Filming movies in a real prison isn’t unheard of; the upcoming Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow made headlines for doing just that this summer, but it’s not every instance of filming in a real prison that also comes with the paranormal territory. The new horror-thriller Time of Death managed to check off both of those boxes while in production, with Will Wernick’s new movie setting up shop at the former Moundsville Penitentiary outside Wheeling, West Virginia. The cast was quick to pick up on the vibes of the place that has been out of commission since the 90s and opens its doors to paranormal investigators.
Given the plot of the film itself, which follows Michael Kelly as Detective Frank Morley, who is sent to a decaying prison to investigate after a prisoner vanishes, only to uncover dangerous answers, it makes sense. Speaking with ComicBook to talk about the new movie, currently available to rent and buy on all major platforms, the cast of the film opened up about filming in such an ominous location.
“I definitely did feel creeped out. I’ve never spent any time in prisons, besides going to Alcatraz as a tourist. But it seemed that dilapidated as well,” Dennis Haysbert said. “This place is seriously haunted, seriously haunted.”
Haysbert noted that even though he didn’t experience anything paranormal while filming, the fact that they shot in the prison at night and the budget meant they couldn’t keep every light on all the time. As a result, the long dark corridors invited nothing but terrifying thoughts on the trips from set to his trailer.
“I think (it) added to its mystery and to the thriller nature of the film. But whenever you had to leave or go outside, or go back to the trailers, there was this long corridor, man, that was just basically pitch black. I’m out there with my iPhone, with my flashlight on, I said, Man, this is, this is weird. This is weird.”
On top of it all, Haysbert noted an Indian burial ground was across the way from the prison too. He added, “As with most haunted places, it takes the energy that you carry into it. And it kind of exacerbates it. So I burned a lot of sage while I was there and prayed a lot.”
American Pie star Mena Suvari had similar feelings about working on the film, in part because she considers herself a fan of both true crime and the paranormal.
“It was awesome,” Suvari said. “It had a lot of history; that place, very ominous. I think my favorite part about it was I noticed there was like some sort of school or like preschool, literally like here’s the corner and there’s like a playground. And then right across the street is the prison. And I was like, who came up with this?”
Suvari noted that they filmed many parts of the movie at the part of the prison that faced this school, along with a row of homes that were all nearby as well.
“I love that paranormal (stuff) and I love all of those like conversations,” she added. “I mean, it’s heavy, it’s really heavy. There’s a lot of horrible history. You have to really, like gear up and sort of like energetically protect yourself when you’re going into these environments. I try not to invite anything in and have anything like come home with me.”
Fans of psychological horror thrillers can watch Time of Death now digitally, and those who have are loving it, as the film holds a 91% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
