What The Wind Picked Up'' by The ChiLibris Ring. In 2001, he won th ...

. The film was shot in

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is the ...

. It stars

Malcolm McDowell Malcolm McDowell (born Malcolm John Taylor; 13 June 1943) is a British actor, producer, and television presenter. He is best known for portraying Alex DeLarge in ''A Clockwork Orange.'' He was born in the Horsforth suburb of Leeds and raised i ...

Chuck Carrington Charles Langhorne "Chuck" Carrington (born May 24, 1968, Lynchburg, Virginia) is an American actor best known for playing Petty Officer Jason Tiner on '' JAG'', and also starred as Renny Jacobsen in the independent feature thriller '' The List'' ...

Hilarie Burton Hilarie Ros Burton (born July 1, 1982) is an American actress, businesswoman, author and producer. A former host of MTV's ''Total Request Live'', she portrayed Peyton Sawyer on The WB/ CW drama '' One Tree Hill'' for six seasons (2003–2009). Po ...

and

Will Patton William Rankin Patton (born June 14, 1954) is an American actor and audiobook narrator. He starred as Colonel Dan Weaver in the TNT science fiction series '' Falling Skies''. He also appeared in the films ''Remember the Titans'', ''Armageddon'' ...

. ''The List'' was released on April 22, 2007, and grossed $138,814 at the US box office. It was released on DVD by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

in 2008. According to a reviewer, the film is part of the

Southern Gothic Southern Gothic is an artistic subgenre of fiction, country music, film and television that are heavily influenced by Gothic elements and the American South. Common themes of Southern Gothic include storytelling of deeply flawed, disturbing or ...

genre.

Plot

After the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

(1861-1865), a group of Southern plantation owners form a secret society. Their male heirs are inducted into the society. This continues until the present, when it is decided to kill off a new heir because she is a woman. Another young heir dies as well, and unbelievable things happen to a third and others he cares about.

Cast

as Desmond Larochette *

as Renny Jacobsen *

as Jo Johnston *

as Harriston * Pat Hingle as Gus Eicholtz *

Mary Beth Peil Mary Beth Peil (born June 25, 1940) is an American actress and soprano. She began her career as an opera singer in 1962 with the Goldovsky Opera Theater. In 1964 she won two major singing competitions, the Young Concert Artists International Au ...

as Daisy Stokes * Elizabeth Omilami as Mama A * Afemo Omilami as Al Jenkins * R. Keith Harris as Bart Maxwell * Steve Ayers as Robert Roget * Richard Fullerton as Jerrod Weiss * Richard K. Olsen as Michael Flournoy * Nicholas Pryor as Harold Smithfield * Frank Hoyt Taylor as Amos Candler * Tim Ware as Thomas Layne

Production

Director Gary Wheeler had trouble casting the role of Larochette. As an

independent production Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

, his budget was limited, and he had trouble making connections with high profile actors. When actor Tim Ware found Larochette had not been cast, he offered to contact McDowell on behalf of Wheeler. Shooting took place in

Release

''The List'' was released theatrically in 2007 through select states in the South including North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia. The film would visit a select city for a few weeks beginning in Charlotte on August 12, 2007. It grossed a total of $138,814. A further releasing campaign was planned for 2008 with intent to spread outside of the South.

soon set a June 10, 2008, DVD release date.

Reception

Ken Hanke of ''

Mountain Xpress The ''Mountain Xpress'' is an alternative newspaper covering news, arts, local politics, and events in Asheville and western North Carolina, USA. Published each Wednesday in print and online, it has a print circulation of about 29,000. The Mounta ...

'' rated it 2.5/5 stars and called it "a slickly produced, low-budget, faith-based thriller that's light on the thrills and heavy on the faith". In rating it 5/10 stars, George Tiller of

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

wrote, "So what we wind up with is a muddled bit of

lite that somehow manages to be a pretty enjoyable movie." David Cornelius of

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

rated it 2/5 and criticized the film's transition from drama to supernatural thriller. Cornelius described it as "always just a little too melodramatic, a little too hokey, a little too saccharine".

References

External links

Official Website
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:List, The 2007 films 2007 thriller films 2007 independent films American thriller films American independent films Films shot in North Carolina Films produced by Kevin Downes Films based on American novels Southern Gothic films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films