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Before there was The Exorcist there was something truly haunting - a young couple who moved into their new dream house, and the spirits of a family that never left. True Haunting, like many of our favorite horror stories, is based on real-life events. For years skeptics have argued over the validity of the claims made by the author of the synonymously titled source material, which follows the events of the first-ever televised exorcism. The book, which details what happened after the cameras stopped rolling, is being made into a horror film fifty years later, depicting the journal-like entries in the book written by the many who lived through the terror himself, Edwin Becker.
Information about this film is shrouded in secrecy, which may make its eventual release that much more terrifying as audiences don’t know what to expect. If you’re looking to learn more about the upcoming Jamie Campbell Bower starring horror film, we’ve pieced together the diary entries and watched the tapes back to find everything you need to know before its release.
Is There a Trailer Available?
While there is no trailer available just yet, the original 1971 clip of the Becker home exorcism is available to watch on YouTube. In the six-minute clip, viewers can hear reporter Carole Simpson interview the couple and explain what an exorcism is to the audience at home before the entranced minister begins speaking in a gravelly voice, supposedly being controlled by an old woman’s spirit. This news story was broadcasted before films like The Exorcist and The Amityville Horror were released, making the ritual seem like an educational spectacle rather than a scary story come to life. While many have theorized that the family made these paranormal claims for money or fame, the Beckers state that they eventually had to give the home away as a means to rid themselves of the horror within its walls.
When Will True Haunting Be Released?
True Haunting was initially scheduled to premiere on January 6th, 2023, but that date has come and gone. As of now, there is no set date for True Haunting.
Will True Haunting Be Available to Stream?
At this time, Screen Gems, a horror-forward subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment and True Haunting's distributor, has only shared plans for a theatrical release.
Who Is in the Cast of True Haunting?
Stranger Things actor Jamie Campbell Bower is set to star as Edwin Becker, the owner of the haunted building and author of the chilling novel on which the screenplay is based. Campbell Bower got his start in the 2007 production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and scored roles in the two most obsessed over fandoms of the millennial generation: appearing in the Twilight films as Volturi member Caius, and in the Harry Potter universe as young Gellert Grindelwald. The actor gained more recent notoriety for his portrayal of the kind turned cruel Number 001 in Stranger Things Season 4, and undergoing a long and grueling transformation into the lich king Vecna; a role he will be reprising in the upcoming fifth season of the Netflix original series.
The role of Edwin’s wife Marsha Becker will be taken on by The Boys actress Erin Moriarty, who portrays the golden-clad Annie January, aka Starlight, in the dark and gritty superhero show. The Prime Original series was recently renewed for a fourth season in 2022, and primary filming has been confirmed to have begun back in August. Fans are hoping to see Starlight and her fellow heroes and anti-heroes back on screen by summer 2023. In the meantime, audiences will be able to catch Moriarty in the starring role of Geena in the upcoming drama film Catching Dust, which is currently in post-production.
Pennyworth actress Harriet Slater will be taking on the role of April Becker, the sister of Edwin who moved into an apartment in the home as her brother’s tenant. It is said that she encountered hauntings of her own while living in the building. Audiences will have to wait and see what evil lurks in the spare room for her character.
What Will True Haunting Be About?
The film's synopsis is as follows:
“The terrifying story of the first televised exorcism on NBC in 1971. The NBC news segment was a success, the exorcism was not. Instead, it made things worse for the Becker family who lived there. Much worse.”
In 1971 a young couple, Edwin and Marsha Becker, moved into their newly purchased Chicago home; a two-story building with an attached apartment to rent out to a tenant. Prior to their arrival, Edwin forced an “old crazy lady” to move out of the addition. Soon after the couple began to experience strange occurrences, such as Edwin’s keys going missing to later be found inside the kitchen sink, or Marsha’s hand mixer flying off of the wall to land at her feet. Once doors began to open on their own and strange crying sounds started to emit from the dining room the pair decided they had had enough and reached out for help, which came in the form of two ministers from the Independent Spiritualist Church of Chicago who volunteered to rid the house of any evil spirits that may be residing there. The two men, Joseph DeLouise and William Derl-Davis performed an exorcism on the home where they made contact with the spirit of an older woman who had unfinished business in the human realm relating to money and a numerical combination. The ritual was televised by NBC news, and watched by families across America. The news segment concluded with the reporter stating that the house had been quiet in the days following the exorcism, but a book that was later published by Edwin Becker himself told a very different story, one where the exorcism only made things worse.
The film will go beyond what was broadcasted in the NBC news segment and follow the book written by Edwin Becker after the reporters and camera crews left. Becker’s detailed novel is not told as a ghost story but as a play-by-play description of what he and his wife experienced in a straightforward manner that makes you feel as though you’re experiencing the haunting along with him.
Who Are the Creators of True Haunting?
True Haunting is being adapted by Blair Butler, who is known for her work on The Invitation, and Richard D’Ovidio. D’OVidio was one of the writers for the 2001 paranormal horror film Thir13en Ghosts, though most recently he helmed the Kate Siegel starring psychological thriller Hypnotic, which follows a young woman seeking to better her life with hypnotherapy when she begins to lose track of time with horrifying consequences. The film will be directed by Gary Fleder who began his directing career with thrillers in the early 90s with Kiss The Girl and Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead. Most recently Fleder directed the Netflix original series Tiny Pretty Things, which follows the students of an elite ballet academy with dark secrets.