the st. francisville experiment analysis

Filmmaker/journalist Christian Genzel talks to the people who made some of his favorite movies.

#34: “It’s very easy for me to scare myself”: Director Ted Nicolaou on THE ST. FRANCISVILLE EXPERIMENT

Today’s guest is Ted Nicolaou, best known for his many collaborations with producer Charles Band, including the popular SUBSPECIES series. Ted started out as a sound recordist on Tobe Hooper’s cult classic THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE and then went into editing, working on films like ROAR, TRANCERS and GHOULIES. As a director, and ofentimes as a writer, too, he made films like the offbeat horror comedy TERRORVISION, charming fantasy movies for children like DRAGONWORLD or LEAPIN’ LEPRECHAUNS, and, of course, the aforementioned SUBSPECIES films – a series of vampire horror films which made perfect use of their impressive Romanian locations and managed to mix vampire lore, dramatic horror and a dose of eroticism with just the right amount of tongue-in-cheek B-movie attitude.

Our conversation, however, revolves around a lesser-known film which Ted directed: THE ST. FRANCISVILLE EXPERIMENT – a found-footage horror film that came out shortly after THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT made its mark on the horror genre. The film tells the story of a group of filmmakers who set out to spend the night in a haunted Louisiana mansion, hoping to encounter the ghosts of the victims of Delphine LaLaurie, the real-life New Orleands socialite who brutally tortured slaves in the 1800s. Ted was brought onto the film after some elements had already been shot, and he encountered a production that wasn’t as carefully prepared as it should have been. In our interview, Ted relates how he came on board of the film, how the handled the initial shoot without much room for directorial influence, and how he and the production team then went about to restructure the film and add elements in reshoots – resulting in a horror film which wears the influence of BLAIR WITCH on its sleeve, but manages to create a chilly, atmospheric mood and several effective scare scenes of its own.

The interview was conducted in connection with our German-language podcast Lichtspielplatz, so if you speak German, please check out Lichtspielplatz episode #68 , which features an in-depth discussion of THE ST. FRANCISVILLE EXPERIMENT and many other found footage horror films. Also, make sure to listen to our interviews with found footage filmmakers Dean Alioto, Brian Leslie, Stefan Avalos and Ron Bonk here on Talking Pictures.

So without any further ado, here’s director Ted Nicolaou!

The mp3 file can be downloaded HERE .

Photos courtesy of Ted Nicolaou Editing: Christoph Schwarz Music: Clark Kent

Christian Genzel works as a filmmaker and journalist. He has written and directed the psychological thriller DIE MUSE/The Muse plus several music videos and short films. His mystery short CINEMA DELL' OSCURITÀ was nominated for the 13th Street Shocking Short Award in 2017. He is currently working on a documentary on cult filmmaker Howard Ziehm called FINDING PLANET PORNO. As a journalist, Genzel has been published in/at Film & TV Kamera, Celluloid, 35 Millimeter, GameStar, Neon Zombie, gmx.de and the All-Music Guide. He has conducted in-depth interviews with numerous filmmakers, musicians, game designers, and others.

• #39 – “I Still Don’t Feel the Code Has Been Cracked on How to Adapt These Things”: Screenwriter Dave Callaham on DOOM
• #38 – “I Started Becoming Very Irresponsible”: Director Enda McCallion Explains How He Got Fired from DOOM (and What He’s Up to Now)
• #37 – “You’re Never Going to Meet Up with Expectations”: Director/Writer Tony Giglio on His Video Game Adaptation DOOM: ANNIHILATION
• #36: “Nobody Said: Wow, We’re Doing Something Revolutionary Here”: Ron Bonk on his Early Found-Footage Film STRAWBERRY ESTATES

The Horror Times

The St. Francisville Experiment (2000) – By Baron Craze

Director Ted Nicolaou, a master of low-budget horror films whose most recent film came out in 2012 known as DevilDolls and started his journey with TerrorVision [1986], takes on the found footage genre with a brief 79-minute film, called The St. Francisville Experiment, concerning the historical figure Madame LaLaurie’s horrid life. The filming takes place in a house in St. Francisville, Louisiana, of Madame LaLaurie who kept slaves chained in the attic for creepy medical experiments and one night the home catches fire and she fled to this house where the paranormal team preps for their evening encounter.  Now some will recall this famous person in the American Horror Story, Season 3 Episode 3, The Replacements, and that had a tad more credibility, as is common fact separates from history for storytelling reasoning. The film implies that LaLaurie took residency at this house to continue her torturous designs and growing insane experiments.

The team is formed by the producer (Paul Salamoff), and consists of a psychic and a film student Tim a survivor of a paranormal experience and a history student (Ryan Larson), all set to discover the truth and possibly rid the house of her spirit once and for all, and makes this trip is based on more action than atmosphere. As the journey starts, the shocks more planned with chandeliers crashing, chairs flung, roaches appearing and cats sprung onto unsuspecting people while the cameras are right on top of it to catch every jolt human possible, sadly no one is that good. The phantoms, want their 15 minutes of fame, and definitely not camera shy, the luckiest team ever, In addition, there remains much humor on the investigation especially directed the Blair Witch, and quite a bit of self-mocking extending to the actual task at hand, while attempting to remain true to the viewers.  A series of interviews surround the footage, though appears disjointed, and covering new age philosophies,  with the cleanness lighting for investigating which stands to reason, more gear and professional involved than shown on camera. The dark past and ghostly origins date back to 1832 but not of the investigated house rather the original home. The team leader Paul Cason (P.J. Palmer) sanctions an exorcism which tends for a problematic situation as horror fans know it must be blessed by a priest and conducted by a person trained in the craft and of the team members presented no one holds those sacred skills.

While the story of LaLaurie’s existence remains true, no evidence exists that she ever ventured to St. Francisville, she was never seen or heard from again, so a bigger mystery in the storyline of infamous crimes, and the haunted house considered the most famous in New Orleans.  The home rebuilt and standing for the past 150 years echoes the distrustful past with many aspects of paranormal activity, and was for a period time owned by Nicholas Cage, which leads to scratching of the head as to why the filming did not occur at that location. Perhaps the intention all along was to create a horror movie, with the found footage scheme, then a documentary, if so, then that is exactly what the Ted provided to the audience’s viewing pleasure. In addition, the found footage market seems to withstand constant intimidations of The Blair Witch Project, all trying to achieve the same marketable investment, and still no one has truly cashed in of the wealth, since that movie. Some quality films have achieved notable recognition at various film festivals, such as Mortal Remains [2013] and the granddaddy of them all which presented much press for Cannibal Holocaust [1980].

Ted delivers the goods of a thrill, chills and a few spills for a standard haunted house ghost show, and while a lot have seen the screen, and now lays covered in dust or at the bottom of a DVD bin. Needless to say, if one seeks a film with a few highlighted scare moments there’s far worse film one could indulge themselves and waste precious minutes of viewing pleasure than, The St. Francisville Experiment and discover Madame LaLaurie.

This review was originally published on the now defunct Rogue Cinema website in January 2015 with a view count of 1,645.

• This ain’t no walk in the woods

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0218625/

IMDb Rating: 4.1/10

Baron’s Rating: 4.0/10

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The St. Francisville Experiment (2000)

The movie The St. Francisville Experiment (2000) is a supernatural found footage horror film directed by Ted Nicolaou. It depicts a group of ghost hunters investigating a reportedly haunted plantation mansion and their terrifying discoveries.

A team of paranormal researchers known as the American Institute of Parapsychology, led by Dr. Friedrichs, chooses Oak Alley Plantation in St. Francisville, Louisiana as the site of their latest study. The historic mansion is said to be haunted by the vengeful ghosts of tortured slaves from its plantation days.

Setting up cameras throughout the property, the team begins their investigation. Initially skeptical, they soon capture voices, moving objects, and apparitions on film. As the paranormal activity escalates, the researchers argue over whether to continue or abandon the dangerous experiment.

• Brock Banner as Cuba
• Fionnuala Buckley as Catelyn
• Steve Czirjak as Noah
• Aloysia Lynchez as Latani
• Mia Slate as Megan
• Shot on location at Oak Alley Plantation in Louisiana
• Director Ted Nicolaou often works in direct-to-video horror
• Actors improvised most of their dialogue
• Released as part of the “Creature Features” series

Tom Ruffles

[2] Wikipedia

[3] Rotten Tomatoes

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The St. Francisville Experiment

Four non-actors with no script lock themselves in a Louisiana plantation overnight to film what takes place. The LaLaurie plantation, site of grisly murders, comes alive before their camera lens.

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The St. Francisville Experiment

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Ted Nicolaou

Tim Baldini

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Madison Charap

Ryan Larson

Paul Palmer

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The st. francisville experiment.

Directed by Ted Nicolaou

Everything you've heard is true.

Four non-actors, with no script, lock themselves in a haunted Louisiana plantation home overnight to film what takes places. The Lalaurie plantation, site of grisly murders, comes alive before their camera lens and they experience a night more terrifying and incredible than they imagined.

Madison Charap Troy Taylor Ryan Larson Paul James Palmer Tim Baldini Paul Salamoff Ava Jones Katherine Smith Sarah Clifford

Director Director

Ted Nicolaou

Producers Producers

Paul Salamoff Gary Schmoeller Dana Scanlan

Editors Editors

Jeff Bradley Tom Vater Neguine Sanani

Cinematography Cinematography

Tim Baldini

Executive Producer Exec. Producer

Charles Band

Art Direction Art Direction

Sound sound.

Chris M. Jacobson

The Kushner-Locke Company

Alternative Titles

Das St. Francisville Experiment, At the Gates of Hell: The Francisville Experiment, フランシスヴィル・エクスペリメント

Horror Thriller

Horror, the undead and monster classics Terrifying, haunted, and supernatural horror Creepy, chilling, and terrifying horror Gothic and eerie haunting horror Show All…

Releases by Date

Theatrical limited, 15 apr 2000, releases by country.

• Theatrical limited PG-13

79 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by DreamScape40 ★★★½

I was trying to remember the name of this film cause I wanted to re-watch it as it has been quite a few years back since renting it while living in VA. Finally found the name of the movie. Back then I remembered that it spooked me just like with "The Blair Witch Project". After watching it now I can laugh at it but it's still fun to watch. Although, I think there were a few scenes missing from this version? Idk

Anyways, I love the history behind the home and the location.

Review by Jayson Kennedy ★½ 1

"Did you see Blair Witch?" – one of the characters, name? Doesn't matter.

Just nine months from that found footage phenom, a cashgrab exhibiting how not to approach the style. Paranormal investigators, each with specialities, spend the night at a Louisiana plantation for evidence of a haunting. Terrifying occurrences ensue like noises, cold spots, cat hopping out of a closet, and bug inside a chicken sandwich.

St. Francisville Experiment does have the distinction of predating MTV's Fear and Ghost Hunters . It shares traits "pioneered" by those shows like handhelds in one location, use of ghost hunting equipment, psychic accompaniment, and breaking itself into segments. Still preferable seeing two plumbers snoop around a lighthouse or Zak Bagans shout "bro" incessantly though. Hardly living up to a PG-13, stock sound effects, and acting that screams acting don't help matters. If wanting to see the concept done way better, seek out Grave Encounters (2011). Watched via Trimark's DVD.

Review by Spookie ★★½ 4

Watched this one as it was just recently recommended to me!

Found footage isn’t my typical thing, but occasionally I will watch one here and there if I hear good things about it.

I don’t expect too much out of these kinds of films. But this one entertained me! I thought it was a pretty good watch. It consisted of your typical haunted house antics, complete with a good ole ouija board session that seemed to drudge up some emotions and energy. Had a few good jump scares, but ultimately it was a tad predictable. But fun!

The movie mostly consists of a group of people moving about through out the house conducting an investigation and collecting data. It kind…

Review by Lebowskidoo 🇨🇦 🎬 🍿 ★★★ 2

One of the first Blair Witch Project found-footage copycat movies I remember coming out right after that movie exploded. I've waited all these years to see this, and it was just adequate, quite dull actually. Maybe since this premiered I've become more used to seeing such films, but really, I think it's that this just lacks that thing that BWP had: the believability factor. At no point did any of this seem like a genuine found film at all. It's too similar to BWP and no one is trying as hard as Heather here, not one snot bubble! Not scary, not even jump-scary.

At least it was short. Only for the curious or those driven by madness to see every movie ever made ever!

Review by M@ ★★

Well, well, well... I have found myself back on a Full Moon kick... and specifically that weird early 2000s era where they were in the hands of sort of Charlie, sort of other producers/owners.. It was that strange hard time for the company.. and wait a minute M@. This isn't even part of the Full Moon Catalogue! What's goin on..?

Ted Nicolaou directs, Charlie Executive produces (uncredited), Kushner and Locke the other FM guys from that era, that were sorta mashing and changing the films. All lower budget than ever before. This thing says the budget was 250K on wikipedia. idk about that. I still am counting this as part of the FM Empire MoonBeam universe list I got goin..…

Review by Adam Hursey ★★½

Horror Gives Back 2022

Unsung Horrors Podcast Horror Gives Back Challenge

Day 30: Haunted House

I'm contractually obligated to watch anything Louisiana-centric.

Here we have one of the first films to try to capitalize (i.e. rip-off) on the success of The Blair Witch Project . We can call this film Exhibit A for the defense to anyone making the argument that anyone could make a found footage film. The Blair Witch Project filmmakers definitely captured lightening in a bottle and that magic is hard if not impossible to duplicate.

We get four college-aged youths who go into an allegedly haunted house in St. Francisville, LA, armed with temperature gauges, energy meters, flashlights, and video cameras. Oh, and of course, the every…

Review by dantesring ½

Obviously cashing in on the found footage phenomenon after THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT scored big a year before, filmmakers leapt at the chance to join in. Unfortunately a number thought that with the right gear and localities anything could work. As we see here that is far from the truth. This film was terrible. There is zero tension built and no sense of impending doom. What we get are a group of obnoxious people talking over each other and calling out their names. There is literally a scene that goes on for several minutes when one of them sits at the top of the stairs refusing to go into the attic. If only I had that kind of fortitude I might have resisted wasting my time watching this.

Review by 𓈒ㅤׂㅤ𓇼 ࣪ 𓈒ㅤׂㅤ⭒ 𓆡 lucy⭒ㅤ𓈒ㅤׂ 🫧 ★★★ 3

this movie was recommended to me and was pretty interesting! i like the idea of it and the development of the backstory was pretty cool! the movie itself wasn’t amazing but i thought it held up well enough to keep me interested! it was a bit slow in the first part of them being in the house, but there were some cool parts!

Review by Zack Long ½

Just don't.

Review by Steve Carlson ★½

Loathed this when I saw it back in... whenever I saw it (2001, probably?), and I don't remember why. It's too bland to truly hate - a bowdlerized and bald-faced Blair Witch ripoff that has its eyes on the PG-13 prize so desperately that it muffles out several late-film utterances of "fuck" and [SPOILER] fails to actually have anyone die. The lack of certain important credits hide the involvement of several Full Moon alumni, which seems like something I can make a snide "well there you go" dismissal about except that Full Moon never really jumped on the ripoff train as far as I can recall, so now that's just a weird aside.

Anyway, the next time someone you know complains about some slow-moving art film where "nothing happens," whip this sucker at them so they can see what nothing actually looks like.

Review by Lexie 🥚 Tibbs ★★½

Damn. I enjoyed the buildup and premise, but I think there were only about 3 actual scares in the entire runtime. The rest was just documenting this group of strangers bickering and acting douchey, and then getting freaked out over nothing. And the ending was so abrupt and unsatisfying that I was genuinely confused for a second when it was over. In summary, I'm disappointed as fuck, I was hoping this would be good 😭

Review by Oscar Galarraga ★★★ 5

Ok so it's been at least 15 years since I had seen this film before streaming it on Tubi tonight. I absolutely swear there are multiple cut parts and the ending was definitely shorter than I remember... Going to buy it on VHS now and see if I'm insane or not.

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The St. Francisville Experiment

Horror | 1h 17m

The St. Francisville Experiment

The first in what will undoubtedly be a long succession of films inspired by "The Blair Witch Project," "The St. Francisville Experiment" is actually closer to an extended episode of "Unsolved Mysteries" or a season of MTV's "Real World" series set in a haunted house.

By Scott Foundas

Scott Foundas

• Film Review: ‘Black Mass’ 9 years ago
• Film Review: ‘The Runner’ 9 years ago
• Film Review: ‘Straight Outta Compton’ 9 years ago

The first in what will undoubtedly be a long succession of films inspired by “The Blair Witch Project,” “The St. Francisville Experiment” is actually closer to an extended episode of “Unsolved Mysteries” or a season of MTV’s “Real World” series set in a haunted house. It’s the Roger Corman equivalent of “Blair Witch,” less abstract and formally adventurous, but with a sly, self-mocking sense of humor that gives it levity. Overlong even at scant running time, pic nonetheless has a prevailing sense of good-natured fun that should make it a popular midnight movie and video rental attraction for a long time to come. Theatrical prospects look dimmer, with genre auds a lock, but niche distrib Trimark faces an uphill battle in convincing a wider crowd that this is anything other than secondhand goods.

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Much like its predecessor, pic presents itself as a documentary, with four “participants” invited to spend the night in a Gothic, antebellum mansion in a famously haunted Louisiana suburb. The willing quartet consists of a film student (Tim Baldini), a psychic (Madison Charap), a history student (Ryan Larson) and a victim of previous paranormal encounters (Paul Palmer), details of which are never discussed. The subjects are then presented with an array of statistical equipment to aid in ghost-hunting purposes, along with a half-dozen or so digital video cameras, which will be used to document their time in the house.

Though the participants aren’t offered any financial incentive for making it through the night, “The St. Francisville Experiment” does essentially operate as a spinoff of William Castle’s “House on Haunted Hill” for the age of Dogma films and digital video cameras. And the film’s producers — Dana Scanlan and Paul Salamoff, who also appear onscreen — have their feet planted firmly and unashamedly in Castle territory. They preface the entrance into the house with an intro seg that consists of interviews with local residents, voodoo priestesses and the like, encouraging them to speculate about how dangerous this experiment could be. All that’s missing is the buzzers under the audience’s seats.

These interviews, like much of what follows, have a remarkably staged and rehearsed feel. The experiment participants, too, are far too camera-ready to maintain the pic’s attempted sleight-of-hand (there is no director credit, and thesp Baldini is billed as cinematographer). Once inside, however, things begin to go bump in the night in a very intense way, which is accentuated, as in “Blair Witch,” by the grainy, handheld videography of the cast members. At first, the nervous ghost-hunters are scared by little more than their own shadows and the ordinary creaks and draughts of an old house. Then a chair flies across an attic room, lights go out, doors slam shut.

Is this all really happening? Or are the producers just pulling the rug out from under their naive subjects? Suffice it to say that Scanlan and Salamoff hold true to the bang-for-your-buck, vaudevillian inclinations behind the project and that, to a certain extent, they make “The St. Francisville Experiment” into the movie most people expected of “Blair Witch” — less arty, more visceral in its thrills. There is a long stretch of downtime in the film’s midsection, where nothing too scary transpires and the petty arguing of the four principals feels like so much padding. But when these laic exorcists attempt to rid the house of its tormented inhabitants, things kick into overdrive, and the film’s final 20 minutes or so make for a satisfyingly jittery roller-coaster ride.

Still, it comes as a bit of a disappointment that Scanlan and Salamoff so readily go for the Big Fright moments. The scares work, but they make the film ordinary. Prior to that, the filmmakers generate a good deal of fun from the notion that maybe nothing supernatural will happen in the house at all, that the whole experiment could go bust. There’s a lot of deadpan humor and a surprising amount of self-effacing postmodernism at work in the film’s first two-thirds. To an extent, pic suggests one of Wes Craven’s “Scream” pictures as reconfigured by Jacques Rivette.

The cast is exceptionally game. They’re not afraid to poke fun at themselves or the deft editors have assembled the footage in a way that encourages us to laugh at their faux intrepidity instead of just sharing in their terror. But the pic is ultimately undone by its inability to reconcile its two contradictory impulses — to be the next “Blair Witch” while mocking the hand that feeds it. As satire, it feels half-formed, while as straight horror it brings nothing new to the table.

• Production: A Trimark Pictures release. Produced by Dana Scanlan, Paul Salamoff.
• Crew: Camera (video) Tim Baldini; editors, Tom Vater, Jeff Bradley. Reviewed at L.A. Independent Film Festival, April 15, 2000. Running time: 79 MIN.
• With: With: Tim Baldini, Madison Charap, Ryan Larson, Paul Palmer.

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The St. Francisville Experiment (2000)

Directed by ted nicolaou.

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The St. Francisville Experiment is a 2000 low-budget found footage horror film directed by Ted Nicolaou. The film was released direct to DVD on April 15, 2000 and centers upon a small group of paranormal investigators who spend a night in an old haunted mansion located in St. Francisville, Louisiana. The haunted mansion's back story was loosely based upon the true story of Delphine LaLaurie, a New Orleans socialite believed to have tortured and perhaps killed slaves in the early 1800s.

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The St. Francisville Experiment (2000)

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• Madison is more annoying than Heather ever was.
• Somebody just needed to tell Ryan to shut up.
• If Paul stood on the stairs one second longer contemplating aboug going back into the attic...I would've thrown a chair at him.
• You should've rehearsed the "spontaneity" of the ending more
• The house looked as if the family living there had gone out to grab take-out and would be back any second.

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