The New Daughter (2009)

A single father moves his two children to rural South Carolina, only to watch his daughter exhibit increasingly strange behavior.

Director:

Luiso Berdejo

Writers:

John Travis (screenplay), John Connolly (short story)

Stars:

Kevin Costner, Ivana Baquero, Samantha Mathis

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kevin Costner	...	John James
Ivana Baquero	...	Louisa James
Samantha Mathis	...	Cassandra Parker
Gattlin Griffith	...	Sam James
Erik Palladino	...	Officer Ed Lowry
Noah Taylor	...	Professor Evan White
James Gammon	...	Roger Wayne
Sandra Ellis Lafferty	...	Mrs. Amworth
Margaret Anne Florence	...	Alexis Danella
Christopher Harvey	...	Rick Ross
Brynn Massey	...	Sally
Martin Thompson	...	Stewart Green
Nevaina Graves Rhodes	...	Pam
Rob Bonz	...	Adrian
James Middleton	...	Scott

Storyline

John James is a writer; his wife has left him. He moves with his two middle-school children to an isolated house off a dirt road in South Carolina. The property has an Indian burial mound, which fascinates his daughter, Louisa, who's entering puberty. Strange things: noises on the roof and in the woods, the cat missing, Luisa sleepwalking clutching a straw doll no one's seen before. She visits the mound often, staying late, coming home covered with mud. John's younger son, Sam, is frightened. John learns the house has a history and seeks out the previous owner. Louisa's behavior becomes more bizarre. Is there an explanation? An ant farm and a missing babysitter provide clues.

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Plot Keywords:

mound | writer | babysitter | single father | straw doll | 

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Taglines:

How Far Will A Father Go To Protect The Ones He Loves?

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for thematic material including violence, disturbing images and brief strong language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 October 2010 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

La otra hija

Filming Locations:

Charleston, South Carolina, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gold Circle Films, New Daughter Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min 108 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Last cinema film of James Gammon.

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Goofs

James and his contractor prepare a batch of ANFO (ammonium nitrate + fuel oil) to blow up the mound. This is a 'tertiary' explosive, which means you cannot set it off with fire. It would just burn. To set off the detonation, you need to explode a secondary explosive, like a stick of dynamite, which in turn needs to be set off with a primary explosive, like a blasting cap.

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Connections

Features Dexter's Laboratory: Blackfoot and Slim/Trapped with a Vengeance/The Parrot Trap (1998)

User Reviews

Spooky story done badly

Up to a certain point in The New Daughter, I was reminded of Dragonfly. Both are low budget Costner films about a man dealing with a family loss which has a haunting outcome. It has been a while since I saw Dragonfly. Nobody thought it was any good, but it is way better than this film. To start with the obvious, The New Daughter represents what may be Costner's most lazy performance. It seems he has no interest in the story whatsoever. After a while the Dragonfly connection starts to fade away, and the movie turns into something else, something worse unfortunately. The New Daughter is torpid, and is bogged down by too much content, and not enough suspense or intelligent dialogue.

If I am gonna give the film any credit, it would be for photography. This is a gorgeously shot film, where the nights are cold, eerie and evocative, and the safety of home is warm, glowing and golden. The best shot in the film is the last one, which barely makes up for the utter stupidity of the ending. There is much left to explain, but in the end, I don't really care.

The New Daughter, is a spooky story, which is occasionally interesting but is less so than it is sloppily executed, badly acted, and not worth your money.