The Marsh (2006)

A young beautiful but stressed out children's writer seeks out a holiday in the country but becomes the lead character in a supernatural mystery she must solve to save her life

Director:

Jordan Barker

Writer:

Michael Stokes

Stars:

Gabrielle Anwar, Louis Ferreira, Forest Whitaker

Cast

Cast overview:
Gabrielle Anwar	...	Claire Holloway
Louis Ferreira	...	Noah Pitney (as Justin Louis)
Forest Whitaker	...	Geoffrey Hunt
Peter MacNeill	...	Philip Manville
Niamh Wilson	...	Little Claire / Rose
Joe Dinicol	...	Brendan Manville
Brooke Johnson	...	Mercy
Kenner Ames	...	Ernie
Jessica Greco	...	Teen Mercy
Ryan Giesen	...	Teen Ernie
Jonathan Payne	...	Teen Pitney
Bill MacDonald	...	Dr. Wells

Storyline

The successful children's writer Claire Holloway is troubled by scary nightmares and is under psychological treatment. While working out watching television, she sees the landscape of the Rose Marsh Farm in the Westmoreland County, and she notes that the farmhouse is linked to her nightmares. She decides to spend her vacation in the farm, which is located nearby a swamp, and she is haunted by the ghosts of a little girl and a teenage boy inside the house. She is befriended by the local publisher and historian Noah Pitney but after a sequence of disturbing visions, she decides to contact the paranormal consultant Geoffry Hunt. Together, they investigate the mystery and disclose a tragedy that happened in the farm about twenty years ago.

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Plot Keywords:

farm | writer | nightmare | supernatural | marsh | 

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Taglines:

You can bury the past... but sometimes the past won't stay buried.

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, disturbing images and some language

Details

Country:

Canada USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 March 2007 (Russia)

Also Known As:

Marsh

Filming Locations:

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$9,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Norstar Filmed Entertainment, Sonja Productions, Chum Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Noah was talking to Claire and Hunt on the marsh before he saw the ghost, Claire had her neck clean or little dirty, but in the scene when Mr Meanville gave them the little blanket, Claire's neck was too dirty, then, inside the house, her neck was a little dirty again.

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Quotes

Geoffry Hunt: People 're weird. They die... they get weirder.

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Crazy Credits

"The Producers wish to thank The Tornto (sic) Film Office..."

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Connections

References The Shining (1980)

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Soundtracks

"Lost In Time"
Written by Tim Branom
Performed by Tim Branom

User Reviews

Could have been better. Could have been much, much worse.

I rented The Marsh because I enjoy a good Gabrielle Anwar film. Actually, those are few and far between -- the truth is I'll watch anything she's in. I must say this is better than most of the movies she's done (likely thanks to the absence of Craig Sheffer).

Her character was well defined and complex, but she seemed more curious than frightened. It made sense when she spoke about how fairy tales are supposed to give kids the willies, and that's what kids like - I had a copy of Der Struwwelpeter when I was a kid - but this film wasn't really scary or anything much more than creepy.

I had braced myself for the worst, and was waiting for one of the two clichéd scenes, you know the wizened old man who says "you don't know what you're dealing with here'" or the abrasive and skeptical sheriff / authority figure who knows more than he lets on. So it was refreshing when Whittaker's character moved the plot along as quickly as it did.

The opening scene was marvelous, and the scene with her therapist could have been great with some smoother editing, but the flashlight in the dark videography is worthless. The death scenes are waaay cheesy. In the end, I'd say the director pulled it off, but it was touch and go there for a while.

All in all, this was a (bad) B movie, but with just enough sunk into the production to make it halfway decent.