Filming phantoms
Movie wraps on ghost story shot inside Frankfort’s ‘haunted’ house
It’s late Wednesday after- noon during the last week of filming at 207 Center Road in Frankfort, and other than a few late-night oddities, there’s been no evidence that the fictional spirit that is the subject of an upcoming horror movie has squared off with the supposedly real ghost that occupies the Victorian-style mansion.
“I haven’t experienced any hauntings,” said Nicola Goelzhaeuser, one of the producers of “The Girl in the Third Floor Window.”
But other people claim they have, she said.
“Some say they have heard steps in the attic and doorknobs twist when nobody was there,” Goelzhaeuser said. “But we’ve also been working very late nights, so that could be part of it.”
Since August, the production company Queensbury Pictures, which is owned by Orland Park-based MPI Media, has been filming scenes for an original film about a man who moves into a turn-of-the-20thcentury house to start a new life, unaware that the home is already occupied by a supernatural resident, Goelzhaeuser said.
Actor Phil Brooks, awardwinning wrestler known in
WWE circles as CM Punk, has the lead role.
“His character plays a guy who is messed up pretty badly in life, has cheated on his wife, defrauded people in his work,” she said. “He decides he’s going to buy this home outside of the city to start a family. His wife is pregnant. He starts to tear into the house and renovate it and finds out the house has other plans.
“We thought itwould be fun to shoot a haunted house movie in an actual (allegedly) haunted house. And while our film is not based on a true story— it is entirely a work of fiction— we thought the house would be a really great hook.
“This house has quite the history, kind of a local legend in Frankfort and the surrounding area.”
Indeed, much has been written about the multistory corner home at the intersection of Sauk Trail and Center Road. Legend has it that in the early 1900s two young girls died inside, one of illness and one who was viciously slain.
The location was scouted by producer Greg Newman, who was intrigued by the tales of a young girl who over the years has haunted the premises, company spokeswoman Daniela Sapkar said.
Frankfort resident Dan Butler, who has lived next door for more than a decade, said the previous owner often talked of strange occurrences and had set aside a room for the alleged young female ghost.
Though he is “not open to that sort of thing,” members of his family have witnessed strange things, Butler said.
“Right after we first moved in, our first winter, my daughter was upstairs in her (second-floor) bedroom and screamed for me to come up there,” Butler recalled.
In the reflection of a dresser mirror, they could see a small hand print in the frost on the outside of the window, he said.
“It was kind of creepy,” he said.
Another neighbor, Cathy Esposito, said her pit bull, Chase, often walks in circles in their kitchen and, when in the backyard, just “sits and stares at the house.
“They say dogs can see ghosts,” she added.
Butler said it has been fun for the neighbors and passers-by to watch the crew filming.
“The house spent quite a few years empty. It’s exciting to see life in there and all the lights,” he said. “There’s like 20 to 30 people in there at a time, but you hardly notice it.”
MPI Media, founded in 1976 by brothers Malik and Waleed Ali, is a financing, production and distribution company that started out distributing classics such as “Dark Shadows” and John Wayne films, Goelzhaeuser said.
It has expanded to coproduce films in other parts of the United States and other countries, including New Zealand, Mexico and Ireland, she said.
“The Girl in the Third Floor Window” is “a fully financed film” that is the company’s first local production, she said. Most of the crew and cast is from Chicago or other parts of Illinois, she added.
The company has been keen to tap other resources too, she said. Base camp has been the basement of St. Peter’s Church across the street. And Ryker, a dog owned by trainer Jan Flanagan, who runs K-9 Tails hakers in Frankfort, has a role in the movie and has become a “kind of mascot for the production,” she said.
The movie likely will premiere at a festival, followed by a theatrical and video-on-demand release, and should be available through DVD and a streaming service, such as Hulu, Netflix or Amazon Prime, by late 2019, she said.
The biggest challenge for the filmmakers has been manipulating cameras and sound equipment through narrow hallways, location producer Tom Lounsbury said.
“Even shooting someone just walking through the house is a challenge,” he said.
While the home still sports much of its original woodwork and crown molding, other elements have been added to give it that dated look, Goelzhaeuser said.
“It’s very photogenic,” she said. “The house is almost a character in the sense that it fights back against the intruders.”
She said the premise is a scary one, enhanced by the contributions of Dan Martin, an award-winning makeup and special effects designer.
The combination of special effects, atmosphere and the ghostly reputation that precedes the movie is expected to enhance the film’s hill factor, she said.
“Yeah,” added Lounsbury, “it’ll give you some nightmares.”