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 (as Luis Berdejo)

Writers:

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

Stars:

Kevin Costner, Ivana Baquero, Samantha Mathis

1 nomination.

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 middle-school aged daughter and young son 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 | ant farm | indian burial ground | shotgun | father daughter relationship | 

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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

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 October 2010 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

La otra hija

Filming Locations:

Wedge Plantation, McClellanville, 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

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Halfway through filming, cinematographer Checco Varese fell off a moving vehicle and broke his right hand. After working for a week wearing a splint and using painkillers, he flew to Los Angeles to have surgery; Antonio Calvache took over for five days.

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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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Quotes

[first lines]
John James: [driving up to their new house] There it is.
Sam James: Real big.
John James: Mm. Want to go in first?
Sam James: Really?
John James: I don't see why not.
[turning to his daughter in the car]
John James: Are you coming? So?
Louisa James: [sulking] So what?
John James: So what do you... what do you think?
[...]

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Connections

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

User Reviews

Def not a horror movie however had me on the edge of my seat.

Not really sure why this falls in the horror category, thriller yes, but wasn't really anything scary as much as unsettling and I think that is were this movie hit the nail on the head.

As someone else mentioned this movie does give off the hint of signs, but with a twist, something that hits a little closer to home, and doesn't seem as far fetched as aliens.

As someone else mentioned that this movie is absolutely terrible, and i can't help but disagree, the movie kept me wondering the entire length and even once it was over. My eyes stayed glued, i never felt like i was bored or wondering when it would get to the "good stuff" It did seems to start off slow, and then ran really fast in the last 20 minutes, but i don't feel that was such a bad thing, as with thrillers its all in the build up anyways.

I don't ever consider thrillers to be a DVD purchase, as once you've seen it it has no replay value, but its definitely worth a hit on the netflix que.