The Nesting (1981)

Director:

Armand Weston

Writers:

Daria Price (screenplay) &
Armand Weston (screenplay)

Release Date:

May 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

There was only one thing more terrifying than leaving the house... staying in it.

Plot:

A writer suffering from agoraphobia rents an isolated house so she can concentrate on her writing. She doesn't know that the house is a former brothel, and is inhabited by the ghosts of dead prostitutes.

Plot Keywords:

Ghost | Prostitute | Agoraphobia | Female Nudity | Psychotherapy

Cast

Robin Groves	...	Lauren Cochran
Christopher Loomis	...	Mark Felton
Michael David Lally	...	Daniel Griffith
John Carradine	...	Colonel LeBrun
Bill Rowley	...	Frank Beasley
David Tabor	...	Abner Welles
Patrick Farrelly	...	Doctor Webb
Bobo Lewis	...	Catherine Beasley
June Berry	...	Saphire
Ann Varley	...	Gwen
Cecile Liebman	...	Helga
Ron Levine	...	Leland LeBrun
Bruce Kronenberg	...	Young Abner
Jim Nixon	...	Young Frank
James Saxon	...	Earl
Jeffrey B. McLaughlin	...	Butler (as Jeffrey McLaughlin)
James Hayden	...	GI #1
Jery Hewitt	...	GI #2 (as Jerry Hewitt)
Cliff Cudney	...	Sheriff
Lee Steele	...	Doctor
Gloria Grahame	...	Florinda Costello

Directed by
Armand Weston

Writing credits
Daria Price		(screenplay) &
Armand Weston		(screenplay)

Produced by
Sam Lake	....	executive producer
Robert Sumner	....	executive producer
Don Walters	....	associate producer
Armand Weston	....	producer

Original Music by
Jack Malken
George Kim Scholes

Cinematography by
João Fernandes		(director of photography) (as J. Fernandes)

Film Editing by
Jack Foster

Art Direction by
John Lawless

Costume Design by
Alexis Del Lago		(as Alexis Blasini)

Makeup Department
Richard Alonzo	....	special makeup effects artist
Lyzanne Goodson	....	makeup artist
Jay Pearlman	....	special makeup effects artist (as Jay Perlman)

Production Management
Don Walters	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Fred Berner	....	assistant director
Philippe Rivier	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Cheryl Amatuzzo	....	graphics
Paul Everett	....	assistant scenic designer
Fred Isola	....	assistant art director
Patrick Mann	....	scenic designer (as Pat Mann)
Will Scheck	....	props

Sound Department
Bill Meredith	....	soundman
Nicki Tzanis	....	boom operator

Special Effects by
Bruce Martin	....	assistant special effects
Jeff Schechter	....	assistant special effects (as Jeff Schecter)
Matt Vogel	....	special effects

Stunts
Cliff Cudney	....	stunts
Jery Hewitt	....	stunts (as Jerry Hewitt)
Tiffany Lynne	....	stunts
Jake Plumstead	....	stunts
Jery Hewitt	....	stunt coordinator (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Doug Armstrong	....	key grip
Michael Duff	....	assistant camera
Michael Duff	....	camera operator: second unit
David J. Frederick	....	loader (as David Frederick)
Craig Nelson	....	second electric
Marco Nero	....	still photographer
Robert Stevers	....	best boy (as Robert Steivers)
Miles Strassner	....	grip
Frost Wilkinson	....	gaffer
David J. Frederick	....	second assistant camera (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Edith Frederick	....	seamstress

Editorial Department
Dave Frederick	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Pat Finnegan	....	production secretary
Paul Giaccobbe	....	location coordinator (as Paul Giacobbe)
Walter Gidali	....	legal
Allison Hickey	....	production assistant
Jill Lashley	....	production assistant
R. Allen Leider	....	publicist
Clea Pricetti	....	script supervisor
Bob Rudis	....	production assistant
Bruce Shell	....	production assistant
Michelle Solotar	....	production assistant (as Michele Solatar)
Bondi Walters	....	bookkeeper
Brian McMillan	....	head animal trainer (uncredited)

Distributors

• Feature Films (1981) (USA) (theatrical)
• William Mishkin Motion Pictures (1981) (USA) (theatrical) (as William Mishkin Pictures)
• Arpa Video (198?) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Blue Underground (2011) (USA) (DVD)
• Fazer Musiikki Oy/Fazer Video (1980s) (Finland) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1986) (UK) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1993) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Panavision  camera equipment
• Secret Sound  music mix
• Videart Opticals  optical effects

Also Known As:

"Massacre Mansion" - USA (reissue title)

Runtime:

104 min | Sweden:99 min (heavily cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:R | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | Germany:BPjM Restricted | Iceland:16 | Finland:K-18 (1987)

Filming Locations:

Armour-Stiner House, Irvington, New York, USA

Trivia:

Final film of Gloria Grahame.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship & Videotape (2010) (V)

* *1/2 out of 4.

Book novelist finds herself strangely attracted to an eerie, run down house in the middle of nowhere. Against her better judgement, she rents the house to work on her newest book and to get some peace and quiet, however she is unaware that the house used to be a bordello where a series of murders took place years earlier. To make matters worse, the ghosts of the victims seem to be haunting the place.

Scary horror film with some rather original moments and some surprising death scenes, runs out of steam in the second half and drags onto a rather unsatisfying conclusion. The cast is better then usual however.

Rated R; Strong Violence, Nudity, Sexual Situations.