BS: Q for OZ Catters RE: Witch Hunt Film

Subject: BS: Q for OZ Catters RE: Witch Hunt Film
From: Dave'sWife
Date: 17 Oct 07 - 04:45 AM

I happened to catch this 199 film called Witch Hunt starring Jacqueline Bissett - it was a story about a missing girl, presumed kidnapped by her non-custodial father. After a fashion, the father accuses the grandmother (the mum is dead) of being a witch and says she kidnapped the girl. wait - maybe the dad had just gotten custody back - I don't remember. Anyway - Jacqueline Bissett's character turns out to be a pagan and she really was hiding the girl all along. it was implied that she was hoping to pass on "The craft" to this girl and wanted her away from the dad.

It is said to have been based on a real case from Victoria but I haven't been able to find anything about it. Do any of you OZ 'Catters know about the real case. Things like this fascinate me due to my background in anthropology. I've written a lot about "Satanic Panic" type episodes in the USA and I just wanted to read up on the actual case. The names would be helpful or a link to a news item even better.

Thanks.

Subject: RE: BS: Q for OZ Catters RE: Witch Hunt Film
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 17 Oct 07 - 08:09 PM

I've put my Librarian friend on the case & this is his first report.

=================

Have had a brief look and I even checked factiva and other archives but no mention of the case.

Here's a URL telling a little about the movie plot, cast etc.
http://library.digiguide.com/lib/programme/Witch+Hunt-26847

                                                                           
I'll have another look shortly

====================

I'll get back to you when I hear more. If it exists he'll find it (except if it's as obscure as origin of the phrase - One of Life's Little Mysteries - he couldn't find that!)

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Q for OZ Catters RE: Witch Hunt Film
From: Peace
Date: 17 Oct 07 - 09:03 PM

"Based on the true case of a young girl's abduction by her grandparents in Victoria, this tele-movie stars Cameron Daddo as the father desperate to get his daughter back and Jacqueline Bisset as the manipulative grandmother with an interest in the occult."

The above was a review written by a Brendan Hill.



Keep in mind that it took place in the State of Victoria.

Subject: RE: BS: Q for OZ Catters RE: Witch Hunt Film
From: Peace
Date: 17 Oct 07 - 09:16 PM

It might be easier to get in touch with Shane Brennan and ask him about it. (He was the script writer for the flick.) I think that presently he's connected with "CSI: Miami" on CBS.

Subject: RE: BS: Q for OZ Catters RE: Witch Hunt Film
From: Rowan
Date: 17 Oct 07 - 09:54 PM

It's almost 20 years since I left Victoria but I've heard nothing about either the film or the case. The things they get up to when your back's turned! I'll be interested in the details as well.

Mind you, after teaching beginner rock climbers at Hanging Rock for some years before the film came out I had a real problem suspending belief to cope with the climax of the film's plot. Miranda made it worth the effort though.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Q for OZ Catters RE: Witch Hunt Film
From: Dave'sWife
Date: 19 Oct 07 - 06:31 PM

Rowan, do people really call it "Hanging Rock"? I thought not. However, let's not open THAT can of worms! I'll say only this - no matter how hard I try , I can never convince American viewers that the novel Picnic at hanging Rock is just that - a novel and not a retelling of actual events.

Peace - As for contacting the screenwriter - while we do work in the film industry, we don't bump elbows with any of the CSI writers but it's a good idea. My husband is friends with a fellow he has directed some CSI episodes. They met back when he was a storyboard artist for a series my husband's company was producing. Perhaps he can get me in touch with the writer.

The basic story of the film was that the mother had a semi-secret sideline of writing books about the occult under the name of Jessie Rylah (a nice lovecraftian sounding name, eh?). The young girls dad and mum live with the grandparents to save money and because Jacquileine Bisette's character's daughter seems to be mentally unstable.

In the film, we see her take over the care of the baby to a point that could be seen as cruel if you are the dad or loving if you take the view that she is only trying to prevent her daughter's mental health. The marriage is shown as shakey from either side's view and he eventually leaves or is forced out. The dad then stays out of their lives for years until after his ex-wife dies. Then he comes back and asserts his rights which is when the gal, now about 10, goes missing. There's no supernatural ooga-booga stuff in the film - just the father's somewhat paranoid rantings that the M other-in-law has sinister reasons for wanting the granddaughter - some stuff about wanting to pass down the Craft to her.

In the end the little girl is returned to the Dad and the gradparents arrested, presumably for custodial interference or whatever it is called in OZ. The last scene shows the little girl drawing happy pictures of smiling witches with hats and brooms and some swirly runes or sigs and I suppose we the audience are supposed to get shivers and say to ourselves - "Ooooooh the Dad was right all along, it IS an occult conspiracy!"

If it really is based on an actual case, I would suspect that such accusations were made but never really proven. Modern Witch hunt cases fascinate me and that's why I asked about any connection to a real case. The family is shown as living in a fairly rural area and it seems to be implied that the in-laws are from the UK and not Australian. Throughout the film, the dad fears they will take her out of country. Maybe those detials will help jog something!

Thanks

Subject: RE: BS: Q for OZ Catters RE: Witch Hunt Film
From: Helen
Date: 19 Oct 07 - 07:58 PM

Programme Information

"Jacqueline Bisset stars in this riveting drama based on the 1994 abduction of a little girl in the rural Australian community of Whitlow. When Barbara Thomas reports her granddaughter Hannah missing, she leads police to suspect her son-in-law, David Overton, as the abductor. As David is questioned, he counters Barbara's accusation with an astonishing tale of her deception and involvement in the occult. With time running out and the shocking truth coming to light, the police must race against time in order to save little Hannah's life."

Subject: RE: BS: Q for OZ Catters RE: Witch Hunt Film
From: katlaughing
Date: 19 Oct 07 - 08:29 PM

Here's someone's review from IMDB:

Much better movie then you would expect from a made for TV film about a little girl missing in the Australian countryside and the search for her amid accusations between her grandparents and father on who's responsible for her disappearance.

Hannah Overton, Niki Risteski, disappeared just as her father was coming to take her home from her grandparents with whom she was staying over the weekend. David Overton, Cameron Daddo, was divorced from his wife Linda, Alexandra Schepisi, for some eight years but it wasn't until she died four years ago that he got custody of his daughter Hannah. This to the strong objections of his wife's parents Barbara and Ray Thomas, Jackie Bisset and William Gluth, in that David was a threat to her.

The police felt the same way at first and grilled David at the local police station about his whereabouts at the time of Hannah's disappearance. David tells the police that it's Hannah's grandparents that they should question since he was the one who had custody of his daughter and they didn't so why should he be a suspect? David also tells the police that Hannah's grandmother Barbara is a practitioner of the black arts in general and witchcraft in particular and wants to turn her granddaughter into a witch like herself.

Unbelievable at first the police go to the Thomas home and when they ask Babara if she can explain David's accusations about her she becomes very defensive and seems to be hiding something from them. The police also interview people who know David and they tell them that he's very violent and has a habit of getting drunk and picking fights with anyone who would as much as look cross-eyed at him. They also tell the police that the death of David's wife Linda was also not what people think that it was and hint that he may have had something to do with it, Linda tried to commit suicide when she was still married to David, thus the grandparents fear and resentment of him.

The police uncover a number of facts that hint that something is not right between the two parties who are accusing each other of little Hannah's disappearance and think that something is what they both are trying to hide. Good solid movie about a subject that you would rather not talk about with strangers in fear that they may think that your a little bit off the reservation when it comes to your mental faculties but the subject is all to real to ignore.

Based on a true story about the dark side of nature with an ending that doesn't really end the movie and has you saying to yourself: Can it all be real or is it just my imagination?

Subject: RE: BS: Q for OZ Catters RE: Witch Hunt Film
From: Rowan
Date: 20 Oct 07 - 12:34 AM

Well, all this stuff about the actuality of the events (or otherwise) in the film Dave's Wife is asking about is still news to me; I haven't seen the film and I've not yet found anything factual either.

However, I can attest to the fact that Hanging Rock (45 miles northwest of Melbourne and just past Woodend) is really called that and has been for more than 150 years; until recently they had Picnic Races there every New Year's Day. The turnoff sign at the highway routinely had a piece of string suspending a large pebble, which I've also seen on signs to one or two other places (in other states) with the same name. The rock formation is, I'm told, technically a mammelon or what's left of a volcanic plug after everything around it has been eroded away. No difficult climbs but a lot of good boulder problems and a good place to teach techniques to beginners as it's within easy reach of Melbourne's CBD.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Q for OZ Catters RE: Witch Hunt Film
From: GUEST,John Gray in Oz
Date: 20 Oct 07 - 12:47 AM

Yes, Dave's Wife, people really do call Hanging Rock Hanging Rock because that's the name of the bloody place ! And from the top there is a beautiful view of the Hanging Rock race course where they stage the annual Hanging Rock Cup.
You really know you're on the map when a horse racing trophy is in your name. There is generally a small rock suspended on a piece of string attached to the road sign.

JG / FME

Subject: RE: BS: Q for OZ Catters RE: Witch Hunt Film
From: GUEST,Dave'swife on other computer
Date: 20 Oct 07 - 08:45 AM

well, shows you what I know! Hanging Rock it is!

As for the film I am asking about - all the info posted from IMDB and such contains the names of the characters in the film - I did search on those names to see if in fact the writers were using the actual names of people from the supposed real case and found nothing. I even serached on various spelling of Jessie Rylah and found nothing. Even when film is loosely based on a real case, producers rarely use the actual names unless thay have scured the rights and cooperation of some original participant. In the forward credits no such attribution is made and all the end credits contain is a loose statement that while the film is based on actual events, it is a work of fiction type thing.

it could aslo be that some of the names are simply too commonj such as Thomas and Overton. Oddly enough, there is a case from texas involving a woman named Hannah Overton who is at the center of a horrible child abuse case resulting in the death of a child.   When I search on Overton and Hannah Overton - the majority of links led to that case.

The location of Whitlow is the location in the film and not necessarily where the original case took place but that's more specific info than the usual fluff given about the fiulm as being based on a case from Victoria. I'll try and follow that up. All my searches on that town name thusfar have turned up nothing realted to a child missing or a child abduction.

I did searches on area newspapers from 1988 to 1998 and didn't turn anything up. I might not be searching on the right trms though. i used keywords such as: Child disappearance, custody battle, abduction, child missing and so on an so forth. i even search on terms such as Grandparents accused of* and more with no results.

I spent a number of hours on this before coming here. I wnet to the same places most of you have and more. I'm guessing Peace's suggestion of contacting the fim's writer is still my best bet.

Even so, if this jogs anyone's memory, please add to the thread. The actual name of a participant or the place where it happened would probably be all that I would need to get the real case. it could well be this was something that happened decades earlier than portrayed.

Subject: RE: BS: Q for OZ Catters RE: Witch Hunt Film
From: Helen
Date: 20 Oct 07 - 04:34 PM

Hi Dave's Wife,

I did a similar Google on "Hannah Overton", Whitlow, abduction, child abduction, etc etc and got the same results as you.

It might be really loosely based on the true story. There might have been just a straight-out abduction investigation, and the witch hunt side of it might have been thrown into the script to make it more interesting. Contacting the script writer, or even some of the cast might be the best way to get the facts.

Good luck,
Helen

Subject: RE: BS: Q for OZ Catters RE: Witch Hunt Film
From: Dave'sWife
Date: 20 Oct 07 - 08:21 PM

I even did a Usent group search and found some mentions of Jessie/Jesse Rylah bit only as a Username Wicca-minded folks liked to use. So the film was interesting enough to some people that they adopted the fictional pen name the grandmother wrote occult books under!

Subject: RE: BS: Q for OZ Catters RE: Witch Hunt Film
From: Rowan
Date: 21 Oct 07 - 06:16 PM

Dave's Wife, I'd be surprised if you found there was a locality in Victoria named "Whitlow", partly because I got to know about lots of small places in the state; even some locals didn't know the whereabouts of localities I got to know. The other reason is that film producers seem to go out of their way to either try to fix the story in a known locality ("Dimboola" is a rather famous one to Oz viewers) or to avoid identifying the locality; an example you'd probably know is "Babe" which was filmed in and around Bowral (NSW Southern Highlands) although all the props used were American rather than Oz ones.

But, good hunting!

Cheers, Rowan