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The inside of the earthen pit from the opening action sequence.

What you don’t see here is going to scare you.

To get the ball rolling, the production designer produces many, many sketches. Proposed hospital rooms, D.D.’s homicide unit, abandoned mental institutes. Once the “look” is devised, then the production department goes to town. The earthen “pit” was actually built aboveground, like a giant wooden bowl with sod planted on top. Inside the bowl, the art department worked Halloween-worthy wonders, creating a spooky labyrinth of cobwebs, crumbling cinder blocks (spray foam), and treacherous debris. I won’t tell you everything they did, but I think the designer is even more twisted than I am, and the finished result was so scary, one of the makeup artists refused to enter.

As the director, John Gray further enabled the spine-tingling suspense with cool camera angles and freaky lighting. I’m not sure which scene he enjoyed shooting most: the underground pit filled with mummified remains, or the aboveground ambush scene when D.D.’s attacked by a dog. He’s a man who enjoys his job, and can film the scariest moments with the biggest smiles. I liked him.

There’s camaraderie on set. Most of the crew are nomads, having left behind family and loved ones to film in New Orleans. Hollywood is a feast-or-famine kind of industry, where people may go months without a job, then be on location working 24/7. But like publishing, it’s the kind of job people do for love, and they take great pride in their work, whether it’s wardrobe, hand-cleaning and tailoring an outfit for one scene, just to rip it and coat it with “blood” for the next. Or the sound crew, with hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment, piled on one rolling cart, topped by an evil doll’s head for … luck, inspiration? I could never figure it out, but I swear the entire two days I was on set, that doll was watching me.

Everyone present has a role to play, whether it’s finding the right prop, tailoring the proper officer’s uniform, focusing the right camera lens, or perfecting the opening scream. Together, the cast and crew weave a perfect seam of make-believe. Then they do it again, and again and again (Screaming Kid 1 got to perform for 6 hours!), just to make sure they have it right.

Meaning, on December 6 we can all kick back, relax, and enjoy a very good show. Detective D. D. Warren. Brunette, sassy, and ready to rumble. Look out bad guys. There’s no place to hide.

Author Lisa Gardner sitting in one of the director’s chairs, bearing the movie logo for
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