Claustrophobia (2003 film)

A quiet neighborhood outside of Oakland, California, is held hostage with terror when a serial killer armed with a crossbow begins to stalk and kill the residents from their rooftops.

Mary Lynn Rajskub, Mark Tapio Kines, Sheeri Rappaport and Melanie Lynskey on the set of Claustrophobia.

Claustrophobia has only three main speaking roles. Kines first invited Melanie Lynskey to take part in the film, as the two had worked together previously on his debut feature Foreign Correspondents. The search then began for the two remaining leads, with Kines receiving over 1,000 headshots during the auditioning process.[1] Sheeri Rappaport and Mary Lynn Rajskub were cast soon thereafter.

After a brief rehearsal period, Melanie Lynskey, Sheeri Rappaport and Mary Lynn Rajskub were set to star in the film. Kines was also able to cast Judith O'Dea, star of the classic 1960s horror film Night of the Living Dead, in a small role.[2]

Principal photography began on June 3, 2002, and wrapped on June 13. Most of the film was shot in a single house with only a few exterior scenes. The film was shot entirely in daylight, something Kines felt added a surreal and nightmarish quality to the story.

Kines drafted his friend Christopher Farrell to score the film. Farrell had previously scored Kines' first film, Foreign Correspondents. The titles for the film were done by William Lebeda, whose credits include The Village and Drag Me to Hell. The film was fully completed on May 31, 2003 – 364 days after the first day of production.

Dread Centreal said of the film, "What it is is a complete and utter waste of time, money (both yours if you rent it and whatever small amount the filmmakers spent on making it), and crossbow bolts, which I’m sure could’ve been put to better use hunting innocent woodland creatures or something."[3]

• Claustrophobia at IMDb.
• Claustrophobia at AllMovie
• Claustrophobia official site at Cassava Films