Staunton Hill (2009) (V)

Director:

George Cameron Romero

Writer:

David Rountree

Release Date:

6 October 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

In God's Name They Prey

Plot:

It's the fall of 1969 and winds of a change are blowing across America. But on a remote family farm in the hills of Virginia...

Plot Keywords:

Virginia | Truck Driver | Hit With A Hammer | Autumn Leaves | Throat Slitting

Cast

Kathy Lamkin	...	Louise Staunton
Cristen Coppen	...	Jordan
David Rountree	...	Cole
Kiko Ellsworth	...	Boone
Christine Carlo	...	Raina
Paula Rhodes	...	Trish
Charlie Bodin	...	Quintin
B.J. Hendricks	...	Buddy
Cooper Huckabee	...	Burgh
Sherry Weston	...	Geraldine Staunton
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Reema Anbari	...	Doctor #2
Jake Andolina	...	Trucker
Lauren Bayer	...	Little Girl
Kevin Kirkpatrick	...	Dr. Ostergard
George Cameron Romero	...	Telephone Customer (voice) (as G. Cameron Romero)

Directed by
George Cameron Romero		(as Cameron Romero)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
David Rountree

Produced by
Bill Battin	....	executive producer
Jeff Battin	....	executive producer
David Dietrich	....	co-executive producer
Kiko Ellsworth	....	co-producer
B.J. Hendricks	....	associate producer
Dan Kerr	....	executive producer
Christofer Lombardo	....	producer
Patrick Mercier	....	executive producer
Brad Robinson	....	associate producer
David Rountree	....	co-producer
Barry Shepard	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Jesper Kyd

Cinematography by
Andrew Mclean		(as Andrew Iko McLean)

Film Editing by
Melissa Burns
Jonathan Lacocque

Casting by
Barbara Divisek

Production Design by
Jeremy Zerechak

Art Direction by
Jeremy Zerechak

Makeup Department
Reema Anbari	....	makeup artist
Dustin Heald	....	special makeup effects artist
Kevin Kirkpatrick	....	key makeup effects artist
Christine Martin	....	key makeup artist (as Christine Renae Martin)
Mike Rotella	....	special makeup effects artist

Production Management
Jonathan Lacocque	....	post-production supervisor
Shaun O'Donnell	....	production manager: second unit

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Corey Peterson	....	second assistant director
Mark Shandley	....	first assistant director (as Mark Shandlay)

Art Department
Brett Brozovich	....	art production assistant
Jason Clanella	....	props production assistant
Random Forem	....	construction coordinator
Adam Marze	....	scenic
Christopher Maurer	....	property master (as Chris Maurer)
Shaun O'Donnell	....	set dresser
Jeremiah D. Tinsley	....	assistant art director
Random Waldron	....	construction foreman
Jeremy Zerechak	....	set designer

Sound Department
Kevin Hawkins	....	sound assistant
Wil Masisak	....	production sound mixer (as Will Masisak)
Jerry Walterick	....	boom operator
Jerry Walterick	....	sound designer

Special Effects by
Benzy	....	special effects assistant
Steve Gentile	....	special effects assistant
Jerry Gergely	....	pyrotechnician
Dustin Heald	....	special effects makeup
Kevin Kirkpatrick	....	special effects supervisor
Greg Kramer II	....	special effects assistant (as Greg Kramer)
Nick Lowe	....	special effects assistant
Jason Milani	....	special effects assistant
Aaron Northrup	....	special effects assistant
Mike Rotella	....	special effects makeup (as Mikey Rotella)
Bridget Zerechak	....	effects painter

Visual Effects by
Scott Benson	....	compositor
Jason Hager	....	animator (as J.A. Hager)
Guy Micciche	....	digital compositor

Stunts
Randy Kovitz	....	stunt coordinator
Random Waldron	....	stunt performer
Chris Young	....	fight choreographer
Chris Young	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Alex Andres	....	first assistant camera
Bob Bender	....	lamp operator
Andrew Dutton	....	second assistant camera
Greg Edwards	....	dolly grip
Gregory L. Edwards	....	dolly grip
Russ Faust	....	crane grip: second unit
Bill Fuller	....	chief lighting technician
Brandon Kelly	....	video assist
Dante Ludovici	....	company grip
Adam Marze	....	video assist
Eric Riedmann	....	electrician
John Alan Roush	....	lamp operator (as John Roush)
Amishjim Schulze	....	best boy grip (as Amish Schulze)
Amishjim Schulze	....	crane operator
Rich Schute	....	Steadicam operator
Colin Sheehy	....	film loader
Doug Stanczak	....	crane operator
Doug Stanczak	....	key grip
Jarrod Wilson	....	company grip
Don Yockey	....	additional grip
Don Yost	....	company grip
Nick Yost	....	best boy electric
John Zielinski	....	company grip

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Lydia Fandry	....	costume assistant
Andrea Housand	....	costume supervisor
Annette Pace	....	seamstress
Ali Pace-McMutrie	....	seamstress
Lindsey Tervo-Clemmens	....	key costumer

Editorial Department
Jamie Lockhart	....	assistant editor
Tommy Nuckels	....	senior technical editor
Heidi Scheuermann	....	key post-production assistant

Music Department
Brian Trifon	....	musician: guitars
Miguel Weissman	....	musician: harmonica

Other crew
Adam Battin	....	production coordinator
Jesse Best	....	script supervisor
Katherine Braham	....	production office coordinator
Daniel Caldwell	....	production assistant (as Dan Caldwell)
Phoebe Chao	....	craft service
Jason Cianella	....	set production assistant
Aaron Doubt	....	on-site medic
Tom Gregg	....	aerial coordinator (as Thomas Gregg)
Kati Lamkin	....	assistant: Kathy Lamkin (as Katie Lamkin)
Bob Malone	....	caterer
Sean Martin	....	production assistant
Jim McCann	....	production assistant
Grace Meeder	....	production assistant
Shaun O'Donnell	....	aerial coordinator
Barry Papick	....	acting coach
Tom Perkins	....	animal wrangler (as 'Big' Tom Perkins)
Kate Stewart	....	production assistant
Melanie Waddell	....	on-site medic
Cherokee Walker	....	pilot
Justin White	....	production assistant
Shawn Wright	....	on-site medic
Jessica Zelt	....	production accountant

Thanks
Gil Leveck	....	very special thanks
George A. Romero	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Batpack Studios (co-production)
• Psycho Rock Productions
• Staunton Films

Distributors

• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2010) (Australia) (DVD)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• I-On New Media (2010) (Germany) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Benzidream FX Studios (prop molds)

Other Companies

• Payroll Solutions  payroll

Also Known As:

"Cameron Romero's Staunton Hill" - USA (complete title)

Runtime:

USA:90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:R (2010) | New Zealand:R18 | Germany:16

Company:

Batpack Studios

Trivia:

In the opening film credits, "Psycho Rock Productions" is misspelled as "Psychorock."

Movie Connections:

References Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Let's Be Fair About This

I viewed "Staunton Hill" last night, and I did so expecting it to be absolutely worthless. I have read the horrid reviews and listened to all the know-it-all crap being slung on various message boards. Having given the film a watch, I have to say that certain criticisms of Cameron Romero are unfair.

The Writing:

We've all seen it before; a group of kids in some remote wilderness get chased down and murdered by some oddball inbred family. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. I can accept that played out formula if the characters take their own shape, and if there is a fresh take on said formula. However, I never saw that happen in this film. But rather than throw stones at Cameron Romero, one needs to look at David Rountree, the writer. The weakest element of this movie was by far the writing. The characters are predictable, one-dimensional, and poorly defined. The back-story is very vague, and there isn't much "horror" to the film until the last 15-20 minutes. The first 50+ minutes of "Staunton Hill" basically equal the first 15 minutes of similar films using that same "formula". That much is all true, but those criticisms should be directed at David Rountree rather than at Mr. Romero.

The Acting:

The acting in this film is hard to gage. I know that there were some talented people involved in this movie, but I fear that the poor writing ruined any chance these actors had to do their best. I've seen well- written scripts tackled by average actors in a respectable way, but I have never seen good actors be able to do good things with a poorly written script.

The Directing:

Where the directing suffered the most was in some of the jumpy edits and unsteady hand-held shots. There was good use of cam-cables and dollies at times, and there were a few really nice shots, but there was also some under/overdeveloped shots that didn't match up in certain scenes. With that said, I have to point out that this low budget film was indeed shot on Super 16, and thus presented a bit more of a challenge to shoot than HD.

The Characters:

To be fair and honest, I don't know what the script called for, but I feel that the characters could have been brought to life a lot more. I felt that the character of Buddy was a bit scattered and senseless, and I felt that the back-story on both the kids and the family was too vague. If you are going to tap that old "formula", than it is essential to make the writing as fresh as possible. I found that I couldn't identify with any of them because I didn't know enough about them. They all became caricatures rather than characters. Is Cameron Romero guilty of taking on a poorly-written and under-budgeted movie? Yes he is. However, it is unfair to blame him for either the writing or the budget. Could some of his shots have been more steady? Sure! But there are also some nice shots in there too.

The Gore:

I am picky about gore. I love it, and I am tired of CGI special effects. One redeeming quality about this film is that while we see no real "horrors" until the last 20 minutes of the movie, what we do see is decent... and not done on computers.

"Worst Movie Ever" Tag:

I watch a lot of films. My collection is vast and large. I have read the comments by people talking about this film as a "1 out of 10" worse. To be objective about it, I don't think this film is quite a "1" or a "2". The latest remake of both "Night of the Living Dead" (3D) and "Day of the Dead" were both 1000 times WORSE than "Staunton Hill" could ever be. A friend of mine brought me a DVD of 2006's "Night of the Dead". I'd dare ANY of you who gave this film a "1" or "2" rating to go view any of those films and then tell me that "Staunton Hill" is that terrible?

Don't get me wrong, "Staunton Hill" is nothing groundbreaking. Not even close. It is an old story that you have seen before. However, I will give the cast and Cameron Romero credit for their efforts. I know it's hard to please a modern horror audience when someone isn't getting their guts or brains strewn across the screen every 3-5 minutes. But with that as a given, the writing MUST be as strong as the cast and crew... otherwise you can't really do much.

I will write this film off as a "4.5" and wait to see what Cameron Romero does with a stronger script and a little more money. I think he's capable of great things if he plays it right, and I hope to see him make his own name in the horror field. We need to remove his wonderful father for a moment, give Cameron enough room to grow into his own shoes, and to learn from his own mistakes. As for "Staunton Hill", I'm going to pass at adding it to my collection... but as for Cameron Romero, I think the future might be bright when it is said and done. Time will tell.

-JB