WEST BADEN SPRINGS, Ind. — A new movie premieres in theaters nationwide Friday, filmed entirely in Indiana and showcasing a historic landmark.
What better place to share a ghost story about secrets unearthed from the past, than French Lick and West Baden Springs?
It's where history and mystery seem to rise inexplicably from the trees.
Author Michael Koryta, a Bloomington native, got drawn into what was known as the "8th Wonder of the World" at an early age.
"The first time I saw that hotel, I think I was about 8 years old. I came with my parents and the hotel was still a ruin at that point. It was very creepy. You know, it had that sort of haunted vibe," Koryta said. "You see this dome and you're driving through farmland and it's beautiful, bucolic, but it's farmland and then there's this thing that just doesn't seem to fit, and as a novelist, as a storyteller, when you see the thing that doesn't fit, you know that draws your eye."
Years after he first toured the hotel, upon seeing the Cook family's stunning renovation, Koryta knew he had to write about it. It's the setting for his New York Times bestselling novel, "So Cold The River."
"The lasting memory I had from that is, 'Why was this ever here and where did it go?' So those are the elements that ultimately led me to write the book. The juxtaposition of the past and the present that exists in most communities does not really exist here in my opinion. The past is just always here," Koryta said. "The past seems to live within the present and that is inherently a ghost story to me!"
Now, that ghost story is going to the big screen. The film by Bloomington-based Pigasus Pictures was set and shot entirely in Orange County, with a team of Hoosiers behind it. It's the highest-scale movie made in Indiana in decades. Koryta said the team knew they simply had to film the book's adaptation in West Baden and French Lick.
"People will always tell you that you can't do things in Indiana. You need to be on one of the coasts. You need to be somewhere else, and I love that this group came together and said, 'No we're going to figure out a way to do this here and make it a product of the place, of the state,'" Koryta said. "Being an Indiana native myself, this story is near and dear to me. But to have it written for the screen and directed by another Indiana native and IU grad, Paul Shoulberg, and produced by another Indiana native and grad Zachary Spicer; to have Carl Cook involved, Pete Yonkman, we have a lot of Hoosiers who bound together for it."
"So Cold the River" is a supernatural thriller starring Bethany Joy Lenz ("Dexter," "One Tree Hill"). Tony Award winner Deanna Dunagan and Indiana native Andrew West ("The Walking Dead") also have feature roles. It's adapted from Koryta's novel about a documentary filmmaker, who takes a job investigating the dark secrets of a dying millionaire from West Baden.
"He has a hidden backstory and a lot of secrets," Koryta explained, "and the only tangible clue she has to his childhood is a single bottle of Pluto water."
Yes, that Pluto water — the "curer of ills" from local mineral springs, with a devil for a mascot and the slogan, "What nature won't, Pluto will." Decades ago, that water's alleged mythical and medicinal properties drew the rich and famous to Indiana. It's one of the many local references Hoosiers will recognize in the film.
Hoosiers are in it, too. Local residents got cast as extras during filming that wrapped just before the pandemic hit. Justin Harris, French Lick Resort's facilities director, is in the trailer — at least, if you look real quick, real fast.
"I'm a gentleman reading a newspaper on the trolley in a bowler hat. I was like, 'Oh, pause! I gotta pause this and go back and it's so short. It took me hundreds of times to actually get it stopped at the right moment," Harris said. "The whole thing, it was exciting! I loved it. Would you like my autograph? I'm not charging at the moment, but once, you know, I become a superstar..."
The real star of the film might just be the hotel itself.
"The hotel is my favorite character!" Koryta said. "It's very special. As a novelist it was special and then on film, I thought it was just — it's extraordinary," Koryta said.
The atrium, the bar area and the pool are all in the movie. Crews also shot in the French Lick Casino and outdoors in French Lick.
"My favorite shot in the film features the train. That's my one spoiler," Koryta said.
The West Baden Springs Hotel has actually preserved a guest room used in the film. Visitors can even stay there overnight. Room 4626, now dubbed "The Movie Room" was redecorated by set designers for full frightening effect.
Apparently, that design worked as intended. Hotel staff said some guests who have stayed here since got scared and requested to be moved after just one night. Koryta, not surprisingly, was thrilled to learn that.
"The dream of anyone who sits down to write something creepy is that you're going to cost someone at least an hour of sleep. To know that I might have cost someone a whole night, that is just glorious to hear," Koryta said. "Highest of praise!"
'So Cold the River' filmed at West Baden Springs Hotel
For Koryta, the place, his novel and now the film represent a full-circle moment, sharing a Hoosier horror thriller made in, and inspired by an Indiana landmark.
"It's very exciting that we're going to put it out to the world now, but that it was born here and shot here and hopefully it brings people in, too," Koryta said. "Anyone who's passed through will recognize and respond to that and my hope is that anyone who's not seen the hotel will want to come down here and actually experience it."
The film is showing in select theaters nationwide starting Friday. Here's where it will play around Indiana:
- Indianapolis - Living Room Theaters (Bottleworks District)
- Indianapolis - Glendale 12
- Spencer, Indiana - Tivoli
- Logansport, Indiana - Mary Max
- Washington, Indiana - The Indiana Theater
- French Lick, Indiana - Springs Stadium
"So Cold The River" will be released on demand and digitally on March 29.
Watch the trailer below:
