‘THE LUCIFER EFFECT’ TO DEBUT AT CANNES NEXT WEEK
Film reported to be ‘cursed’ and contain subliminal messages in a hidden frame storyline
The controversial new British horror movie, THE LUCIFER EFFECT 1 will overcome its alleged ‘curse’ to debut at the Cannes Film Festival next week. The film has been in and out of the headlines following a number of bizarre incidents, disappearances and even police intervention during filming last year.
‘The Lucifer Effect’ first hit the headlines last year when one of the participants 6 was almost throttled by another cast member. Police seized the footage and the film was put on hold.
However, despite the film’s original director3 also having gone missing, the film has been completed by a new documentary film crew headed by Edward Boon and is now set to premiere at Cannes on 16th May.
The film studies the social condition known as ‘The Lucifer Effect’5 - a psychological consequence that is said to occur when ‘good’ people are given power over others in an evil place. The effect was first investigated in the 1970s during the infamous Stanford Prison experiment. The Lucifer Effect producers recreated a modern day equivalent in an abandoned mental asylum 2.
The film also uses subliminal imagery and has a secret secondary storyline interwoven in hidden frames beneath the main storyline – the first feature film in the world believed to use this controversial technology. The use of subliminal scenes has added to the rumours of a curse. Reports of a curse originally surfaced due to the fact that the film features footage of disturbing events which occurred when the participants in the film held a Ouija board session during their brief stay in the asylum. Unlike other films that it has been compared to, such as ‘The Blair Witch Project’ or ‘Paranormal Activity’, the footage and events in ‘The Lucifer Project’ are actually real, there was no script, and the reactions of the participants are genuine, including the unfortunate assault. As a result police in Lincolnshire seized the footage and the film was put on hold, creating alot of international media attention. The story was also widely covered in the British press.
The film centers around eight people who volunteered for a role in a movie on buyamovierole.com, only to be locked inside a reportedly haunted mental asylum 2 for three days and nights, with no communication from the outside world and little food to eat.
Since these events, two of the cast have been hospitalized with other cast members receiving counseling and treatment for depression and any possible after effects. All involved had signed release forms and given their consent before entering the asylum, although some of the actors are now looking to sue the film company for false imprisonment. It is reported that some of the cast believe the producers are still pulling their strings one year on.
Adding to the stories of a curse is the fact that the director who oversaw the filming of the original events is also now missing. This is coupled with rumours that one of the actresses has been sectioned in South America.
In order to investigate whether the alleged ‘curse’ can have any effects on the public at large, the film has added an innovative social media angle. When the trailer on the film’s Facebook and social networking pages is viewed, their webcam is activated, thereby involving the viewer in what is seen onscreen. Already, there have been reports of doors mysteriously opening and closing, shadows appearing and lampshades moving in the background.
The producers added the webcam feature after the ‘curse’ reports surfaced to pick up on any paranormal activity once the film trailer had been watched. The producers say if anything interesting or unusual is recorded whilst watching the trailer there is a chance that the recordings will be featured in the final cut of the film when it is released. Watch the trailer here: http://www.
