The Legend of Lucy Keyes

2007-09-26T12:31:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Mother of the Munchkins for a Wonderful Review.

I was so excited to see such a glowing review from out of nowhere. Thanks Bethany for your insightful, well-written review of The Legend of Lucy Keyes. Please visit Bethany's site and her review at http://motherofthemunchkins.blogspot.com/2007/09/getting-back-to-my-wits.html

2007-03-16T10:55:00.000-04:00

WAS IT MARTHA KEYES'S SPIRIT?

The moon and stars literally aligned a couple weeks ago, when there was a full moon and a lunar eclipse in the North East. My wife and I had a snowshoe/bonfire party in our back yard. I marked the trail up the side of Wachusett Mountain with tiki torches directly up into the land once owned by the Keyes family, where Lucy Keyes disappeared and the place where Martha Keyes haunts. As the Earth's shadow obscured the moon, about 25 of us set off on our tramp into the dark woods. Following the tiki torch trail we snaked our way directly into Lucy Keyes territory.

I had set up a mid-tramp resting point at a flat-topped rock with a bottle of Patron Tequila. I fondly dubbed the rock "Lucy Keyes Rock," as it is exactly mid-way between the site of Lucy’s house and the lake she and her sister visited that fateful day. The moon was completely shaded as we drank a toast to Lucy’s mother, Martha; our headlamps and the tiki torches the only illumination of our solemn honorarium.

The rest of the tramp was beautiful and inspirational as the moon revealed itself once again and brighten the woods, triggered in part by the tequila warming our bellies. The flame of each next torch flickered through the trees in the distance as we trod through the 8 inches of fresh snow.

We returned to our house and lit the bonfire that roared into the night.

The next day I hiked up into the woods to retrieve the torches and the bottle we left stashed at Lucy Keyes rock. Each of the torches had burned itself out and I gathered them one by one. When I arrived at the rock I opened my backpack and loaded up the half empty Patron bottle and the plastic cups we used for our toast. I went to grab the torch closest to the rock and in the bright daylight sun, I almost burned my self when I discovered what I could barely see... it was still burning. It was a good 16 hours since I had originally lit it. I couldn’t help but think this was Lucy’s eternal flame.

As I extinguished the flame and gathered up the torch, I heard something. Was it a tree creaking in the cold wind? Was it a distant coyote? Or was the high-pitched cry Martha’s keening voice calling for Lucy?

2007-02-02T17:43:00.000-05:00

Bob Dylan's "Thunder on the Mountain"

Has anyone listened to Bob Dylan's new album, Modern Times? The first cut is a song called, "Thunder on the Mountain", and I swear he mentions Lucy Keyes in the first verse. "I wonder where the hell Lucy Keyes could be." Kind of creepy! Check it out. If you go to iTunes, the sample of the song contains the first verse so you can hear it without buying the song. It's a great album, though and I would recommend buying the whole thing!

2006-11-27T16:51:00.000-05:00

NEXT LIFETIME MOVIE NETWORK AIRING

Lucy Keyes is scheduled to air next on the Lifetime Movie Network (LMN) on Wednesday Dec. 20th at 9:50PM.

2006-11-08T10:34:00.000-05:00

BIG NEWS! According to Lifetime, the premiere of The Legend of Lucy Keyes on Lifetime Movie Network was the 4th highest rated in the history of the network! And that includes studio fare. Thank you to everyone who has supported this film and please continue to spread the word! More airings of Lucy Keyes are scheduled for December, check www.lmn.tv for specifics. Meanwhile the DVD is available at amazon.com, Netflix, Blockbuster and lots of other outlets.

2006-10-16T16:30:00.000-04:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: JOHN STIMPSON john@lucykeyes.com
10/15/06 www.lucykeyes.com

GHOSTLY MASSACHUSETTS FILM BASED ON WACHUSETT MOUNTAIN MYSTERY COMES HAUNTING FOR HALLOWEEN

The Legend of Lucy Keyes is launched to rave reviews.

Following its premiere on the Lifetime Movie Network last week and its national DVD release, The Legend of Lucy Keyes, a ghostly story based on a 250-year-old legend, is gaining momentum with positive reviews from the critics. Entertainment Weekly calls the film, “a beautifully filmed spookfest” that “brings out the goosebumps.” Steve Anderson from FilmThreat.com says Lucy Keyes is “one of the downright creepiest movies I’ve seen lately” with “a healthy body of shock value through the narrative.” He continues saying, “the plot will become significantly more complex than anyone saw coming… this adds a note of quality that most movies struggle and ultimately fail to achieve.” In describing the conclusion Anderson says, “The ending is an explosive intermingling of death and shocks, leading up to an incredible close. It's a spectacularly well-crafted ending to a spectacularly well-crafted film.”

In other reviews, The Hollywood Reporter praised the film’s star by saying that the film, “taps into the intense mother-daughter bond at the heart of this haunting… Julie Delpy is as ethereal as the ghost she senses.” EyeCraveDVD.com calls the movie “a tightly crafted, good old-fashioned ghost story.” They go on to say that The Legend of Lucy Keyes is, “an entertaining, well executed and very surprising ghost story that is well worth a viewing.”

The Legend of Lucy Keyes is based on an actual haunting of Wachusett Mountain in Central Massachusetts and was written and directed by Massachusetts filmmaker, John Stimpson. Stimpson and his family live on part of the property in Princeton, MA, originally farmed by the Keyes family 250 years ago. Little Lucy Keyes went missing on April 14, 1755 never to be found again. As legend tells, her mother’s heartbroken spirit still haunts the hillsides of Wachusett Mountain searching for her lost child.

In the film a normal family is forced to struggle with the paranormal. Guy and Jeanne Cooley have moved with their children, Molly and Lucy, from the city to a small town, having just suffered the devastating loss of their youngest child. Guy is embarking on a wind farm project that requires the townspeople to approve construction on the land where Lucy Keyes disappeared and on which the spirit of her mother is believed to still wander. The story carefully builds as the complex web of relationships between the townspeople and their connection to Lucy Keyes is revealed. Ultimately Jeanne unearths an age-old secret and the ties to the past become frighteningly real.

Prior to its release The Legend of Lucy Keyes won the Audience Award for best narrative feature at the Independent Film Festival of Boston in April of this year. It has also screened at festivals in Santa Barbara, Sedona, AZ, Sonoma Valley, Winston-Salem, NC and Woods Hole.

Visit www.lucykeyes.com for more information or to order the DVD.

Here are the links to some of the reviews quoted above:
http://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=reviews&Id=9362
http://www.eyecravedvd.com/dvd/dvdReview.php?dvdID=1003

2006-10-03T15:20:00.000-04:00

Don't miss the premiere of The Legend of Lucy Keyes on the Lifetime Movie Network this Saturday at 8:00PM. Spread the word and set your TiVos! Visit http://www.LMN.tv and watch the new trailer too, they did an excellent job. There is also going to be an entire Lucy Keyes page with an on-line interview with Julie Delpy so keep checking back.

We’ve gotten some great new reviews!

Entertainment Weekly gives Lucy a B+ and calls the movie, "a beautifully filmed spookfest, that brings out the goosebumps."

EyeCraveDVD.com's review says Lucy is, "an entertaining, well executed and very surprising ghost story that is well worth a viewing." Go to:
http://www.eyecravedvd.com/dvd/dvdReview.php?dvdID=1003 for the whole thing.

Also, watch for an article by Don Aucoin featuring Lucy Keyes and her big premiere in tomorrow's Boston Globe.

Finally, Blockbuster can’t keep the DVD on the shelves it’s been so popular. As for it next time you go to Blockbuster or any rental shop. We need them to buy more!

Thanks for your continued support.

Warm Regards,

John

2006-09-07T20:24:00.000-04:00

I went into my local Blockbuster yesterday, 24 hours after our official street date, and found all of the copies of The Legend of Lucy Keyes had been rented on the first day! Wow.

Here we go. The DVD is out there, and we need your help to spread the word. Tell all your friends... forward them to our site. Next time you stop into a Circuit City, Best Buy, Newbury Comics, Walmart or anywhere else they sell DVDs, ask for the movie. If it's not there, find out if they are planning to carry it. Talk it up.

Meanwhile, the best way to get the DVD is through our website,
www.lucykeyes.com. The home page directs you right to Amazon.com and since we are Amazon Associates, we get a commission on every sale we direct to them. By the way, there are lots of cool extras on the DVD!

Finally the premiere date for the Lifetime Movie Network has been announced.
October 7th at 8:00pm!

Thank you all for your help and support of this project.

Warm Regards,

John Stimpson

2006-09-07T00:02:00.000-04:00

The Legend of Lucy Keyes is now available on DVD! Be Sure to order your copy from Amazon.com today!

2006-08-22T23:04:00.000-04:00

Lucy Keyes Trailer on Youtube!

2006-08-17T20:38:00.000-04:00

The Holden Landmark Aug. 10, 2006

'Lucy Keyes' earns raves from hometown fans
BY PHYLLIS BOOTH

PRINCETON - Last Thursday's crowd of more than 1,000 people were unstinting in their praise of "The Legend of Lucy Keyes," written and directed by local resident John Stimpson.

"Great movie," "spooky" and "scary" were just some of the reviews delivered by filmgoers after the movie was shown under the stars at Krashes Field on August 3.

The smell of popcorn and pizza wafted through the air as children ran in every direction, many waving or wearing glow sticks. Some had glow sticks wrapped around their waist, others as collars, anklets and wristbands. As night fell, all that could be seen of the kids as they streaked through the crowd were the bright circular colors bobbing in the darkness.

"I thought the movie was great," said Sterling resident Liz Jayanath. "It was very scary. ... Some movies are very predictable. This one wasn't. I thought it was very well done and the photography was beautiful. The story drew you in and was very suspenseful with an unexpected ending. In this day and age where everyone goes his or her separate ways it was a nice community event."

The entire night had a sense of smalltown camaraderie as scores of kids and young adults pitched in to help by collecting the donations, parking the more than 270 cars, selling glow sticks and picking up every piece of debris after the show. Tiki torches lined the driveway leading to the parking area, contributing to the ambiance as people filed onto the field, setting up chairs on the hillside and putting blankets on the ground in front of the giant inflatable screen.

The movie follows a parallel between the Keyes family in 1755 and the modern day Cooley family. Both have a young child by the name of Lucy, and both have a resentful neighbor.

Local flavor is everywhere in the film. The Cooley family is shown arriving in Princeton, traveling up Gregory Hill Road to the center of town and by the library and church.

"It was cool seeing things in Princeton and knowing people who were in the movie," said resident Marsha Dowdy. "I just loved the clam belly part. It was just fun and it was for a good cause. It would be nice if we could do something like this more often."

Princeton's windfarm project also played a prominent role, with residents in the movie depicted as being both in favor and opposed to the project. Close-ups of spinning windmills appear throughout the film. A vote by the town in favor of the windmills and a land deal that would benefit a local official spark a series of fastmoving, violent events in the film.

"It was excellent," said Princeton resident Chad Gowey. "I was really pleased with the turn-out. It was nice to see people come together in such a positive way for such a good film. I also appreciated the movie for its artistic quality. I can't wait for the DVD to come out. My family is planning on picking up at least two copies."

Princeton residents searched for familiar faces throughout the movie, especially in the crowd scenes at the Princeton Center building, which was used to stage the town meetings, the church and library scenes.

"It was fun to see the local people, familiar streets and houses in the film," said Christine Nichols. "Both my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. It was well-made and it's so wonderful we have people like John Stimpson in the community with that kind of talent, enthusiasm and dedication to the arts."

Said Princeton teenager Billy Jackson, "I had seen it before but seeing it on the big screen with the speakers and being out on the field with everyone, it was better the second time. Living here, I've heard the story of Lucy Keyes and it was even better to see it."

"The Legend of Lucy Keyes" was the Audience Award Winner for a narrative feature in this year's Independent Film Festival of Boston. Audience awards are determined by attendee ballots at the screenings as opposed to Jury Awards, which are selected by a small panel of industry professionals. "This means we were truly the favorite film at the festival," said Stimpson. "What a thrill for me."

The film will be out on DVD in September and available for purchase either through Blockbuster or Amazon or at Wal-Mart. MTI Home Video is releasing the film in North America starting September 5. Stimpson also has a deal with Lifetime Movie Network for a cable premiere.

"Everyone had such a good time," said Kathy Sweeney, one of the event organizers. "It was so nice to see such a good turnout. Everyone I talked to said they had a good time."

The event raised approximately $5,100 for the basketball courts at Krashes Field.

2006-08-14T09:24:00.000-04:00

The spirit of Martha Keyes was definately present at the outdoor screening of The Legend of Lucy Keyes last week at the 15th annual Woods Hole Film Festival. Under the stars, the film played on a 20ft. inflatable screen that billowed in the wind as Martha made her presence known. The moon was bright and car headlights danced across the screen casting shadows of tree limbs resulting in a multi sensory experience of the movie. 250 people stood and cheered as the film came to and end. Cassidy Hinkle and Kathleen Regan, the films two young stars were in attendance with their families.

This was the final festival screening for the film which has its nationwide DVD release September 5th. The Legend of Lucy Keyes will debut on the Lifetime Movie Network this September as well. It was fitting that the film ended its festival run where it began three years prior by winning the screenplay competion in the 2003 Woods Hole Film Fest.

2006-08-09T10:44:00.000-04:00

The Legend of Lucy Keyes is on the verge of its worldwide release. We've played at festivals all over the US and are about to roll out to the world with our DVD release and a Cable premiere on Lifetime this September.

The film stars Julie Delpy, Justin Theroux, Brooke Adams and Mark Boone, Jr. and as the Hollywood Reporter says, "The film taps into the intense mother-daughter bond at the heart of this (real life) haunting... Julie Delpy is as ethereal as the ghost she senses." The film was also the winner of the audience award for best dramatic feature at the Independent Film Festival of Boston.

Visit www.lucykeyes.com for more info about the film or goto: www.amazon.com to pre-order today!