Stay Alive (2006)

Director:

William Brent Bell

Writers (WGA):

William Brent Bell (written by) &
Matthew Peterman (written by)

Release Date:

24 March 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

It's the game of life and death....

Plot:

For a group of teens, the answer to the mysterious death of their old friend lies within the world of an online video game based on the true story of an ancient noblewoman known as the Blood Countess.

Plot Keywords:

Blood | Blood Countess | Video Game | Hanging | Tower

US TV Schedule:

Thur. Dec. 17

2:30 AM

USA

Cast

Jon Foster	...	Hutch
Samaire Armstrong	...	Abigail
Frankie Muniz	...	Swink
Jimmi Simpson	...	Phineus
Wendell Pierce	...	Detective Thibodeaux
Milo Ventimiglia	...	Loomis Crowley
Sophia Bush	...	October
Adam Goldberg	...	Miller Banks
Billy Slaughter	...	Rex
Nicole Oppermann	...	Sarah
Monica Monica	...	Mrs. Crowley
Rio Hackford	...	Detective King
Billy Louviere	...	Fidget
J. Richey Nash	...	Young Rookie (as Richey Nash)
Maria Kalinina	...	Countess
Lauren Lorbeck	...	Emma
Veronica Mosgrove	...	News Reporter
Rick Green	...	Stay Alive Game Voice-Over (voice)
James Haven	...	Jonathan Malkus
Alice Krige	...	The Author
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
April Wood
Cynthia LeBlanc	...	Lady in the Park (uncredited)
Elton LeBlanc	...	Man in the Park (uncredited)
Gary R. Percle Jr.	...	Police Officer (uncredited)

Directed by
William Brent Bell

Writing credits (WGA)
William Brent Bell		(written by) &
Matthew Peterman		(written by)

Produced by
Gary Barber	....	executive producer
Roger Birnbaum	....	executive producer
Becki Cross Trujillo	....	executive producer
Adam Del Deo	....	executive producer
Jonathan Glickman	....	executive producer
Douglas Hansen	....	executive producer (as Douglas E. Hansen)
David Manpearl	....	co-producer
Adolfo Martínez Pérez	....	associate producer (as Adolfo Martinez)
Anna Mastro	....	associate producer
McG	....	producer
Matthew Peterman	....	producer
Peter Schlessel	....	producer
Erin Stam	....	co-producer
James D. Stern	....	producer (as James Stern)

Original Music by
John Frizzell

Cinematography by
Alejandro Martínez

Film Editing by
Harvey Rosenstock
Mark Stevens

Casting by
Mark Bennett
Tommy Staub

Production Design by
Bruton Jones

Art Direction by
Alan Hook

Set Decoration by
Kristin Bicksler

Costume Design by
Caroline Eselin

Makeup Department
Theresa A. Fleming	....	assistant hair stylist
Rodger Jacobs	....	assistant prosthetics makeup artist (as Roger Jacobs)
Michele Paris	....	key head makeup artist
Michele Paris	....	prosthetics makeup
Adelita Solorzano	....	assistant makeup artist
Donna Spahn	....	key hair stylist (as Donna Spahn-Jones)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Steve Battaglia	....	second assistant director
Eric Fox Hays	....	first assistant director
Steve Ritzi	....	second unit director

Art Department
Kip Bartlett	....	assistant property master
Gail Briant	....	lead scenic
Monique Champagne	....	set decoration buyer
Federico D'Alessandro	....	storyboard artist
Elizabeth Mire	....	art department assistant
Danny Nick	....	set dresser
Chuck Stringer	....	construction coordinator
Richard Waldrop	....	property master

Sound Department
Noah J. Appleton	....	sound effects editor
Kelly Cabral	....	supervising sound editor
C. Douglas Cameron	....	boom operator
Melissa A. Corns	....	sound effects editor
Patrick Cyccone Jr.	....	sound re-recording mixer
Rene Defrancesch	....	sound utility
Paul Drenning	....	adr mixer
Daniel J. Leahy	....	sound re-recording mixer
Chris Navarro	....	adr recordist
Whit Norris	....	sound mixer
Aynee Osborn	....	sound editor
Sarah Payan	....	dialogue editor
Greg Steele	....	adr mixer
Edward M. Steidele	....	foley artist
Eric Thompson	....	adr mixer
Chris Trent	....	foley mixer
Jerry Trent	....	foley artist
Greg Zimmerman	....	adr recordist

Special Effects by
David Nash	....	special effects technician

Visual Effects by
Beverly Abbott	....	visual effects production assistant
Darrell Abney	....	senior character modeler
Ryan Beadle	....	digital I/O
Glenn Burton	....	digital artist
Gayle Busby	....	visual effects producer
Steve Caldwell	....	digital compositor
Patrick Clancey	....	digital opticals
Keely Colcleugh	....	digital artist: Pixel Liberation Front
Sam Dabbs	....	digital compositor
Tamir Diab	....	digital artist
Tamir Diab	....	visual effects lighter
Raffael Dickreuter	....	digital artist: Pixel Liberation Front
Mark Dornfeld	....	visual effects supervisor
Duane Floch	....	animation supervisor: Pixel Liberation Front
Christi Franck	....	visual effects coordinator
Bradley Friedman	....	technical supervisor: Pixel Liberation Front
R.J. Harbour	....	digital compositor
Diana Hinek	....	digital compositor
Shaina Holmes	....	digital compositor
Shaina Holmes	....	digital coordinator
Shant Jordan	....	digital effects artist
Ntana Key	....	second digital colorist
Nicholas Kim	....	CG artist
Nicholas Kim	....	digital compositor
Jeremy Lang	....	head of information technology: Custom Film Effects
Nicholas Loizides	....	3D lighter: Pixel Liberation Front
Nicholas Loizides	....	model maker: Pixel Liberation Front
Nicholas Loizides	....	texture artist: Pixel Liberation Front
Scott McGinley	....	digital artist
Michael Meyers	....	pre-visualization artist
Lori C. Miller	....	art director
Steve Miller	....	visual effects editor
Mahito Mizobuchi	....	visual effects
Lillani E. Moran	....	visual effects coordinator
C. Michael Neely	....	animator: Pixel Liberation Front
Jeff Olm	....	digital compositor: Five-O
James Payfer	....	digital compositor
Bill Phillips	....	digital artist
Tanissa Potrovitza	....	visual effects producer
Laurie Powers	....	visual effects
Mark Sawicki	....	green screen photographer
Steven J. Scott	....	supervising digital colorist
Kent Seki	....	visual effects supervisor
Danita Slaughter	....	digital and optical lineup
Freddie Vaziri	....	digital compositor
Marko Vukovic	....	technical director: PLF
Michael D. Werckle	....	animator: Pixel Liberation Front
Amani Williams	....	digital compositor

Stunts
Dale Frye	....	stunts
Lex D. Geddings	....	stunt rigger
Cameron Geeves	....	stunt double
Karin Justman	....	stunt double: Sophia Bush
Karine Mauffrey	....	stunt double: Samaire Armstrong
Josh Mueller	....	stunt double
Kiana Politis	....	stunt double
Steve Ritzi	....	stunt coordinator
John Zimmerman	....	stunt rigger

Camera and Electrical Department
Mac Alsfeld	....	camera intern
Brandon Dauzat	....	second assistant camera
David C. Edwards	....	second assistant camera: "b" camera
Ryan Eustis	....	second assistant camera: "a" camera
Dan Furst	....	video assist operator
Kevin Gazdik	....	electrician
Rebecca M. Heunermund-Brenneman	....	still photographer
Joe Iverson	....	electrician
Michael D. Kennedy	....	electrician
Ian Lynch	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Jeff Moore	....	Steadicam operator
Jeff Moore	....	camera operator
Zach Nasits	....	additional second assistant camera
Louis Normandin	....	best boy rigging grip
Joseph Paolucci Jr.	....	electrician
Declan Ryan	....	electrician
Jeff Taylor	....	camera production assistant
Billy Theriot	....	video assist intern
Dan Turek	....	key first assistant camera
Scott Zuchowski	....	best boy electric

Casting Department
Sandy Holt	....	adr voice casting
Lauren Leach	....	extras casting assistant
Jason Seitz	....	casting assistant
Wendy Talazac	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
April Justin	....	costume production assistant
Giselle Spence	....	seamstress
Ann Walters	....	costume supervisor

Editorial Department
Jamie Keeney	....	first assistant editor
Curtis Lindersmith	....	digital intermediate editor
Javier Marcheselli	....	editorial production assistant
Peter Mergus	....	first assistant editor

Music Department
Andrew Dorfman	....	supervising music editor
Charles Martin Inouye	....	music editor
Andrew Kinney	....	orchestrator
Jerome Leroy	....	orchestrator

Transportation Department
Dwayne Lain	....	driver
Brad Lips	....	driver: set dressing
June Marshall	....	transportation
Tom Moore	....	transportation captain

Other crew
Kim Buttlar	....	executive coordinator: Mr. Barber
Jeffrey Chernov	....	production executive
Cliffyb	....	video game consultant
Trang Dang	....	assistant production coordinator
Helen Estabrook	....	assistant: Ms. Stam
Jordan Estes	....	intern
Ray Felipe	....	script researcher
Shel Gilbert	....	payroll accountant
Michael Grigsby	....	production accountant
Jeff Grosvenor	....	assistant: Mr. Manpearl
Andrew Hutchings	....	intern
Ashley Kravitz	....	script clearance
Erin Lander	....	adr loop group
Lauren Levi	....	assistant: Mr. Brent Bell
Kathleen Lynch	....	craft service head
Kevin Meier	....	production assistant: office
Jules Monteyne	....	production assistant
Jared P. Morell	....	assistant: Mr. Del Deo
Murph	....	production assistant
Eleanor Nett	....	assistant: Mr. Hansen
Robert E. Phillips	....	production assistant
Cali Pomes	....	production assistant
Alegre Rodriquez	....	assistant: Mr. Schlessel
Adam Rosenberg	....	assistant: Mr. Glickman
Anthony Rossi III	....	production coordinator
Rip Russell	....	first assistant accountant
Eric Schmidt	....	body double
Brandy Scott	....	photo double (as Brandy Miller)
Andy Shapiro	....	assistant: McG
Ben Shelton	....	production assistant
Lucas Smith	....	assistant: Mr. Stern
Melinda Taksen	....	script supervisor
Marlena Thomas	....	executive coordinator: Mr. Birnbaum
J. Mitchell White	....	intern
Frederik Wiedmann	....	midi engineer
Brian Bruskrud	....	finance executive (uncredited)
Louis Webre	....	stand-in (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Hollywood Pictures
• Spyglass Entertainment
• Endgame Entertainment
• Wonderland Pictures
• Wonderland Sound and Vision

Distributors

• Buena Vista Pictures (2006) (USA) (theatrical)
• TFM Distribution (2006) (France) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2006) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2006) (Philippines) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2006) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2006) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (BVHE) (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Concorde Home Entertainment (2007) (Germany) (DVD)
• Paradise Group (2006) (Russia) (all media)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2006) (Argentina) (all media)
• Universal Home Video (2006) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Pixel Liberation Front (visual effects)
• Custom Film Effects (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Business Affairs  production counsel
• EFilm  digital intermediate services
• Right Lobe Design Group  titles
• Sound Satisfaction  foley recording facilities
• Wilshire Stages, The  ADR recording facility

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for horror violence, disturbing images, language, brief sexual and drug content.

Runtime:

USA:85 min | 100 min (Unrated Director's Cut) | Argentina:85 min | Germany:75 min (TV version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Australia:M | UK:15 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:PG | Malaysia:18SG | Ireland:15A | Norway:15 | Finland:K-18 | Canada:14A | Philippines:PG-13 | Australia:MA (director's cut) | Argentina:13 | Singapore:M18 (director's cut) | Germany:16 (director's cut) | Italy:T | France:U (with warning) | Brazil:16 | South Korea:15

Filming Locations:

Esplanade Mall - 1401 West Esplanade, Kenner, Louisiana, USA

Company:

Hollywood Pictures

Trivia:

Although the term "Blood Countess" is used in the movie's synopsis, it is never said within the movie. When Hutch and Abigail are hearing the story of Elizabeth Bathory from the author of the book "The Lady of Blood", the author says, "Thus began her obsession" (speaking of using the blood of the girls as a "Fountain of Youth", as Abigail says), to which Hutch replies, "The Blood Countess" (not in the theatrical version, but at approximately 1 hour 1 minute and 44 seconds on the uncut-version DVD).

Goofs:

Plot holes: Phin's car would've been part of an official crime scene and therefore would've been impounded for evidence.

Quotes:

[simultaneously reading]
Swink Sylvania, October Bantum, Phineus Bantum, Hutch O'Neill, Abigail, Miller Banks: Come to me, clouds. May you rise as an evil storm born to rip them open. Let the cover of night bear witness and destroy those who resist so they shall harm me not. Let the blood of many cleanse me, preserving beauty eternal, I pray you.

Movie Connections:

References Rei Zero (2001) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Sweet Dreams

Stay away!

In The Ring, it was a videotape; a website was the problem in Feardotcom; the danger in Pulse came from computers; and Phone and One Missed Call featured—you guessed it—deadly phones. In Stay Alive, the piece of technology that causes all manner of problems is an online game: those who play it wind up dead soon afterwards. How clever!

Directed by William Brent Bell (who?), and featuring an unimpressive cast of twenty-somethings that you might have seen before, but probably can't remember where or what the hell their names are, this is an extremely derivative piece of film-making aimed squarely at the PG-13 horror set; seasoned scary film watchers will no doubt find Stay Alive extremely tedious, highly predictable and not in the least bit frightening.

The poorly developed plot follows a group of gamers with extremely daft names (October, Loomis, Phineus, Hutch, and Swink!?!) who attempt to unravel the mystery behind the deadly game before they too become victims. Eventually, they discover that it is the evil spirit of the legendary Countess Elizabeth Bathory who is killing anyone who dares to play, and that their only hope of survival is to continue with the game to the end.

With a story as dumb as this, viewers should expect a film with loose ends aplenty, not one iota of logic (who made the game, how, and why is never explained), very little in the way of scares or gore, and a dumb closing scene to leave the door open for—God forbid—a sequel.