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Old Russell School lives in horror film
(by Joan Demirjian - February 18, 2009)
Old Russell School lives in horror film
By JOAN DEMIRJIAN
Russell School is long gone, now the site of a new police station. But it will live on in a new movie that was made by 5-2-9 Films at the school before it was torn down.
The horror film "Hellementary," completed in 2007, is a story set in an abandoned school where a killing spree took place years earlier, according to Martin Smoley, writer and producer. Russell Township's Briar Hill Cemetery on Fairmount Road also was used in the movie.
Township Trustees gave approval to the production company to use Russell School, which was built in 1925. The township demolished the school in 2007, shortly after the last shots were made.
Mr. Smoley's brother, Andrew Smoley, was the director, editor and creator of the movie. Adam Killian, a former Moreland Hills resident, was cinematographer and producer. Tammy Beckwith, chief executive officer of 5-2-9 Films, was the producer. The cast consists of 10 actors and actresses.
"The writing was a joint venture between my brother and myself," Martin Smoley said.
"The school fit perfectly in the story theme. The building was spooky. It was cold enough to see your breath. There was water dripping in the basement, and there were weird sounds," he said.
"There was banging, and one night we got really scared," Mr. Smoley said. An old motorcycle went down Chillicothe Road (Route 306), and, in the basement, it sounded like a moaning, he said.
"There weren't many lights in the building, and, if you went somewhere by yourself, it was creepy," he said.
"The school was pretty rundown, with a leaking roof and electrical panels that shorted out," Mr. Smoley said. "We would run an extension cord to areas that had no power, and there was no running water or heat."
The story actually begins in the late 1800s, when a one-room school stood on the site. A teacher, an old and strict man, was trapped in the school with his students, Mr. Smoley said.
When rescuers got there, they were gone and were never seen again. Ever since that day, strange things happened in the town. People disappeared or died mysteriously, according to the story.
Then a teaching assistant at the local college decides to get a group of students to go on an unauthorized field trip, Mr. Smoley said.
They are looking for a book by the old teacher that might be linked to all the town's strange happenings, he said. The students begin their search and find themselves trapped inside the building. Cell phones don't work, and no one outside can hear them or knows where they are.
As they separate in groups to search for the book that might be the key to their survival, they begin disappearing. "The kids brought back the spirit that was haunting the school," Mr. Smoley said.
It is up to those left to find the book and try to save their friends, he said.
The production company also had looked at the old Chester School as a site for the filming, "but it was too far gone," Mr. Smoley said.
"When we found Russell, it was perfect. It was just rundown enough to be scary, but we could work in it," he said.
"We went there that evening when it was torn down, and that is in the end of the movie," Mr. Smoley said.
People who were friends and family of the cast attended the filming, and there were some who had attended the school, he said. "They knew about the various rooms and the history," he said.
"Russell Fire Chief John Frazier was there to check on things and showed us the principal's office," Mr. Smoley said.
The first public premier of the full-length feature film "Hellementary" will be shown at 6:50 and 8:50 p.m. March 5 at Chagrin Cinemas in Bainbridge.
The horror film has been completed and is in the hands of a distribution agent. According to Mr. Smoley, hopes are to sell "Hellementary" this year.
Tickets to the premier are $6.50 per showing and may be purchased in advance on the Cleveland Cinemas Web site.
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