Karen Dunleavy works a dead-end secretarial job to support her four children, Mike, Sam, Tommy, and Lori. They have a tumultuous family life rife with arguments and upheaval, much of it instigated by Karen whose promiscuity and drinking add to an already tense and dysfunctional household. When the family moves into a new house in a working-class neighborhood, their troubles get much, much worse. Strange and unexplainable things begin happening. Objects suddenly move, disappear or are thrown without warning – unusual sounds fill the night air. Her best friend Sally, a woman with psychic abilities, reluctantly confirms to Karen there is in fact a dark and sinister presence in the home. As days turn into weeks, events accelerate. The malevolent force begins to assault members of the family, focusing much of its wrath on Karen. As the attacks on her escalate to violent assaults, the relationship between Karen and her oldest son frays even further. Her relationship with Sam, her second oldest son, is virtually non-existent. He grows even more sullen and withdrawn by the day as he witnesses his mother becoming more unhinged, compounded by her steady string of failed relationships.

At wit’s end, Karen searches for answers. She journeys to the local bookstore, and in the occult section she overhears an interesting conversation between two men, who she learns are Dr. Barry Taff and Paul Broadus, who happen to be faculty and researchers for the recently formed Parapsychology Lab of the Neuropsychiatric Institute of UCLA. Her case is right up their alley. They arrange to meet Karen at her home for an interview, take a look at her house and speak with her family. At first her story seems unbelievable. Adding to the mistrust, she’s evasive about her personal life, refusing to even give her age. Barry and Paul doubt her credibility and plan to refer her to UCLA’s psychiatric department, but that quickly changes. After several of Karen’s friends and neighbors witness several supernatural events including an attack, Barry and Paul return to the house. They observe all manner of psychic phenomena: cold spots, a horrible stench, inexplicably blurred photos, and items from the home being violently thrown at anyone confronting or acknowledging the unseen evil presence.

Karen Dunleavy works a dead-end secretarial job to support her four children, Mike, Sam, Tommy, and Lori. They have a tumultuous family life rife with arguments and upheaval, much of it instigated by Karen whose promiscuity and drinking add to an already tense and dysfunctional household. When the family moves into a new house in a working-class neighborhood, their troubles get much, much worse. Strange and unexplainable things begin happening. Objects suddenly move, disappear or are thrown without warning – unusual sounds fill the night air. Her best friend Sally, a woman with psychic abilities, reluctantly confirms to Karen there is in fact a dark and sinister presence in the home. As days turn into weeks, events accelerate. The malevolent force begins to assault members of the family, focusing much of its wrath on Karen. As the attacks on her escalate to violent assaults, the relationship between Karen and her oldest son frays even further. Her relationship with Sam, her second oldest son, is virtually non-existent. He grows even more sullen and withdrawn by the day as he witnesses his mother becoming more unhinged, compounded by her steady string of failed relationships.

At wit’s end, Karen searches for answers. She journeys to the local bookstore, and in the occult section she overhears an interesting conversation between two men, who she learns are Dr. Barry Taff and Paul Broadus, who happen to be faculty and researchers for the recently formed Parapsychology Lab of the Neuropsychiatric Institute of UCLA. Her case is right up their alley. They arrange to meet Karen at her home for an interview, take a look at her house and speak with her family. At first her story seems unbelievable. Adding to the mistrust, she’s evasive about her personal life, refusing to even give her age. Barry and Paul doubt her credibility and plan to refer her to UCLA’s psychiatric department, but that quickly changes. After several of Karen’s friends and neighbors witness several supernatural events including an attack, Barry and Paul return to the house. They observe all manner of psychic phenomena: cold spots, a horrible stench, inexplicably blurred photos, and items from the home being violently thrown at anyone confronting or acknowledging the unseen evil presence.

MARK E. DOWNIE

PRODUCER

Mark E. Downie is a creator and producer of independent film and television with expertise in development consulting, fundraising, and marketing. He is a founding partner of Battery Park Entertainment. His critically acclaimed & award-winning fictional and documentary feature film credits include: Exposed starring Keanu Reeves (Lionsgate); Hundred Percent starring Tamlyn Tomita (Pathfinder); Franchesca Page starring Rossy de Palma (Sundance Film Festival); Soundtrack for a Revolution (PBS American Experience broadcast; PGA, WGA, Academy Award Best Documentary shortlist, (Cannes Film Festival): and Escape from China (PBS POV broadcast, International Emmy nominated Best Documentary). His TV credits include development of the unscripted NFL Draft DocuSeries The Agent (Esquire Network); development of the scripted series Jigsaw with Danny Glover’s Louverture Films; development of the unscripted series Hip Hop Takeover with MTV News & Docs; development, writing and producing of the long-running Chinese TV news magazine show Around the World. From 19996-2011, Mark sat as a judge for the International Emmy Awards of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences; the Student Academy Awards of the Association of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences; and currently serves as an advisor to Tribeca Film Institute’s TFI Network and on the Advisory Board for his alma mater, Brown University’s Alumni Media Group and resides in New York City.

RAY ELLINGSEN

Producer

Ray Ellingsen began his film career in 1987 as a writer. He has since gone on to pursue numerous aspects of filmmaking, from directing and producing, to supervising post production of feature films, documentaries, and commercials. In 1999, Ellingsen helped form the motion picture entertainment company, Ugly Old Bird Productions, which produced multiple film and video projects during its five years of doing business.

Ellingsen moved to Arizona in 2005 to manage the largest motion picture film studio in the state of Arizona, Hollywood-Phoenix Film Studios. Within a year, Ellingsen brought in three feature films, numerous commercials, as well as a television series for the studio to produce. Ellingsen left the studio and moved back to Los Angeles to further his filmmaking career.

To date, Ellingsen has written and directed two documentaries and a feature film, along with a multitude of commercial, instructional and industrial projects. He has also produced nine feature films and over 30 video and commercial projects, with two feature films currently in development.