''A Resurrection'' (also titled ''The Sibling'') is an American horror-

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

written and directed by Matt Orlando. The film stars

Mischa Barton Mischa Anne Marsden Barton (born 24 January 1986) is a British-American film, television, and stage actress. She began her career on the stage, appearing in Tony Kushner's '' Slavs!'' and took the lead in James Lapine's '' Twelve Dreams'' at ...

Michael Clarke Duncan Michael Clarke Duncan (December 10, 1957September 3, 2012) was an American actor. He is best known for his breakout role as John Coffey in '' The Green Mile'' (1999), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor a ...

and

Devon Sawa Devon Edward Sawa (born September 7, 1978) is a Canadian actor. Born and raised in Vancouver, Sawa began his career as a children's action toy spokesman. He made his film debut with a supporting role in '' Little Giants'' (1994) and received wi ...

. On 12 November 2012 a trailer was released. The film premiered in

Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles Sherman Oaks (founded in 1927) is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles, California within the San Fernando Valley region. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density ...

on 19 March 2013. This was followed by a limited theatrical release in the United States on 22 March 2013.Archstone Reveals Trailer for A Resurrection
Shock Till You Drop. 26 February 2013

Plot

Set during a single day and night at a high school, Jessie (Barton), a guidance counselor, Addison (Duncan), the school principal and local police officer, Travis (Sawa) are the central characters of a "whodunit" as murder sweeps the school. Jessie attempts to help a mentally disturbed student, Eli, who is convinced that his dead brother will return and seek vengeance against the high school students that played a part in his death. His brother was killed after being run-over in a car allegedly driven by the group of high school students. Eli takes his brother's body to a witch who implants a spirit in the corpse. The witch informs Eli that his brother's spirit will rise after six days and will only rest again after committing six murders.

Cast

as Travis Blair *

as Jessie Parker *

as Addison *J. Michael Trautmann as Eli Driggers *

Stuart Stone Stuart Stone (born Stuart Eisenstein) is a Canadian actor as well as a producer of television, film and music. He is best known for his roles as Ronald Fisher in the 2001 cult film, ''Donnie Darko'' and Ralphie Tennelli on ''The Magic School Bus'' ...

as Nick Morris *Nick Jandl as Brandon Marshall * Matt Willig as Vince Marshall *Antonio Costa as Ignacio *Alanna Romansky as Tammy Juback *Morgan Wolk as Dian Packett *Brenden Meers as Alex Tiemens *Annie Kitral as The Bruja *Patrick de Ledebur as Devon Driggers *Jason McCune as Sheriff Kent *Alonzo Jimenez as Farmer

Production

The film shot for 20 days, mainly at the former Knoxville Middle School in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. During post-production, the film's co-star, Michael Clarke Duncan, died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

. Certain scenes evoke comparisons with the

Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting On December 14, 2012, a mass shooting occurred at Newtown Public Schools, Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, United States. The perpetrator, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, shot and killed 26 people. The victims were 20 children bet ...

which took place during post-production. Orlando acknowledged this; “As we were making it, Sandy Hook did not happen yet. Do I think I have a responsibility in the entertainment business to think about that? Yes, I do.”Whatever Happened to ‘The O.C.’ Star Mischa Barton?
Daily Beast. 26 March 2013

Reception

The film was reviewed positively by the horror-genre specialist website, ''Shock Till You Drop''. Tyler Doupe praised the cast's performances; ″Sawa turned in a good performance, as Travis. And Mischa Barton successfully broke the mold of the roles we’ve seen her play time and again. The late Michael Clark Duncan was excellent as the high school principal.″ Doupe also praised the resourceful use of the low budget, noting that ″The film feels like a movie that was made for a lot more money than what was actually spent...It takes true creativity to stretch a micro budget into anything more than that, and Matt Orlando stretched his budget very effectively.″ Doupe also commented that ″A Resurrection did a good job of leaving certain aspects of the film up to the viewer to figure out. We are not spoon fed every detail and audiences appreciate that. We respect filmmakers that trust their viewers to put the pieces together themselves.″ He continued; ″the premise is primarily unique. I like the way that Matt Orlando's script mixed reality with aspects of occult spirituality and kept the viewer wondering how the two were ultimately going to work together.″

Legacy

Issues surrounding the production of this film would ultimately make a major impact in an unexpected area—

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

-based financial adviser Marty Blazer used money from some of his clients, which included professional athletes, to help finance the film. The

Securities and Exchange Commission The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...

alleged that he had defrauded five clients out of $2.35 million in order to fund this film and other entertainment projects. Facing federal criminal charges stemming from this episode, he became an

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

informant in a major investigation of corruption in college basketball. The first wave of indictments stemming from this investigation were announced in fall 2017, and by March 2018 more than 35

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

men's programs were potentially implicated in NCAA rules violations.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Resurrection, A American horror thriller films American independent films Films shot in Pennsylvania Resurrection in film 2013 films 2013 horror films 2013 directorial debut films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films English-language horror thriller films