Posted: 05/16/2010

The New Daughter

by Elaine Hegwood Bowen

The New Daughter is a new Anchor Bay Entertainment DVD/Blu-ray release out May 18 that stars John James (Kevin Costner), playing a single father, who is raising his teenage daughter Louisa (Ivana Baquero) and younger son Sam (Gattlin Griffith).

We all know raising children as a single parent is hard enough—John’s wife divorced him and didn’t want to raise them. So, he moves his family out to South Carolina in the sticks, right next to a strange wooded area that’s been called an ancient, Indian burial mound.

The mound presents some challenges for John, even though Louisa finds the area quite entertaining. John is a writer, and the events that unfold shortly after he moves into his new home make good fodder for a thrilling mystery novel. Louisa is drawn to the mound, but it’s discovered that rumor has it that an ancient civilization that needs a female in order to survive has roots in the area.

Louisa starts exhibiting strange behavior: she defies her father; starts developing blisters on the back of her neck; stands up to the bully in her new class; and, for the life (or death) of her, can’t seem to stay away from the mound. It is also rumored that the former owner of the home also had trouble of his own with his granddaughter, who once lived in the house. John discovers that he ended up setting her afire—it was the only way he knew to drive the demons out of her.
As Louisa becomes more and more removed and strange, John starts Googling subjects around teen angst, “lame” fathers and parenting overall, as he seeks an answer to all the madness.

After a babysitter comes up missing, John decides to burn the mound, to the displeasure of a local college professor whose scholarship has centered on the secret surrounding the mound. But even this isn’t enough to save John and his family from the aliens that soon make themselves known.

The New Daughter answers the question: Just how far will a father go to protect his daughter from an ancient evil determined to take her over?

Teaming with multiple Oscar® winner Costner, renowned international filmmaker Luis Berdejo (screenwriter of REC and Quarantine) makes his directorial debut in The New Daughter. Co-starring Samantha Mathis (The Punisher, The American President), The New Daughter is adapted by John Travis (The Haunting of Molly Hartley) from the short story by John Connolly.
The New Daughter is available May 18 on DVD and Blu-ray from Anchor Bay Entertainment, the home entertainment division of Starz Media, LLC., which distributes feature films, children’s entertainment, fitness, TV series, documentaries, anime and other filmed entertainment on DVD and Blu-ray formats. For more information about The New Daughter, visit Web site www.thenewdaughter.com or www.anchorbayent.com.

Elaine Hegwood Bowen is an editor, writer and film critic in Chicago.

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