Under Surveillance (2006)

Director:

Dave Campfield

Writer:

Dave Campfield (writer)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Four Apartments, Seven Residents... One Killer

Plot:

After ten years, Justin Besler has moved back with his father. But his father's house isn't as Justin remembered...

Plot Keywords:

Surveillance Camera | Stalker | Immigrant | Pyromania | Wicca

Awards:

4 wins

Cast

Eric Conley	...	Justin Besler
Felissa Rose	...	Heidi Broonen
Mark Love	...	Vincent Calabrese
Dave Campfield	...	Rick Varlin
Brenda Abbandandolo	...	Sonja Broonen
Fred DeReau	...	Scott Lessing
Chris Cooke	...	Robert Krol
Alexandra Eitel	...	Kayla
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sara Baker Bahr	...	Larisa Calabrese
Sierra Brandt	...	Mrs. Krol
Raine Brown	...	Tracy
Russ Camarda	...	Tom Hasset
Dino Castelli	...	Partygoer
Julie Goff	...	Lucky
Desiree Gould	...	Norma
Jason Kirsch
Roger Langan	...	First Cult Victim
David H. Rigg	...	Kurt Besler
Peter Scanavino	...	Cult Leader
Keith Sontag	...	Partygoer
Ethan Wiley	...	Banker

Also Known As:

Dark Chamber (USA) (DVD title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some violence.

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

Northport, Long Island, New York, USA

Company:

Fourth Horizon Cinema

Trivia:

The cult featured in the film, the Black Circle, was based on an actual group. In 1984, in Northport, Long Island, a few High School dropouts formed a cult named the Knights of the Black Circle. Two of its members, who were both heavily involved in drugs, brutally murdered one of their friends when he refused to profess allegiance to Satan. Their story became the basis of the book, "Say You Love Satan". Incidentally, the exteriors of the Besler house were shot in Northport, only one block away from the crime scene itself.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Something to Scream About (2003) (V)

Clever, Compelling, and Highly Impressive film debut

In Under Surveillance, Dave Campfield, in his first feature film, typifies the triple threat of writer, director, and actor (might we add, co-producer!). On a budget of $30,000, he transforms digital video into a slick, cinematic tour-de-force that rivals, if not surpasses, a 35mm concoction. He utilizes the camera's possibilities as a character in the cast, moving deftly and subliminally into and out of the mindset of mystery and psychological intrigue. He employs a writer's precision in pacing his screenplay with appropriate calibers of suspense and revelation, layering it with rich characterizations and subtext, brought to life by a compelling and well-assembled cast. Director of Photography Andrew Seltz maximizes the technical potential of digital video with lush and ominous color landscapes punctuated by Pixelvision-like black and white points of view of the surveillance cameras, offering us a peephole into the private lives of this repertory of players. Composer Evan Evans lends a haunting and enthralling score, reminiscent of early Bernard Herrmann, and contributes significantly to the overall tone of the piece. Under Surveillance is bound to elicit attention in the independent film arena; and as long as there are fine films to be seen and fine director/writers (such as Dave Campfield) to make them, it should secure a memorable place in that canon and beyond.