By MICHAEL GINGOLD
Two powerhouse actors and one creepy doll are coming next month.
IFC Films and Shudder are bringing THE RULE OF JENNY PEN exclusively to theaters March 7. Directed by James Ashcroft and based, like Ashcroft’s previous COMING HOME IN THE DARK, on a short story by Owen Marshall, it was written by Eli Kent and Ashcroft. John Lithgow, Geoffrey Rush, George Henare, Nathaniel Lees, Thomas Sainbury, Ian Mune and Irene Wood star; the synopsis: “Arrogant Judge Stefan Mortensen [Rush] suffers a near-fatal stroke, leaving him partially paralyzed and confined to a retirement home. Resistant to the staff and distant from his friendly roommate, Mortensen soon clashes with seemingly gentle resident Dave Crealy [Lithgow], who secretly terrorizes the home with a sadistic game called ‘The Rule of Jenny Pen’ while wielding his dementia doll as an instrument of cruelty. What begins as childish torment quickly escalates into far more sinister and disturbing incidents. When Mortensen’s pleas to the staff go unanswered, he takes it upon himself to put an end to Crealy’s reign of terror.”
