In 1912, in sleepy Villisca, Iowa, 8 people were savagely slaughtered with an axe. Found dead in their beds were Josiah and Sara Moore, their 4 children and two young overnight guests. After 2 trials and a Grand Jury investigation, the gruesome crime was never solved. 

The wide net of suspicion included political intrigue, business rivalry, hired killers, a sex scandal and a preacher’s recanted confession. Nearly 100 years later, paranormal investigators are convinced that the victims’ spirits haunt the house, desperately crying out for justice and the exposure of the murderer – whose spirit is reportedly trapped there.

Against this real-life backdrop, is woven the fictional story of David Salt, a college professor with a guilty secret.  When David’s affair with a student is discovered, his wife, Iola, commits a ghastly suicide.  David travels to Villisca, charged with returning Iola’s personal belongings to her family. 

Events draw him to the fabled white house, where he finds not only the victims’ ghosts, but also his dead wife’s spirit. Horror mounts, as David is driven to help the tortured souls and to seek redemption by facing his guilt in a climactic struggle with the evil that the house harbors.

Produced by AriesWorks Entertainment, Haunting Villisca was shot on location in the actual J.B. Moore Home (The Villisca Axe Murder House.) Now owned by Darwin and Martha Linn, the house is award-winning for historic restoration. Other locations include the Olson-Linn Museum and the beautiful, historic Montgomery County Courthouse in Red Oak where the two trials took place, as well as other picturesque Iowa locations.

Haunting Villisca  features Iowa native and veteran Hollywood actor, GregAlan Williams (Be Cool, Old School, Remember the Titans, The Sopranos, Boston Public, West Wing, One Tree Hill) as Dean Dolan, Michael Cornelison  (The Final Season, Elliot Ness- An Untouchable Life, My Father’s House, Hill Street Blues, Dallas) as F. F. Jones and
James Serpento  (The Final Season with Sean Astin, Rachael Leigh Cook and Tom Arnold, White Boyz, Iowa, The Next Table, A Trip to Grand Rapids, Baby Steps and Duck Farm Number 13) as David Salt.

A recent update from Kim Busbee - Nov. 19, 2009

Haunting Villisca Screens at 2009 Wild Rose and Announces DVD's available...

Haunting Villisca had its successful Midwest Premiere Screening for a large, appreciative crowd at the 7th Annual Wild Rose Independent Film Festival early this month. Opening the festivities was Jeffrey Brown, singer/songwriter of the folk/rock hit, “The Ballad of J.B. Moore.” Both of the award-winning films, Haunting Villisca, and the behind the scenes documentary, A Ghost of a Chance: The Making of Haunting Villisca were shown with Q&A sessions following. Filmmakers James Serpento and Kimberly Busbee and several cast and crew members attended, including Villisca Axe Murder House owners Darwin and Martha Linn, who were able to answer questions about their work on the production and their paranormal experiences. JEK FILMS partner, Kaitlyn Busbee, was there to give her perspective on shooting the documentary which included an overnight stay in the infamous small white house.

Filmmakers also are happy to announce the availability of the long-awaited DVD! For a limited time only, the Special Collector’s Edition 2 Disc Set will be available for sale through the websites, www.hauntingvillisca.com and on www.villiscaiowa.com This pre-release set contains the feature film, the documentary, cast/crew photos, a deleted scene, the trailer and a fascinating audio commentary by Busbee and Serpento (which not only includes film production stories and historical info, but intriguing discussions about paranormal occurrences during the shoot.)

Haunting Villisca is slated for official release by Digital Shadow Films Distribution on Dec, 15, 2009. For more information or to book screenings of Haunting Villisca, contact: Kim Busbee at bobbusbee@aol.com .

 

 

 

Young Filmmakers create "A Ghost of A Chance", the documentary: The members of JEK films are the creators of the 60-minute award-winning documentary, A Ghost of a Chance: The Making of Haunting Villisca which is the behind the scenes look at the Iowa-produced feature film, Haunting Villisca, about the unsolved 1912 axe murders, filmed in SW Iowa and in other Iowa locations.

Jill Jones, Elizabeth Hixenbaugh and Kaitlyn Busbee (JEK) are 3 unusual filmmakers who formed their own production company during high school, while attending the prestigious Central Campus Film and Television Program in Des Moines which interviews over a hundred and fifty students and selects around 30 for admission.

Currently, all three study filmmaking in college. Jill attends Emerson in Boston, Elizabeth attends SUNY Purchase and Kaitlyn attends the University of Iowa.

 

JEK created, produced, shot and edited multiple award-winning projects while at Central, including this ambitious professional level documentary, A Ghost of a Chance: The Making of Haunting Villisca, about the making of an indie movie inspired by the unsolved 1912 Villisca axe murders. For an entire summer, JEK followed the cast and crew, and interviewed historical and paranormal experts while shooting fantastic, frightening and funny footage which captures the essence of what it is like to make a movie about a true crime in a real haunted house.

An overnight stay at the house, real paranormal footage and interviews with Darwin and Martha Linn (the house owners), Kimberly Busbee and James Serpento (Haunting Villisca’s filmmakers), historian/author Roy Marshall, the movie’s actors and crew and with the paranormal investigation team, P.R.I.S.M., are included in this fascinating documentary.

 

Crowds flock to Rialto Premiere of Haunting Villisca!

The Iowa premiere of the AriesWorks Entertainment movie Haunting Villisca brought a sell-out crowd to a pre-movie dinner at the Historic Bank building in downtown Villisca on Saturday, March 29th. Over 70 people enjoyed entertainment by Bowman and Brown and a delicious buffet dinner hosted by owners of the Villisca Axe Murder House, Martha and Darwin Linn. Approximately 200 people attended the screening of the movie as well as the screening of A Ghost of A Chance, the making of the movie documentary. The house was open for free tours during the day. Thanks to all of you who came out to support Iowa Independent Filmmakers!