Unspeakable things happened at the Vannacutt Psychiatric Institute for the Criminally Insane -- experiments that brought human torture to new depths of depravity… secrets that died with their victims and the practitioners of the demonic acts that masqueraded as medicine. Now there are no living witnesses. Nothing survived Dr. Vannacutt's excesses; nothing endures except the building in which they occurred.
     But that building holds all the secrets of its terrible past.
     Decades after the Vannacutt Institute was shuttered, five strangers are invited to spend a night there. Their reward is a million dollars each. All they have to do is stay alive. It's going to be a long night.
     A spine-tingling remake of William Castle's 1958 classic horror tale, Dark Castle Pictures' production of "House on Haunted Hill" combines white-knuckle terror with dark humor and cutting-edge special effects. The movie is produced by renowned filmmakers ROBERT ZEMECKIS and JOEL SILVER, along with GIL ADLER, and is directed by WILLIAM MALONE.
     The screenplay is by DICK BEEBE, adapted from the original story by ROBB WHITE. "House on Haunted Hill" stars Academy Award-winner GEOFFREY RUSH ("Shine," "Shakespeare in Love"), FAMKE JANSSEN ("GoldenEye"), TAYE DIGGS ("How Stella Got Her Groove Back"), ALI LARTER ("Varsity Blues"), BRIDGETTE WILSON ("I Know What You Did Last Summer"), PETER GALLAGHER ("The Underneath") and CHRIS KATTAN (TV's "Saturday Night Live"). The co-producer is TERRY CASTLE and executive producers are DAN CRACCHIOLO and STEVE RICIIARDS. Warner Bros. will domestically distribute "House on Haunted Hill."

About the Story…

     Billionaire theme-park mogul Steven Price (Geoffrey Rush) believes he is fulfilling the twisted wishes of his spoiled wife Evelyn (Famke Janssen) when he arranges for her birthday party to be held at the abandoned Vannacutt Psychiatric Institute for the Criminally Insane. The Institute was once the site of the most horrifying medical experiments in history, conducted by the late -- and deranged -- Dr. Vannacutt.
     As the guests converge for the evening, Price realizes that, curiously, the five strangers are neither Evelyn's original invitees nor his own. He is unable to figure out who these people are, or how they received the invitations he intended for others. The guests themselves are equally mystified as to why they might have been included. In a spirit of mutual distrust, Steven and Evelyn Price greet their guests, each suspecting the other's motives and holding the other responsible for the strangers joining them. The actual reason this quintet has been convened will not become clear until much later...
     Nevertheless, Price proceeds with the festivities, announcing that anyone who manages to spend an entire night in the house will win a substantial financial prize. He has secretly rigged the house with insidious devices designed to scare the guests out of staying, but his tricks soon become meaningless, as the mansion begins to generate terror on its own.
     The house's lockdown mechanism mysteriously comes alive, trapping everyone inside and leaving them scrambling desperately to find a way out. Just as Watson Pritchett (Chris Kattan), the descendant of the building's original owners, had ominously predicted, the house begins to animate with the evil that breathes through the very building itself. Before their night of terror is over, the desperate inhabitants will unlock the secrets of the house or suffer the wrath of the demonic evil that haunts the walls of the former insane asylum.

About the Production...

     Director William Castle brought 65 adventure, thriller and horror movies to the screen from the 1940s to the `70s. Until the time of his death in 1977, he was also known as one of the movie world's most imaginative and uninhibited film promoters. His publicity stunts included parking an ambulance and several medical attendants in front of the theater in case an audience member would be scared literally to death. At screenings of Castle's 1958 version of "House on Haunted Hill," he had skeletons seem to fly off the screen and over the audience's heads. He also offered death insurance to anyone whose heart gave out from fright while watching his movie "Macabre," and he wired theater seats to vibrate when the lights went out at showings of his film "The Tingler."
     Renowned filmmaker Robert Zemeckis had long been a fan of William Castle's work and counted "House on Haunted Hill" among his all-time favorite movies. Zemeckis shared his enthusiasm with noted producer Joel Silver, who was also a longtime fan of the movie. The two decided it would be an ideal project for a remake, and joined forces with Gil Adler, a friend and partner on such similarly themed projects as the successful HBO series "Tales From the Crypt." Explains Silver, "It's a pure, clean horror story, virtually the classic setup for a haunted-house tale. Five strangers, a house with a terrible past, people who have to survive the night - it's just a great story, told with flair.
     There's so much you can do with effects today to take a story like this and move it into another dimension of entertainment. We thought that a well-chosen cast and good, strong execution could make this movie fun for -a new generation of audiences." As they began researching the picture, which was owned by Warner Bros., they learned that Terry Castle, daughter of William Castle, was also interested in remaking the movie. They agreed to join forces on the production, which would become the premiere offering from Zemeckis' and Silver's Dark Castle productions, a new film company created "in the spirit of the late William Castle." Terry Castle enthusiastically joined the team as co-producer.
     The filmmakers quickly set out to find the ideal director for their project. William Malone, a writer and director who is a veteran of the horror genre, was asked to help develop the film. Malone's history with Zemeckis went all the way back to Zemeckis' 1978 picture, "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," in which Malone played George Harrison. He had also, more recently, worked with both Silver and Zemeckis on episodes of "Tales From the Crypt."
     Although Malone had offers at the time to direct other features, he felt "House on Haunted Hill" was the perfect type of film to remake, and the perfect opportunity for him. "The original is fun," says Malone. "I had always been a fan of William Castle's film and felt that this particular project would be a great subject for a remake. Plus, I had a lot of interest in doing a haunted-house picture."
     Screenwriter Dick Beebe, Malone and the filmmakers began to develop the screenplay. They decided to keep the premise of the original film, but felt it would be best to develop the plot to take advantage of today's great visual-effects technology. "In our movie, we pick up where the original left off, because we have a lot more special effects," adds Malone. "Everything, from the house to the underground basements, is bigger and more eerie."

Casting

     Although many names were considered when casting the film, the filmmakers had always had Geoffrey Rush atop their list for the lead role of Steven Price.
     "I always thought Geoffrey Rush would make a perfect Steven Price, but I never thought in a million years we would get him to play the part," says director Malone. "I was very pleased that we were able to get him for this film."
     Says producer Gil Adler, "Geoffrey never watched the original movie because he didn't want it to influence the idea of his character. Yet Geoffrey really captures the twisted spirit of Vincent Price's characterization, while bringing along his own unique talents that make him a lot of fun to watch."
     From there, the producers were able to put together a diverse ensemble cast, ranging from an improvisational comedian to the hottest young talent in Hollywood.
     Famke Janssen, a native of Holland best known for her role as Xenia Onatopp in the James Bond film "GoldenEye," was selected to play the role of Evelyn Price. "Steven and Evelyn have a definite love/hate, intensely sexual relationship. They love each other, but you never know what their true motives are," says Malone. "Geoffrey and Famke were able to tap into that disturbed relationship and entertainingly play off one another."
     Rising stars Taye Diggs and Ali Larter play the respective roles of the film's hero and heroine, Eddie the former professional baseball player and Sara, the former personal assistant who masquerades as her ex-boss. Diggs' and Larter's roles are central to the story, says producer Gil Adler.
     "When you are watching a horror film, you want to root for someone you can sympathize with," emphasizes Adler. "Taye and Ali have the charm and wit to be able to pull those emotions from the audience with their performances."
     For the role of the demented Pritchett, the producers to sought an actor who could give the character an edge of humor. They soon decided that the role was meant for "Saturday Night Live's" Chris Kattan. "Chris was the ideal choice, with his abilities as a top sketch comedian and a dramatic actor," says Silver. Rounding out the cast are Peter Gallagher as Dr. Blackburn and Bridgette Wilson as Melissa Marr, the wannabe TV talk-show host.

Production Design

     The filmmakers believed that one of the biggest challenges of the film would be to create the horrifically haunted insane asylum, essentially establishing the house as its own character. In doing so, production design would be a key element.
     Malone's vision of the house was based upon an episode of "Tales from the Crypt" shot in an English psychiatric hospital. "We shot it in a former mental institution that was now being rented out as a film location," recalled Malone. "Before we could begin shooting the film we had to exorcise the location. That event instantly sparked my imagination: make the house a former mental institution turned into someone's home."
     Rather than stick with the traditional Victorian-style haunted house associated with most horror films, production designer David Klassen created a house that looked as if it came straight out of the 1930s. Klassen designed the house in the monolithic style of Albert Speer, the infamous architect of the Third Reich. "It was very exciting to design a psychiatric institute for the criminally insane in this very looming, large and clean style," says Klassen. "It really draws the audience into the setting."
     "David did an amazing job of recreating the house; once you were inside the sets, you felt like you were in the actual home," says Malone. "It really had a creepy feeling."
     In addition to the design of the house, sound and visual effects play an integral part in the storytelling. Malone turned to the renowned visual-effects team of Bob and Dennis Skotak.
     The Academy Award-winning Skotaks, who have worked on such contemporary classics as "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and "Titanic," were very excited about the opportunity to work on a horror film. Says Bob Skotak, "Bill Malone's an old friend. I ran into him at a Halloween party last year and he told me he was going to do this movie. I thought it over for a few days and realized that I had never really done visual effects on a flat out horror picture before and I wanted to give it a whirl. My brother and I and our digital artist, Helena Packer, discovered that this movie let us try things we'd never done before. It was a lot of fun."
     The exterior of the house was created out a combination of matte painting and miniatures. "The only part of the house that was physically real was the entrance," explains Bob Skotak. "For that, we used the entrance to the Griffith Park Observatory in Los Angeles."
     An entire amusement park, based on one that exists in Florida, was created in miniature for some of the early scenes in the movie, continues Skotak.
     "But two of the most interesting things we created were what we called the Shape Shifter and the actual animation of the building itself," he says. "There's a supernatural presence in the house that shows up both as a sort of moving tangle of images and as a physical transformation of the walls and objects. In both situations, we used a combination of actual images and practical construction as well as digital compositing to create very disturbing moments onscreen. I don't believe what we did has ever been done before and we're very pleased with the results we achieved."
     Supervising sound editor Dane Davis, who previously collaborated with Joel Silver on the sensational hit "The Matrix," also had the opportunity to achieve some technological "firsts" with "House on Haunted Hill."
     "I think this is the first movie to use a completely virtual mix," explains Davis. "Using some brand-new software, I was able to capture and create sounds, combine special effects, music, dialogue and background, and keep the entire mix in the computer where each element could be manipulated. I could change the relationship between sounds, or control the timbre and intensity of a particular sound right up until the movie was ready to be locked into a final print. This gave the filmmakers a lot of creative flexibility in controlling the mood of the movie."
     Davis gave a lot of thought to the auditory effects that characterized the Vannacutt Institute. "This building is a major character in the movie," he says. "It has its own voice, and we wanted it to be a unique one." Davis experimented with a mixture of various sounds that he recorded himself and manipulated electronically to get a background noise that was "organic-sounding, like something alive," as Davis describes it.
     In summing up her feelings about the completed film, Terry Castle says, "The people who saw the original movie will now see something completely new, but they will also have some nostalgic moments. I hope this movie gives people a lot of sleepless nights, the way my father's film did 40 years ago."
     Warner Bros. Presents A Dark Castle Entertainment Production: "House on Haunted Hill," starring Geoffrey Rush and Famke Janssen, Taye Diggs, Ali Larter, Bridgette Wilson, with Peter Gallagher and Chris Kattan. The film editor is Anthony Adler and the director of photography is Rick Bota. The co-producer is Terry Castle and the executive producers are Dan Cracchiolo and Steve Richards. The story is by Robb White and the screenplay is by Dick Beebe. "House on Haunted Hill" is produced by Robert Zemeckis, Joel Silver and Gilbert Adler, and directed by William Malone. It is distributed by Warner Bros., A Time Warner Entertainment Company.

About the Cast…

     GEOFFREY RUSH (Steven Price) is one of the most respected actors in theater and film today. For his role as Henslowe in "Shakespeare in Love," Rush was an Academy Award nominee as Best Supporting Actor, a Golden Globe nominee and a BAFTA nominee. He won the BAFTA Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, for his role as Walsingham in "Elizabeth."
     In 1995, Rush won an Academy Award as Best Actor for his performance in "Shine." He was also awarded the Golden Globe, the New York Film Critics Award, the Los Angeles Film Critics Award, the Broadcast Film Critics Award and the BAFTA Award, among others.
     Rush has appeared in over 70 theatrical productions over the last two decades. He played the leading roles in the Lighthouse Ensemble production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "Twelfth Night" and "The Marriage of Figaro." A native of Australia, Rush has staged numerous productions as a director for the Queensland Theater Company, the Adelaide Festival, Belvoir Street Theater and Magpie Theater for Young People. His lead performance in the 1989 "Diary of a Madman" earned him three major awards in Australia and, in 1994, he received the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award, one of Australia's most prestigious prizes. Rush's feature film credits include the action-comedy "Mystery Men," the role of Inspector Javert in "Les Miserables," "A Little Bit of Soul" and "Children of the Revolution." He was the narrator in "Oscar and Lucinda."
     Rush will soon be seen as the Marquis de Sade in the drama "Quills" and is currently voicing a character for the animated feature "Magic Pudding."
     FAMKE JANSSEN (Evelyn Price) is best known as the sexy, lethal assassin, Xenia Onatop, in the James Bond hit "GoldenEye." Most recently, Janssen was seen in "Rounders" and Woody Allen's film, "Celebrity." She also starred in the 1998 Sundance hit "Monument Avenue" and in Robert Rodriguez' "The Faculty."
     Janssen recently completed filming "Circus," opposite John Hannah, and "Love and Sex," opposite Jon Favreau. She is currently filming "X-Men" in Toronto, in the superhero role of Jean Grey. Her other notable film appearances include "The Gingerbread Man," "Deep Rising," "City of Industry" and "Lord of Illusions."
     Janssen has also guest-starred on several television series, including "The Untouchables" and "Star Trek: The Next Generation."
     Born in Holland, Janssen has made her home in the United States for the last 11 years. She majored in writing and literature at Columbia University.
     TAYE DIGGS (Eddie) made his feature film debut opposite Angela Bassett in the 1998 hit "How Stella Got Her Groove Back," which he followed with a starring role in Doug Liman's dark comedy "Go" opposite Scott Wolf, Sarah Polley and Jay Mohr. Diggs will next be seen in Malcolm Lee's "The Best Man" and was recently seen in "The Wood."
     Diggs starred on Broadway in the Pulitzer Prize-winning production of "Rent," as Benny the landlord. In 1994, Diggs won a coveted role in the five-time Tony Award-winning play "Carousel." His television appearances include "New York Undercover," "Law and Order" and "Guiding Light."
     Born in New Jersey, Diggs was raised in Rochester, New York and received his BFA degree in theatre from Syracuse University.
     ALI LARTER (Sara Wolfe) made her feature film debut with a starring role as Darcy Sears, the overly ambitious cheerleader who would do anything to get out of her sleepy Texas hometown, in the blockbuster hit "Varsity Blues."
     Larter will next star in the psychological thriller "Flight 180," with Devon Sawa and Kerr Smith, as a student who takes heed of a friend's premonition and departs a flight which later crashes. Following the crash, she and the members of her `survival group' are stalked by an unexplainable force.
     Larter's additional feature film credits include "Drive Me Crazy," with Adrien Grenier and the independent feature "Cassanova Falling."
     BRIDGETTE WILSON (Melissa Marr) gained instant notice for her role in "I Know What You Did Last Summer." She stars with French Stewart in the romantic comedy "Love -Stinks" and with Jennifer Love Hewitt in the independent comedy "The Suburbans."
     Her other notable film appearances include "Nixon," "Higher Learning," "Unhook the Stars," "Mortal Kombat" and the Adam Sandler comedy "Billy Madison." Wilson also played the female lead in "Last Action Hero," in which she performed all her own stunts.
     A native of Gold Beach, Oregon, Wilson relocated to Los Angeles in 1991, where she immediately landed the lead role in the NBC daytime drama "Santa Barbara."
     PETER GALLAGHER (Dr. Blackburn) made his professional stage debut in the 1977 revival of "Hair," followed by a starring role in the Broadway production of "Grease."
     His feature film debut came in 1980 with a role in Taylor Hackford's "The Idolmaker." Gallagher's current project is the critically acclaimed "American Beauty," starring Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening; his other film credits include "The Man Who Knew Too Little" with Bill Murray, "Johnny Skidmarks," "To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday," the comedy hit "While You Were Sleeping," "Malice," "The Hudsucker Proxy" (on which he worked with producer Joel Silver), "The Player," "Short Cuts," "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle" and "sex, lies and videotape." Gallagher recently completed "City Ballet," directed by Nicholas Hytner.
     His most notable stage roles include his performance as Sky Masterson in the Tony nominated revival of "Guys and Dolls," "A Doll's Life," Tom Stoppard's "The Real Thing," and "Pal Joey." He also earned a Tony nomination for his performance opposite Jack Lemmon in "Long Day's Journey Into Night."
     On television, Gallagher has starred in numerous cable and network films such as HBO's "Path to Paradise," Showtime's "Fallen Angel" series, "The Quiet Room" and "Cafe Society." Other credits include the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning miniseries "The Murder of Mary Phagan," "The Caine Mutiny Court Marshal," "The Titanic," "Host," "Brave New World" and the ABC series "The Secret Lives of Men."
     Gallagher will next be seen in Showtime's "Brotherhood of Murder," TNT's "Bull" and the CBS/Hallmark Hall of Fame Special "Cupid and Kate."
     CHRIS KATTAN (Watson Pritchett), who joined "Saturday Night Live" in March 1996 as a feature player, returns this fall for his fourth full season as an SNL cast member.
     He recently completed work on "Monkey Bone," a combination of live action and stop motion animation, directed by Henry Selick (`Nightmare Before Christmas") and starring Brendan Fraser and Bridget Fonda for producer Chris Columbus.
     Kattan was last seen starring with Will Ferrell in "A Night at the Roxbury."
     The actor has brought many memorable characters to SNL, including the "Roxbury Guys," which Kattan created with fellow SNL player Ferrell; as well as the enigmatic exotic dancer Mango; the half-man, half-monkey Mr. Peepers; and Goth cable-show host Azrael Abyss, the Prince of Sorrow.
     Before joining SNL, Kattan was a member of the Los Angeles-based improv/sketch comedy group The Groundlings.

     About the Filmmakers…

     WILLIAM MALONE (Director) is well on his way to becoming an in-demand writer/director for both motion pictures and television projects in the action, science-fiction and horror genres. Malone has just completed writing the script "Supernova" and co-writing the sequel "Universal Soldier II."
     Malone first came to industry attention with his first feature film, "Scared to Death," which he both wrote and directed. He then wrote, produced and directed "Creature," which went on to receive awards from the Academy of Science Fiction and Horror. After working on television episodes of "Freddie's Nightmares" (where he met producer Adler), Malone penned and directed episodes of "Tales from the Crypt" for filmmakers Zemeckis and Silver. His additional television credits include "Perversions of Science," "The Big Easy," "Dream On," "NY Undercover" and "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids." His upcoming projects include directing the second episode of Steven Spielberg's television series, "The Others."
     ROBERT ZEMECKIS Producer) has secured his place in history as one of the preeminent filmmakers of our time. His films--which include "Romancing the Stone," the "Back to the Future" trilogy, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?," "Death Becomes Her," the critically-acclaimed "Forrest Gump" (for which he received an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Director) and most recently the science-fiction drama "Contact"-have achieved worldwide grosses in excess of $2 billion.
     He is currently directing "Cast Away" with Tom Hanks, and "What Lies Beneath," starring Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer. Zemeckis made his directorial debut in 1978 with the screenplay he co-wrote, "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," followed by the 1980 cult classic, "Used Cars," starring Kurt Russell.
     Zemeckis has directed many television projects including Steven Spielberg's "Amazing Stories," several episodes for HBO's "Tales from the Crypt" (which he executive produces with Joel Silver, Richard Donner, Walter Hill and David Giler. Zemeckis will executive produce and direct the upcoming Showtime documentary "The Pursuit of Happiness."
     Producer JOEL SILVER's films have earned a combined gross of more than $3 billion. With the recent release of the worldwide hit "The Matrix," 14 of Silver's films have each earned worldwide box-office totals of more than $100 million.
     Silver began his film career at Lawrence Gordon Productions, where he soon became President of Motion Pictures. He associate-produced "The Warriors" and, with Gordon, produced "48 HRS," "Streets of Fire" and "Brewster's Millions."
     The first independent feature made under his Silver Pictures banner was "Commando," followed by "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Predator." Silver produced "Lethal Weapon," "Lethal Weapon 2," "Lethal Weapon 3" and "Lethal Weapon 4" (all directed by Richard Donner), as well as "Die Hard," "Die Hard 2: Die Harder," "The Last Boy Scout," "Demolition Man," "The Hudsucker Proxy," "Richie Rich," "Assassins" and "Conspiracy Theory."
     Silver most recently completed production on "Romeo Must Die," a hip-hop kung fu action-romance starring martial arts sensation Jet Li and recording artist Aaliyah.
     GILBERT ADLER (Producer) is a multiple CableACE Award-winning hyphenate, having served as writer, director and producer on a long list of television and motion picture projects. Adler's feature projects include the two "Tales from the Crypt" films "Bordello of Blood" (producer/director/co-writer) and "Demon Knight" (producer). He also served as co-12 writer of "Children of the Corn II" and producer of "Basic Training," "Certain Fury" and Brian DePalma's "Home Movies."
     On television, Adler is currently co-executive producing and directing the hip series "The Strip." His other series work includes directing episodes of "Fantasy Island" and "Charmed" and producing, directing and writing episodes of "Perversions of Science" and "Tales from the Crypt." Additionally, he served as producer of the cable film "Double Tap," co-executive producer and co-writer of the telefilm "Weird World" and producer of the series "Freddie's Nightmares."
     Adler's upcoming projects include serving as co-executive producer and director of HBO's "Vietnam War Stories."
     DICK BEEBE (Screenplay) - has written numerous plays for live theater, including "Farewell to Flesh," "Bayou Confidential," "Rapture Two-Step" (which he also developed as a screenplay), "Heavenzapoppin'," "Vampires in Kodachrome" and "Anapest Destiny." He also wrote HBO's "Prison Stories: Women on the Inside," "The Jan Kemp Story," "One Man's War," "New Chicks," "The Last Pelt," "Only the Lonely - the Roy Orbison Story" and "Bijou Dreams." He also wrote the cable telefilm "Into the Badlands," the ABC Movie of the Week "Dead and Alive," and "Lazarus Man."
     Beebe was also involved in the writing of Warner Bros.' "U.S. Marshals" and of "The Net," which starred Sandra Bullock.
     DAN CRACCHIOLO Executive Producer) is a native of Los Angeles who began his entertainment career as an agent trainee at ICM under Ed Limato. In 1991, he joined Joel Silver's Silver Pictures, where his first project was "Lethal Weapon 3." Since then, Cracchiolo has associate-produced Silver's and Donner's HBO television series "Tales from the Crypt" for three seasons, as well as the two "Crypt" feature offshoots, "Demon Knight" and "Bordello of Blood." In addition, he co-produced the feature films "Assassins," "Conspiracy Theory" and "The Matrix."
     STEVE RICHARDS (Executive Producer) began his career in film production at Ridley and Tony Scott's production company, Scott Free. In 1995, Richards joined Joel Silver's Silver Pictures. Since then, he served as associate producer on "Double Tap" and executive producer on the features "Made Men" and "Dungeons & Dragons."
     He received his MBA from UCLA's Anderson School of Management.
     TERRY CASTLE (Co-Producer), the daughter of the late noted director and movie impresario William Castle, is the founder of William Castle Productions, a film production company dedicated to making films for young audiences as well as horror movies in the style of her late father's work. The company is currently developing "Point Dume," a thriller with references to William Castle's own work, and "Rubbish," a kids' thriller.
     She was, in her own words, "in my mother's stomach during the making of the original `House on Haunted Hill,' so it's truly in my blood."
     Castle was formerly an executive in charge of production at Nickelodeon, where she was responsible for such series as "Are You Afraid of the Dark?," "Wild and Crazy Kids" and "'Welcome Freshmen," among others. Prior to her production-executive post, she held a senior producer and writer role working for Nickelodeon's on-air promotions group.
     RICK BOTA's (Director of Photography) extensive background in filming projects in the horror genre includes three seasons as cinematographer on HBO's "Tales from the Crypt," which garnered him 1994's CableACE Award for Best Cinematography, as well as an A.S.C. nomination for Best Cinematography in a TV Series in 1995.
     Bota's other credits include the "Tales from the Crypt" theatrical release "Demon Night," as well as the features "Barbwire," "Glimmerman" and "Under Siege 2: Dark Territory." He also served as director for second-unit photography on the hit "Lethal Weapon 4." Additionally, he worked as second-unit director and director of photography on "Mimic," "Kiss the Girls" and, most recently, directed an episode of the CBS television series "L.A. Doctors."
     ANTHONY ADLER (Film Editor) began in the entertainment industry as an assistant editor on the cable hit "Tales from the Crypt" and went on to serve as editor on the series. He also served as editor on television's "W.LE.R.D. World" and the features "Implicated" and "Double Tap."
     DAVID KLASSEN (Production Designer) has over 20 years' experience in production design, art direction and set design. Most recently, Klassen served as supervising art director on "Lethal Weapon 4," "6 Days,7 Nights," "Hard Rain" and Kevin Costner's 1994 feature "Waterworld." His other notable art direction work includes "North," "Dave," "A Few Good Men," "Radio Flyer," "Dive," "Tango & Cash" and "The Three Amigos," among others.
     Klassen's most notable set design work includes "Beverly Hills Cop II," "Running Scared," "Cobra," "'Me River," "The Toy," the 1981 sci-fi classic "Blade Runner," "Airport," "Airport II" and "Jaws II," his feature-film debut.
     Klassen also has worked on several television movies and mini-series, including NBC's "Fatal Vision," Universal Television's "79 Park Avenue," "The Captains & The Kings" and "Masada."
     ROBERT AND DENNIS SKOTAK (Visual Effects) - have been making films since they were teenagers in suburban Detroit. They have received Academy Awards for the cutting-edge visual effects they created for "Aliens" and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." Robert Skotak is a special visual-effects director and Dennis Skotak is a special visual-effects cinematographer.
     Among their other visual-effects credits for film are "Titanic," 'Mouse Hunt, "Mars Attacks!," "Hard Rain," "The Abyss," "Heart and Souls," "My Favorite Martian," "The Pagemaster," "Captain Ron," "Honey, I Blew Up the Kid," "Dracula," "Tremors," "Escape From New York," "Brain Stoker's Dracula" and "Darkman." They have also done effects work on a number of commercials, including two for Miller Lite with director Ridley Scott.
     Dennis Skotak is also an award-winning live-action cinematographer and still photographer, and Robert Skotak is the founder and head of 4Ward Productions, a visual effects company, and Mega Mirage, a digital- and video-effects company.
     Composer DON DAVIS most recently created the distinctive score for producer Joel Silver's mega-hit ""The Matrix." He previously collaborated with the writing/directing Wachowski brothers when he scored their film "Bound."
     His composing credits include "Warriors of Virtue," "Route 9," "The Lesser Evil," "Session Man" and "Blackout," as well as the telefilms "Weapons of Mass Distraction" for HBO (starring Ben Kingsley and Gabriel Byrne), "Life of the Party: The Pamela Harriman Story" (starring Ann-Margret), "The Lake," "The Agency" (starring Tom Berenger and Ron Silver), "A Match Made in Heaven" (starring Olympia Dukakis), "The Alibi," "Not in This Town," "In the Lake of the Woods," "Leave of Absence," "Murder of Innocence," "A Little Piece of Heaven," "Woman With a Past," "Home Fires Burning" and "A Stoning in Fulham County."
     He also composed the music for such miniseries as "The Third Twin," "House of Frankenstein 1997 ," "Invasion," "Pandora's Clock," "The Beast" and "In the Best of Families," as well as for the TV series "SeaQuest DSV," "Capitol Critters," "My Life and Times," "Tiny Toon Adventures," "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Beauty and the Beast."
     Davis worked as an orchestrator and arranger on such films as "A Bug's Life," "Titanic," "Pleasantville," "Lost in Space," "Michael," "Ransom," "Courage Under Fire," "James and the Giant Peach," "Balto," "Toy Story," Apollo 13," "Clear and Present Danger," "Maverick," "Legends of the Fall," "The Pelican Brief," "The Last Action Hero," "Death Becomes Her," "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" and "Die Hard 2: Die Harder," among many others.
     Supervising Sound Editor DANE DAVIS attended film school at the California Institute of the Arts following a lifetime fascination with sound and sound effects. Shortly after graduation, Davis founded Dantracks Inc. and has since been the sound editor/supervising sound editor on more than 60 films, ranging from "Go," "Drugstore Cowboy," "Bound" and "Boogie Nights" to "Simon Birch," "Hand That Rocks the Cradle" and "Defending Your Life." His work achieved particular distinction and notice when he collaborated with Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers on the blockbuster hit "The Matrix" earlier this year.

close window