The entire house was a specially built architectural shell that was torn down after filming. It was built on rented land, and even the blossoms on the trees are fake, made of silk.
An unexpected issue that director Griffin Dunne encountered was the number of takes the lead actresses needed to complete each scene. Sandra Bullock would generally finish in two or three takes. However, Nicole Kidman had just spent the previous eighteen months working with Stanley Kubrick on Eyes Wide Shut (1999), and was now used to doing seventy or eighty takes for a single scene.
Aunt Frances (Stockard Channing) and Aunt Jet (Dianne Wiest) frequently wear clothing and styles that were popular in the early 20th century, suggesting that they really are much older than they appear to be (as some of the townsfolk imply).
The real deathwatch beetle (Xestobium rufovillosum) does indeed make a noise associated in folklore with impending death, but for cinematic purposes this presents a problem: when the beetle can be heard, it cannot be seen because it will be concealed within its burrow in a piece of old timber. The sound is a rapid tapping rather than the sound effect used.
The name of Sally's botanical shop is "Verbena." Verbena is a flowering plant that has long been associated with divine and supernatural forces.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
