"By Her Hand..." Movie: Photos from the Shoot

Here are some shots from the filming of the indie horror film "By Her Hand, She Draws You Down," directed by Anthony G. Sumner, which is based on my short story of that name. For earlier posts, see here and here.

The film was shot at various locations along the New Jersey coast. Here's how producer Alan Rowe Kelly describes the selection of the locations and the shooting:

"I wanted to capture that particular look of loneliness and desolation that was indigenous to New Jersey seashore towns during the ‘off-season’. And there was no better place to start than at Sandy Hook, a 7-mile barrier island lined with miles of desolate sandy beaches, jetties, lighthouses and abandoned bungalows.

From there, we proceeded to film in Atlantic Highlands, Keansburg, the closed down boardwalks of Seaside Heights and Point Pleasant, and finally in historic Ocean Grove and Asbury Park, where the center of the story evolves.

Asbury Park, once hailed as ‘the place’ for all summer vacationers, and the home to The Miss America Pageant, Bruce Springsteen and the still popular Stone Pony, is now a haunted abandoned shell of amusements, arcades and decaying grand architecture. Sad, but what a great place to shoot an eerie supernatural thriller!

I knew the settings were now perfect for this spooky and compelling tale. Only blocks away from the boardwalks of Ocean Grove, the cast and crew spent the week in a cozy summer bungalow. Once principle shooting began, we soon discovered we were also sharing film space with Ellen Burstyn and Hillary Duff, who were shooting the film ‘Greta’ that same week on the opposite end of the pier.

The locals couldn’t have been kinder or more accommodating as we shot along the local streets. Being the middle of November and only blocks from the ocean, it was a very cold shoot. Our cast roughed it through hours of shooting and set ups in minimal clothing and a lot of trips back and forth to our heated R.V.

Many of the locales we shot around have been seen in many great films such as Woody Allen’s ‘Broadway Danny Rose’, Darren Aronofsky’s ‘The Wrestler’, and Michael Caton-Jones’ ‘City By The Sea’. 'By Her Hand, She Draws You Down' completed shooting in six days.

Filmed by Anthony G. Sumner and Bart Mastronardi (“The Blood Shed,” “Vindication”), it will be hitting the festival circuits in 2009 and be featured as one of four tales of terror in the upcoming GALLERY OF FEAR horror anthology DVD to be released later in 2009."