| Vanishing on 7th Street | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Brad Anderson |
| Produced by | Norton Herrick Tove Christensen Celine Rattray |
| Written by | Anthony Jaswinski |
| Starring | Hayden Christensen Thandie Newton John Leguizamo |
| Music by | Lucas Vidal |
| Cinematography | Uta Briesewitz |
| Editing by | Jeffrey Wolf |
| Studio | Herrick Entertainment Mandalay Vision |
| Distributed by | Magnolia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | February 18, 2011 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $10 million |
Vanishing on 7th Street is a 2011 American post-apocalyptic horror-thriller film directed by Brad Anderson[1] and starring Hayden Christensen, Thandie Newton and John Leguizamo.[2]
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Paul (John Leguizamo) is a theater projectionist who is reading about the history of Roanoke when the lights suddenly go out in the theater he is working in. As he leaves to investigate, he finds that all the staff and patrons have mysteriously vanished, leaving only their clothes and non-biological parts behind. He comes across a security guard who is holding a flashlight. As Paul had a headlamp on for his reading it can be assumed that people holding sources of light are protected against whatever dwells in the darkness. The guard's flashlight goes out, and he vanishes. As Paul investigates, his head lamp goes out as well.
The following morning, a news reporter Luke (Hayden Christensen) wakes to find that none of his electronics work and there is no power in the building. After descending from his apartment, he notices that the doorman is missing and the paper is still the previous day's edition. People have completely vanished from downtown streets, only littered with abandoned cars and pieces of clothing. He heads off to the news station to find his wife, and it is later revealed that he discovered a recording which shows his wife vanishing on air when the lights go out. The only thing he is able to recover is her ring.
Three days pass, and Luke is found alone trying to scavenge for any batteries or other sources of light. He briefly encounters a man who is taken by the darkness, before coming across a bar being powered by a backup generator. A young boy, James (Jacob Latimore) the son of the bartender allows Luke to enter and soon thereafter another survivor, a physical therapist Rosemary (Thandie Newton) arrives.
Rosemary proves distant due to the trauma of her baby disappearing during the blackout, while James is convinced that his mother is at a church down the street and will soon return. They hear a man outside, and see Paul, who has mysteriously ended up under the lit sign of a bus stop across the road. Luke leaves the safety of the bar to recover him and Paul reveals that he had been taken by the darkness, but the headlight that he had on had activated and he had found himself in the street three days later.
Due to Paul's massive concussion, Rosemary says that they need to find a hospital, and Luke suggests going to Chicago, where he saw a recording of a man just before the power went out at the news station three days prior. Paul tells them about the mystery of Roanoke island where over a hundred settlers disappeared overnight, and they seem to be experiencing the same sort of occurrence. With the generator running down due to extended use, they realize it is only a matter of time before the power goes out on them.
Luke comes up with a plan to take one of the nearly dead trucks on the street and feed power to it with the generator. He and Rosemary leave to obtain one, nearly getting caught in the darkness when the vehicle breaks down and they lose the light. They are saved at the last second, by a young girl with a flashlight who quickly flees.
James goes to get Paul some water, and the drain on the power causes the lights to flash out. Wearing a glow-stick necklace, James is safe, but Paul vanishes from the pool table on which he is lying. Meanwhile, Rosemary hears a baby crying in the dark, ignoring Luke's warnings that it is the darkness trying to trick her, she is lured under a solitary street light, and the lamp goes out taking her with it.
Luke manages to get back to James and they escape in the truck. They go to past church, and against Luke's warnings, James gets out to find his mother. Luke leaves, but after a conflict of conscience, and seeing the word "CROATOAN" carved into a sign hanging off a bridge, he returns, using the high beams from the truck to fend off the darkness. When Luke gets out of the truck to get James, the car battery dies and Luke too disappears. As James cowers under the glow of candles, which begin to go out, he pleads with the darkness "I exist." and all but one candle goes out.
The following morning, James wakes to find that it's daylight and the last candle had been burning all night. The little girl, Briana (Taylor Groothuis) who had saved Luke and Rosemary the night before insists that James is sleeping on her bed, but urges him to stay with her. She shows him her flashlight, which is solar powered, allowing it to stay on all night, as long as there is daylight.
As they leave the church, they encounter a police horse eating spilled apples on the ground and decide to take it to Chicago. As the sun sets on the children leaving the city, the camera pans to the bar, casting the shadows of Luke, Paul and Rosemary watching the two leave as the darkness falls. As it gets dark, Briana's light comes on, ensuring their protection against the darkness as they begin their journey.
It is based on a screenplay by Anthony Jaswinski[3] and is produced from Herrick Entertainment.[4] The film is the eighth from director Brad Anderson[5] and features Hayden Christensen, Thandie Newton and John Leguizamo in the lead roles.[6] The shooting began on October 12, 2009 in Detroit.[7]
The score is composed by Spanish song writer and composer Lucas Vidal and is his first theatrical feature film soundtrack.[8] With songs written and Executively Produced by Howard Herrick[9]
The movie was initially released for the Zune and Xbox Live members prior to its theatrical release. Shown in only six theaters across the United States, Vanishing on 7th Street was a total theatrical flop. As of March 13, 2011, the film only grossed $22,197, roughly 1/450 of its estimated budget of $10,000,000.[10] However, it made $1,045,953 outside of the United States, with over a quarter of this total coming from South Korea.[11][12]
"[W]riter Anthony Jaswinski's understated script starts with a belief that to frighten, you don't need to actually show the things that go bump in the night."[13]
The movie garnered mixed reviews from critics. It currently holds a 52% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a 4.9 out of 10 on IMDb and a 50/100 on Metacritic.
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