Fall into Darkness
Fall into Darkness is a 1996 television movie based on the young adult novel by Christopher Pike, who also executive-produced. The film stars Tatyana M. Ali, Jonathan Brandis, Charlotte Ross and Sean Murray. It originally aired on NBC on November 25, 1996.
| Fall into Darkness | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Thriller |
| Written by | Christopher Pike (book) J.B. White |
| Directed by | Mark Sobel |
| Starring | Tatyana M. Ali Jonathan Brandis Charlotte Ross Sean Murray Paul Scherrer |
| Theme music composer | John D'Andrea Cory Lerios Matthias Weber |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Kenneth Kaufman Christopher Pike (co-executive producer) |
| Producers | Harriet Brown Stephanie Hagen Ann Kindberg (supervising producer) Debbie Smith (associate producer) |
| Cinematography | Miklós Lente |
| Editor | Jonathon Braun |
| Running time | 88 min. |
| Production companies | Christopher Pike Productions Patchett Kaufman Entertainment |
| Distributor | NBC |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | November 25, 1996 |
Plot
Sharon McKay (Tatyana M. Ali) meets Jerry (Sean Murray) and his sister Ann Price (Charlotte Ross). After Sharon turns down Jerry, he falls into a state of depression, gets drunk, and wanders onto some train tracks and is killed. Ann believes Sharon is responsible for Jerry's death. Ann decides to frame Sharon for her (Ann's) murder with the help of her friend Paul. Things go as planned on the hiking trip that Sharon, Ann and several of their friends attend, as Sharon then is accused of Ann's murder, but Ann never resurfaces and it seems nothing is as it appears to be.
Cast
- Tatyana M. Ali as Sharon McKay
- Charlotte Ross as Ann Price
- Jonathan Brandis as Chad Lear
- Paul Scherrer as Paul Lear
- Sean Murray as Jerry Price
- Alan Morgan as Mr. Renquist
- Jason Nash as Evan Clark
- Danielle Nicolet as Tracey
- Benjamin Ratner as John Richmond
- Marco Sanchez as Nicol
- Ted Bradford as Minister
Differences between the novel and film
- In the book, Ann's and Jerry's last name is Rice (possibly an in-joke reference to the author of Interview with the Vampire).
- In the movie, Sharon's case never makes it to court because of lacking evidence, while the first half of the novel is devoted to Sharon's murder trial (partly because it sets up the characters and story).
- Several key supporting characters from the book are cut from the movie: Judge Warner, District Attorney Margaret Hanover, Lieutenant George Artso.
- In the novel, Sharon never kills anyone, despite it ending with her being arrested for Chad's "murder" (actually a suicide), while Paul lands on death row for Ann's murder. While Chad commits suicide in the movie, Sharon is not blamed for it; however, the final scene shows Sharon severing Paul's rope as he hangs on the side of a cliff, before it cuts to her relaxing on a plane (presumably on her way to New York City to attend Juilliard). The nature of the scene (whether it is a fantasy or takes place in reality) is not clarified.
DVD release
Fall into Darkness was released on all-region DVD on October 22, 2001.