Editorials
Visiting the Chilling Set of ‘Eloise’, Starring Eliza Dushku
When it comes to horror movies, one of the most important elements in creating tension, fear, and terror is the atmosphere of the film itself. While it’s not impossible to elicit fear during a bright, sunny day – just look at The Texas Chain Saw Massacre – it’s obviously easier to create such a feeling when the setting of a film is as unsettling as the horror we are about to endure. Movies like The Shining, Event Horizon, Alien, and similar all created an atmosphere that relied heavily upon the location the film took place in. After all, if we feel that the main characters are safe wherever they might be, how can we be expected to feel any sort of concern for what’s about to happen to them?
It’s in this arena that the upcoming horror/thriller Eloise already has a leg up on many other genre titles. Set in the actual abandoned mental hospital of the same name, which is based in Southeast Michigan, the film was shot in the same decrepit and rotting hallways that once held real patients, where people received extreme and now banned treatments, and in what is now considered to be one of the most haunted locations in the state. I was fortunate enough to visit the set and walk through the halls with producer Sanford Nelson, who spoke about the film and demonstrated his seemingly endless knowledge about the compound itself.
Four friends break into the abandoned institution in hopes of finding a death certificate, which will provide Jacob with the rights to a sizable inheritance. While inside the asylum, the group not only finds that the institution houses a horrifying history but also the truth about their own tragic pasts.
Eloise stars Eliza Dushku, Brandon T. Jackson, Chace Crawford, Robert Patrick, and PJ Byrne. It comes to VOD platforms and limited theaters on February 3rd.
Walking Through Eloise
Before we could watch any filming take place, Nelson insisted that myself and my friend/photographer Matt walk through several of the floors of the remaining buildings of Eloise so that we could get a feel for the atmosphere of the film. This included going into the now defunct power house, which powered the entire compound. The building was a maze of rusty pipes, creaking machinery, walkways that were too decayed to step foot on, and flooded passageways. While walking through here, Nelson insisted that the crew did very little work to make it look this way. Rather, they simply cleared a few bits and pieces so as to make everything safer while filming but left the rest intact so that what was shown on screen was authentic.
From the power station we made our way into the administration building. Constructed of brick and surprisingly intact, there was still a sense of filth and degradation that permeated off the edifice. Venturing inside, we walked through hallways whose floors were littered with plaster that crumbled from the ceiling and into rooms where shards of glass sparkled on the floor. In some places, there were the rotting remains and skeletons of dead birds. Throughout the building, binders and papers were scattered across the ground, tales and stories of patients that lay ignored and waiting for time to weather them to illegibility.
Our journey took us from the tunnels underneath the basement to walking on the roof, as well as passing by a rickety freight elevator – the kind that used a lever and sliding gate – and getting close to “therapeutic” bath tubs, whose purpose is rather sinister when thought about through today’s understanding of mental illness.
Having been a fan of Brad Anderson’s Session 9 for many years, I couldn’t help but draw parallels between that film and the building I currently stood in. To say that it felt incredible would be an understatement. This was the kind of experience that many of us dream to one day have. While not a true believer in the paranormal, I truly felt like I was walking through a place that exuded energy, where every square inch held history…not all of it pleasant.
Eloise: A History Lesson
After our journey through the hallways of the main building and the labyrinth of the power station, Nelson took us on an evening car ride around the compound so that we could get an understanding of its enormity, all the while regaling us with history lessons and anecdotes. He began, as any good story should, at the beginning.
Eloise operated from 1832 to 1982. At it’s peak, it consisted of 78 buildings on 900 acres of land and was a totally self-sustaining city. It had its own fire and police departments as well as a bakery. They farmed all their own vegetables, livestock, grew their own tobacco, made their own uniforms in a textile mill, had their own post office…
Five of the original buildings are still standing and we are lucky enough to be shooting in two of them. This is the administration building, so when new patients would come and they would check in, this is where they would start. They did have some holding cells on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th floors were they were held before they were placed in the correct building.
Nelson’s first experience with the compound began in a rather unorthodox fashion. He told us that when he first started his research, he stumbled across a Facebook page called “The Eloise Insane Asylum” that was run by a man whose name he never found out. This man put together groups of people to meet him on the grounds of Eloise to search for paranormal activity. He explains that he reached out to the page, made arrangements for a meeting and upon seeing the guy immediately left. Laughing, he explained, “There was no fucking way that I was about to break into Eloise at night in search of paranormal activity with this guy.” While he couldn’t tell us exactly what it was about this man that made him so unsettling, it was clear that Nelson’s gut instinct took over and he trusted it entirely.
As we drove on, Nelson made it clear that the large size of Eloise was not just in its square miles – it took us 15 minutes to drive around the perimeter on roads that had an average speed limit of 45mph – but also in how many people were there on any given day. “One building alone held over 8,000 male psych patients,” he told us, also explaining that tens of thousands of people being at Eloise, both patients and employees, was a daily occurrence.
Continuing along Michigan roads during dusk, Nelson took us past the tuberculosis sanatorium and the dedicated cemetery. Everything he told us only strengthened the concept that Eloise was its own self-sufficient compound, a place where anything and everything could be handled internally. “It was literally its own city,” he said, his amazement of the scope of the compound apparent in his voice.
Nelson was also able to explain the origin of the name “Eloise”, which came about decades into its operation.
In 1912, due to so much mail coming in and out of the facility, they decided that they needed to build their own post office. The former postmaster of Detroit moved onto the property to run the post office and other logistics, his daughter’s name was Eloise. So, he named the post office “Eloise” and then, eventually, the entire property became synonymous with her name. There’s still a painting hanging in the lobby at Eloise of Eloise and her dog.
Originally, it started out as one building, a poor house for the extreme mentally ill. It then grew and grew and grew. It was the Wayne County Poor House, the Wayne County General Hospital and Sanatorium…
Nelson also told us just how quickly Eloise went out of business, stating that, “…the psych ward closed in the late 70’s and by 1982 the entire place was shut down and they immediately began razing buildings and redeveloping it.” Most of the buildings were left to ruin, although one is now a homeless shelter.
As for the patients who were still in Eloise when the center was closed, fate wasn’t kind to them. “A lot of them went into jails with murderous criminals. Others went to other psych hospitals before those were shut down as well. And many of them were simply thrown on the streets. I then heard stories about a lot of homeless people, ex-patients, who lived in the tunnels after the place closed down. Imagine that? You’re a patient here for years and years and you’re dying to get out. Then, when the place shuts down and you’re let out, you have nowhere to go. So you end up just coming back and hiding in the tunnels.”
Discussing Eloise
What astonished me, apart from the history of the compound and the deliciously eerie locations we visited, was the big budget feel of the film. Shot on a $7 million budget, it still felt like something bigger and grander. We watched a scene being filmed that included fake fires, rain, and lightning flashes, smoke billowing from the windows and doorways of the front of a building. And yet, even with this epic inclement weather that clearly took enormous amounts of coordination, timing, and resources, the crew insisted that this was an independent feature, something they kept firmly in mind so as to create the right kind of experience.
After watching this important scene being filmed (I won’t reveal anything more because to do so might spoil key aspects of the story), we were allowed to walk through the lower halls of the administration building, where it was much more apparent that we were on a set. Framed pictures of antiqued photos lined the walls and there were display cabinets and medical trolleys that were laden with vials, prescription bottles, and various tools and surgical implements. Gurneys were placed here and there, giving the impression that this was an area that saw a lot of “action”.
We then briefly got the chance to speak with director Robert Legato, who was a second-unit director on films such as Shutter Island, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Hugo, and The Departed. He was adamant that Eloise is not a horror film, something Nelson agrees with even though the current trailer and the footage I saw shortly after the set visit seems to speak otherwise. Rather, they insist it is more in the nature of a thriller that happens to have horror elements. Producer Tripp Vinson (The Number 23, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters) says that much of this boils down to the fact that they are making sure that the story and characters are at the forefront of the film. Interestingly, they also coyly suggested that the Eloise compound itself is a “huge character”.
This set visit proved to me that everyone involved in the making of Eloise was not only deeply committed to creating a great film but that they were also intent on paying respect to a historical monument. There was a reverence and appreciation for the building that was obviously felt by the cast and crew, none more so than Nelson, who dedicated years to researching Eloise and bringing her story to life.
College kids, strippers and vampires—those were Donald P. Borchers’ only requirements when he approached Richard Wenk about writing and directing a movie for New World Pictures. As requested, Wenk cooked up Vamp (1986), a tailor-made blend of the decade’s teen movie craze as well as its horror boom.
Grim and earnest stories were still very much a part of the ’80s horror landscape, yet Vamp is something of a comedy. One difference between it and, say, Saturday the 14th, though, is the former avoids using schtick. Wenk’s movie proves that horror comedies also don’t have to subtract thrills from their recipes. Of course, it takes a minute before reaching that point; college antics and culture shocks preface this one macabre misadventure.
Vamp‘s initial setup is apt for a typical college-set, sex-driven comedy; to bribe their way into a fraternity house, two pledges (Chris Makepeace, Robert Rusler) go looking for some adult entertainment. Without wasting time on any further exposition, the characters embark on an all-in-one-night trip that quickly detours into terror.
To procure their elusive MacGuffin—a stripper willing to gyrate for some frat boys—Keith (Makepeace) and AJ (Rusler), plus a third wheel named Duncan (Gedee Watanabe), trade the safety of their remote college campus for the seediness of some unnamed city. The setting is recognizably L.A. by day, but as soon as night falls, downtown, along with the characters, slips into a kind of surreal universe. Director of photography Elliot Davis gave this early entry on his prolific résumé an unusual yet distinctive look; that Mario Bava-esque, magenta-green lighting is omnipresent, so much so that it’s almost its own character.
Chris Makepeace and Robert Rusler in Vamp
The faint comparisons to Martin Scorsese’s After Hours are merited, although not just because of Vamp’s distinguishing nighttime aesthetic. Save for the primary characters, the supporting roles in Wenk’s movie are also quite colorful and transactional in their behavior. The difference here, though, is the additional urge to ruin Keith and his friends at every turn. Some of that harm is humorous and tolerable enough, whereas the moment Vamp dishes out its first fatality, it’s abundantly clear how this movie qualifies as horror.
Vamp falls into that category of horror movie that reveals its genre with a scream rather than a series of whispers. The opening scene can function as a hint of what lies ahead—things are not at all what they appear to be—but otherwise, Wenk is more than happy to hold off on the horror. When that time does come, though, it catches the viewer off guard. In addition to the pure shock value is that sudden decision to upend the movie’s foremost feature. Or so it would seem.
If afraid of major spoilage, those new to Vamp would be wise to stop reading here. There’s just no skirting around the fact that the central fellowship in this buddy movie hits a serious snag when AJ is killed. That development causes the story to become more of a “long, bad night” journey for Keith and his romantic interest. So while Wenk scores points for subverting expectations, there is also a touch of sadness in his decision. Because if Vamp does anything well, it’s making the characters likable.
Something that comes easily to Vamp—and other teen horror movies from this same era—is its ability to invent young characters worth caring about, or at the very least, are interesting and not so immediately off-putting. More impressive is how Wenk did all this without actually fleshing out those characters. Still and all, Keith and his kind are a grade above cookie-cutter, and in some cases, aren’t completely devoid of growth.
Grace Jones in Vamp
Vamp appeals with an assorted cast of characters. No two are the same, nor are they operating on the same wavelength. The cinematically extroverted AJ, whose actor conveyed charm and vulnerability in near equal amounts, comes alive when he’s at his most undead. Makepeace then makes the chronically cautious Keith a sympathetic fellow, even as he’s more and more affected by the night’s bizarre events. Meanwhile, Duncan is indeed the designated loser of the whole bunch, but Watanabe still manages to humanize him. As a bonus, the role didn’t require him to pull a Long Duk Dong.
As for Dedee Pfeiffer, she is plain adorable as the mysterious After Dark server nicknamed “Amaretto”. She spends all night fixing her dress strap while at the same time trying to get Keith to remember how he knows her. As their offbeat romance grows, it becomes another highlight of this movie. Whether or not Pfeiffer’s character is really a vampire also creates some welcome tension in the story.
Like a lot of its contemporaries, Vamp went on to become a bit of a cult classic. That current status is determined by several factors, but without a doubt, the casting of Grace Jones is the most considerable. The image of her writhing on that unique-looking chair, a Keith Haring original, springs to mind whenever this movie is brought up.
Chris Makepeace, Billy Drago and Paunita Nichols in Vamp
Prior to that first display of unequivocal horror, local vampire queen Katrina (Jones) took to the stage and delivered a strip show like no other. One would expect nothing less from that renowned model and performance artist. By now reports of Jones’ tardiness on set are no secret, yet it’s also hard to deny her commitment to the part of Katrina. It was, in fact, Jones who took charge of her character’s appearance—on top of Haring painting her body and that now-iconic chair, she had Andy Warhol handle her costuming. And not too many actors could seize a room’s attention without saying a single line of dialogue.
In 2022, Vamp received a retrospective novelization from Encyclopocalypse. This literary union of preexisting source material—Wenk’s original screenplay—and new ideas from author Christian Francis amounts to a more comprehensive visit to the After Dark Club. The basic story there is no different than what’s shown on screen; however, Francis gets creative with the characters’ origins and designs, and he enhances a number of key scenes.
The novelization expands on the urban and social decay of the main setting, and supplies a background for the After Dark Club. Sandy Baron’s character, Katrina’s emcee and familiar, is given ample motivation for sticking around; up until the fiery end, he is loyal to his friend and former business partner “Squeak”, who looks like he was “fed through a combine harvester, and left as nothing more than a heap of mangled remains”. Then there is Billy Drago’s character Snow, the leader of a street gang called The Dragons. His reason for menacing Keith and AJ is more altruistic than in the movie; he and his peers act tough to scare off any potential food for the vampires.
Lisa Lyon in Vamp
If not for all the backstories, Francis’ Vamp would be a hell of a lot shorter. Instead, this tie-in read dives into how AJ met Keith—the orphaned Anthony Joseph hailed from a broken home back in Brooklyn—and how their friendship flourished over the years. Keith’s archership is no longer just an assumed part of his entire being; it’s a confidence-building extracurricular for a boy who got picked on before coming into the protection of the new kid in town. These supplemental, in-depth looks at the protagonists, plus their close connection, are maybe unnecessary. The movie already did a fair and concise job of addressing their platonic intimacy without the need for flashbacks and insights, specifically in that scene where AJ lays it all out as he sacrifices himself.
Where the novelization gets off course is its approach to the minor characters. Intermittently backstorying the likes of Katrina’s indentured servants, Seko (Leila Hee Olsen) and Vlad (Brad Logan), ends up disturbing the flow of the writing. Was it absolutely essential that readers know Vlad was the Grand Duke of the House of Romanov, or how Snow’s accomplice Maven (Paunita Nichols) became so dentally challenged? No, not really. However, one’s mileage with these random biographies may vary.
The novelization is a more substantial experience, but for a movie like Vamp, less is more. And as plentiful as they are, it never simply coasts on its campy charms, either. The character work sits comfortably in that realm between cursory and meticulous, the script is sharper than first realized, and Greg Cannom’s vampire makeup is straightforward yet effective. Most of all, the movie didn’t squander its out-of-the-box concept. Richard Wenk made his vision of a “comic nightmare in which just about anything that can go wrong does” come true, and it is very enjoyable.
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