The Beacon (2009)

Director:

Michael Stokes

Writer (WGA):

Michael Stokes (written by)

Release Date:

2010 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller

Tagline:

If you think you're alone ... Think again

Plot:

While trying to get their lives back on track after the loss of their four year old son, Bryn and Paul Shaw move to the charming old Beacon Apartments...

Cast

Teri Polo	...	Bryn Shaw
David Rees Snell	...	Paul Shaw
Elaine Hendrix	...	Vanessa Carver
Ken Howard	...	Officer Bobby Ford
Michael Ironside	...	Lieutenant Hutton
Nick Sowell	...	Will Tyler
Marnette Patterson	...	Christina Wade
Jonny Cruz	...	Simon Valencia
Kelli Dawn Hancock	...	Officer Kit Karasic
Everett Sifuentes	...	Mr. Butters
Kevin Scott Keating	...	James Nash
Austin Lux	...	Ronnie Nash
Rick Morrow	...	Moving Man
Julia Smathers	...	Hospital Clerk
Dell Johnson	...	Detective
Ben Lux	...	Danny Shaw
Bridget Coughlin	...	Rose Nash
Tom Sowell	...	Dean of Astronomy Dept.
Jason Hammond	...	Street Sweeper
Terri Bauscher	...	Woman in Chains
Nathan Jeter	...	Man in Chains
Michael B. Bell	...	Man in Chains
Rami Rassas	...	Moving Man #2
Oscar Contreras	...	Moving Man #3
Bridgette Hammonds	...	Spider Shootout Goalie
Adam Lee	...	Uniform Cop
William Gillmore	...	Detective #2
Paul Coggins	...	Dr. Chandler
Ira Einsohn	...	Dr. Harrison
Michael Bell	...	Resident Ghost
Scott Challgren	...	Resident Ghost
Marin Rose	...	Lead Ballerina
Miya Bates	...	Additional Dancer
Samantha Callens	...	Additional Dancer
Jazmyn Goolsby	...	Additional Dancer
Samantha Wall	...	Additional Dancer
Jazlyn Whitlowe	...	Additional Dancer

Directed by
Michael Stokes

Writing credits (WGA)
Michael Stokes		(written by)

Produced by
Sally Helppie	....	producer
Kathleen Helppie-Shipley	....	co-producer

Original Music by
John Majkut

Cinematography by
Don Reddy

Film Editing by
Stephen Lovejoy

Production Design by
Eric Whitney

Costume Design by
Janet Lucas Lawler

Makeup Department
Vincent J. Guastini	....	special effects makeup designer
James Korloch	....	concept artist
Don Lanning	....	sculptor
Liz McCracken	....	key hair stylist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Meg Beatty	....	first assistant director
Angie Meyer	....	second assistant director
Glen Moorman	....	second second assistant director

Art Department
Adrian Ankersheil	....	assistant property master
Jacob Hair	....	concept ghost colorist: Vincent Guastini Productions
Jason Hammond	....	property master
Hilary Kinzler	....	art department assistant
Marcus LaPorte	....	prop fabricator
John Parker	....	on-set dresser
Steve Watkins	....	Bryn's photos

Sound Department
David Barbee	....	sound designer
Andy D'Addario	....	sound re-recording mixer
Andy D'Addario	....	supervising sound editor
Lesa Foust	....	boom operator
Brad Harper	....	sound mixer
Paul Longstaffe	....	dialogue editor (adr editor)
Kevin McCullough	....	assistant sound editor
Dan Scheffler	....	boom operator

Special Effects by
Evan Campbell	....	special effects makeup crew
Frank Ceglia	....	special effects coordinator

Visual Effects by
Tom Kendall	....	visual effects producer
Evelyn Lee	....	digital compositor
Kurt McKeever	....	visual effects artist
Alfredo Tognetti	....	digital compositor

Stunts
John Cann	....	stunt coordinator
John Cann	....	stunt double: David Reese Snell
Mark De Alessandro	....	utility stunts
Víctor Quintero	....	utility stunts
Bryon Weiss	....	utility stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Kevin Combs	....	best boy grip
Kristopher Hardy	....	assistant camera
Jordan Boston Jones	....	film loader
Charles C. Lee	....	set lighting
Bill Matlock	....	still photographer
Eric Montes	....	electrician
Fred Pope Jr.	....	generator operator
Brice Reid	....	first assistant camera: "B"
Stephen Ritchey	....	electrician
Dick Saunders	....	camera loader
Allan Westbrook	....	camera operator: "a" camera

Casting Department
Karen Margiotta	....	casting
Mary Margiotta	....	casting
Chris Seay	....	casting: Texas

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Susan Gaedke McGill	....	costume supervisor (as Susan Gaedke)
Janet Henry Gershenfeld	....	set costumer
Tonya Leonard	....	key costumer

Editorial Department
Dan Aguilar	....	digital intermediate editor
Eric Litman	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Bill Pearson	....	score mix engineer

Other crew
Eve Butterly	....	script supervisor
Craig Cole	....	production assistant
Mike Gonzales	....	production assistant
Randy Hearne	....	weapons master
Samantha Hollingsworth	....	production assistant
Patrick Hollon	....	production assistant
Mark Mahlo	....	location manager
Tim Rogers	....	production assistant
Marin Rose	....	choreographer
Jayne Royall	....	production accountant
Roy Samuelson	....	adr loop group
Jeff Weiss	....	production coordinator

Thanks
Norry Niven	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Sabbatical Pictures

Distributors

• Beacon the Movie
• Eagle Films (2009) (non-USA) (all media) (Middle East)
• Murena International (2009) (Russia) (all media)
• Ovation Entertainment (2010) (Australia) (DVD)
• Scanbox Entertainment (2010) (UK) (DVD)
• Syfy Universal (2010) (Belgium) (TV) (limited)
• Syfy Universal (2010) (Netherlands) (TV) (limited)

Other Companies

• Level 3 Post  post-production services
• MPS Studios  grip and lighting equipment

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for some violent and disturbing content

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:R | Australia:MA (2010) | Australia:M (DVD rating) | Singapore:M18 | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Dallas, Texas, USA

Company:

Sabbatical Pictures

Pretty Impressive little horror film worthy of a little bit more attention.

My friend arrives at my house holding THE BEACON and THE COLLECTOR in his hands and just tells me I should check them out, I knew THE COLLECTOR from the trailer I saw a while back but as for THE BEACON, I was completely blank, I had never heard of this film and yet my friend insist I should check it out.

So I started watching this film and the first thing I noticed was this wasn't a big Hollywood film, it reveals itself as a low budget movie with no attempts to hide it, it had a slow but progressive pace, the acting wasn't bad and has a few rather creepy moments but the real surprise is the ending.

The film turned out to be good after all, I'll admit I was surprised when I discovered this was a DTV film that my friend brought me but I can say it was worth the 90 minutes, although one thing to take into account is this film won't please everyone, as I found with many low budget films like this if the production value isn't up to a certain standard then certain people won't like, to me the production value is decent, I recommend people not necessarily set there standards low but I think keep'em in neutral and discover the film for yourself like I did.

Overall, it was pretty impressive and I think it could use a bit more attention.