Blessed (2004)

User Rating:

4.1/10   

Director:

Simon Fellows

Writers:

Robert Mearns (story)
Jayson Rothwell (writer)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Evil is coming.

Plot:

A fertility clinic visit becomes an unfathomable nightmare for a woman who's impregnated with the devil's DNA.

Plot Keywords:

Fertility Clinic | Nightmare | Twins | Evil | Pregnancy

Cast

Heather Graham	...	Samantha Howard
James Purefoy	...	Craig Howard
Fionnula Flanagan	...	J. Lloyd Samuel
Alan Mckenna	...	Detective Connors
Michael J. Reynolds	...	Dr. Lohman
Debora Weston	...	Dr. Leeds
Stella Stevens	...	Betty
William Hootkins	...	Detective Lauderdale
Andy Serkis	...	Father Carlo
David Hemmings	...	Earl Sidney
Michele Gentille	...	Mrs. Guber
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Paul Grossman	...	Joshua
Star Lynden-Bell	...	Twin #2
Tess Lynden-Bell	...	Twin #1
Oxana Moravec	...	Bridget
Gelu Nitu	...	Mr.Grubber

Directed by
Simon Fellows

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Robert Mearns		story
Jayson Rothwell		writer

Produced by
David Alvarado	....	producer associate
Cristian Bostanescu	....	line producer (as Cristi Bostanescu)
Alan B. Bursteen	....	executive producer (as Alan Bursteen)
Alwyn Kushner	....	co-producer (as Alwyn Hight Kushner)
Donald Kushner	....	producer
Robert Mearns	....	executive producer
Shahrook Oomer	....	producer associate
Vlad Paunescu	....	executive producer
Andrew Reimer	....	executive producer
Ron Schmidt	....	producer
Pierre Spengler	....	producer
Andrew Stevens	....	producer
Brad Wyman	....	producer

Original Music by
Stephen Jones

Cinematography by
Gabriel Kosuth		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Kant Pan

Casting by
Ferne Cassel
Tania Polentarutti

Production Design by
Christian Niculescu		(as Cristian Niculescu)

Art Direction by
Sorin Popescu
Vlad Vieru

Set Decoration by
Adrian Curelea

Costume Design by
Oana Paunescu

Makeup Department
Daniela Busoiu	....	key makeup artist (as Dana Busoiu)
Georgiana Creanga	....	hair stylist
Anastasia Eremciuc	....	makeup artist
Letitia Ghenea	....	key hair stylist
Mike J. Regan	....	makeup effects crew
Gary J. Tunnicliffe	....	special makeup designer

Production Management
Lucia Pavlovschi	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Adi Conerth	....	assistant director
Adrian Conerth	....	first assistant director
Simona Dascalu	....	second assistant director
Aaron Denn	....	second unit director
Oana Ene	....	third assistant director
Andrea Kapos	....	second unit director

Art Department
Viorel Ghenea	....	property master
Gina Stancu	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Tiberiu Borcoman	....	sound
Steve Cook	....	sound supervisor
Stanomir Dragos	....	sound engineer: post-production
Anthony Faust	....	adr mixer
Nick Foley	....	adr recordist
Miha Jaramaz	....	adr editor
Blair Jollands	....	sound designer
Peter Maxwell	....	sound re-recording mixer
Dennis McTaggart	....	dialogue editor
Kath Pollard	....	assistant sound re-recording mixer
Ted Swanscott	....	adr mixer
Preston Martin	....	adr recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Ionel Popa	....	special effects makeup
Ionel Popa	....	special effects technician

Visual Effects by
Neil Culley	....	digital artist
Sean Farrow	....	digital artist
David Gibbons	....	digital artist
Mick Harper	....	digital artist
Barrie Hemsley	....	visual effects producer
Sarah Hemsley	....	visual effects coordinator
Richard Higham	....	digital artist
Tim Jones	....	digital artist
Duncan Kinnaird	....	digital artist
Simon Leech	....	visual effects supervisor
Warren J. Mills	....	digital I/O
Nick New	....	digital artist
Jeff North	....	digital artist
Dylan Penhale	....	digital systems manager
Rupert Smith	....	production and operations
Paul Tuersley	....	digital artist
Tim Walton	....	digital artist

Stunts
Dicu Aurel	....	stunt performer
Julian George	....	stunts
Dicu Marian	....	utility stunts
Mihaela Elena Oros	....	stunt double
Daniel Pasleaga	....	stunt performer
Adrian Pavlovschi	....	stunt coordinator
Vasilescu Valentin	....	stunts
Dorin Zaharia	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Toni Cartu	....	camera operator
Calin Catalin	....	gaffer
Tudor Cotovelea	....	video assist operator

Casting Department
Vanessa Baker	....	adr voice casting
Brendan Donnison	....	adr voice casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ana Maria Cucu	....	assistant costume designer
Mynka Draper	....	costume designer: Heather Graham
Carmen Ilie	....	set costumer
Doina Raducut	....	set costumer

Editorial Department
Diana Negoitescu	....	post-production coordinator
Jonathan Sloman	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Alison Wright	....	music coordinator

Transportation Department
Bobby Barbacioru	....	driver

Other crew
Nathan Gendzier	....	location manager: New York
Clara Jacobs	....	production assistant (as Clara Gheorghiu)
Ovidiu Stoia	....	location manager
Robert Threadgold	....	production accountant
Elena Valeanu	....	production assistant
Smaranda Comanescu	....	assistant: Heather Graham (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Syndicate Films (presents)
• Andrew Stevens Entertainment (presents)
• K/W Productions (presents)
• Phoenix Film Partnership No. 2 (in association with)
• DEJ Productions (in association with)
• Blessed Film Company

Distributors

• Alpha Filmes (2006) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Bridge Entertainment Group (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• DEJ Productions
• Koch Media (2006) (Germany) (DVD) (retail)
• RTL Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (TV) (RTL8) (first national airing)
• Starmedia Home Entertainment (2005) (Germany) (DVD) (rental)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF) (2007) (Germany) (TV)

Other Companies

• Law Offices of Alan Abrams  business and legal affairs
• Senate Visual Effects, The  visual effects

Also Known As:

Samantha's Child (UK) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, brief sexuality and violent images.

Runtime:

USA:98 min | Germany:86 min (TV version)

Country:

Romania | UK

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Color

Certification:

Germany:16 | Australia:M | USA:R (certificate #40691) | Netherlands:16 | Singapore:NC-16 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Bucharest, Romania

Company:

Syndicate Films

Trivia:

The last film of David Hemmings.

Goofs:

Continuity: The pregnant woman in the beginning switches the way she's holding her glass between shots.

Rosemary's Baby for the 21st Century (only nowhere near as good).

When Samantha Howard (played by gorgeous Heather Graham) and her husband Craig decide that the time is right to start a family, they find that becoming pregnant isn't as easy as they had at first hoped.

Now personally, if I was having trouble getting Ms. Graham up the duff, I'd persevere and keep trying the way nature intended (two or three times a day should suffice, more if she was to wear roller boots and hot-pants); but rather than submit himself to the chore of regularly bunking up with his hot wife, Craig agrees to take her to a remote fertility clinic in the country where she can receive IVF treatment. Unfortunately, the owner of the facility is a devil worshipper who is trying to clone Lucifer, using Heather's eggs, her husbands sperm, and a drop or two of blood from Satan himself.

Despite solid performances from a more than capable cast (Graham, Purefoy, Stella Stevens, David Hemmings and Andy Serkis), this tepid little occult thriller flounders due to a lack of chills and a 'seen-it-all-before' storyline (Rosemary's Baby did it all much better). The film ambles along quite nicely until Serkis's nutty priest appears after which it rapidly goes downhill. And the film's ending is quite ridiculous.

Whilst not exactly boring, 'Blessed' really needed a creepy atmosphere and a few good scares in order to succeed, but unfortunately Simon Fellows's sedate direction provided neither, leaving me impressed only by Heather Graham and her very realistic prosthetic belly.