Disgust at plan to turn Elisa Lam’s water tank death into horror movie
'The Bringing' was penned by screenwriting brothers Brandon and Phillip Murphy
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 04 March, 2014, 9:00am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 04 March, 2014, 12:45pm
Ian Young in Vancouver [email protected]
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A supernatural thriller supposedly based on the death of Chinese Canadian student Elisa Lam, who drowned in a hotel's water tank, is drawing a horrified reaction even before it is made.
Lam, who was found dead in the rooftop tank of a Los Angeles hotel early last year, suffered from bipolar disorder and her death was ruled accidental. But the movie, tentatively titled The Bringing, penned by screenwriting brothers Brandon and Phillip Murphy is being touted as an otherworldly horror story.
Elisa Lam was found dead at the Cecil Hotel. Photo: Los Angeles Police Department
Disgusted critics of the project, which was announced on Friday, February 28, have called it a tasteless attempt to exploit Lam’s tragic death.
Lam’s Hong Kong immigrant parents, David and Yinna Lam, have lodged a wrongful death lawsuit against the owners of the Cecil Hotel for allegedly allowing their 21-year-old daughter to access the rooftop, which should have been locked.
Lam’s disappearance achieved notoriety after a video of her behaving strangely in a hotel elevator went viral. The video showed Lam gesticulating, conversing, and appearing to hide from someone, despite appearing alone.
The Hollywood Reporter said that the movie will be “based on true events” and follows a private investigator who uncovers the “dark supernatural history” of a downtown Los Angeles hotel.
The Reporter incorrectly describes Lam’s death as a “mysterious murder” on which the project is based. It said the Murphys sold the script to Sony for US$300,000, with an extra US$700,000 payable if the film is actually produced.
Although some industry watchers applauded the young Murphy brothers for their initiative in getting a script to market so quickly, others condemned the project.
“Girl has only been dead a year and a half [sic] and people are already trying to make a profit off her. Classy. Way to break into the business, boys,” wrote one person posting on the industry site Deadline Hollywood.
Another wrote: “Is the family of the innocent victim of this tragedy getting paid? Doubtful. Calling karma police.”
Others suggested that Lam’s family could sue the producers. “They [the Murphys] don’t automatically have the right to exploit the woman who died with a fictional supernatural scary movie story and unless they make a deal with her family for rights they are liable for a lawsuit and I think they will be sued over this.”
The Murphy brothers are represented by Langley Perer of the Mosaic Media Group, a Hollywood talent agency and film producer.
CCTV taken before she died shows Elisa Lam behaving strangely in a lift. Photo: Los Angeles Police Department
A person who answered Perer’s phone on Monday confirmed that she represented Brandon and Phillip Murphy and that their script for The Bringing, based on Lam’s death, had been sold. Perer did not respond to the South China Morning Post’s request for further comment.
Lam had been missing for three weeks before a maintenance worker discovered her body last February 19 in the Cecil Hotel’s water tank, after guests complained about low water pressure. Others said the water in the hotel had a foul taste but health officials said it posed no health risk.
The University of British Columbia student had been travelling alone in California when she stopped making daily phone calls to her parents in Vancouver, prompting them to call police.
A coroner for Los Angeles County ruled that Lam’s death was "accidental … due to drowning. Other significant conditions being bipolar disorder". Investigator Fred Corral said that Lam had simply made her way to the roof, climbed into the tank and drowned.
Elisa appeared to be gesticulating in the video, although it is unclear whether she was with anyone else. Photo: Los Angeles Police Department
The video released by police during the search for Lam garnered worldwide attention and was viewed millions of times.
The 2-1/2-minute clip shows Lam acting in a manner that appears alternately fearful and confused. Lam hides, goes in and out of the open lift and waves her hands about. At one stage, she appears to be talking and gesturing to a second person, perhaps outside the view of the elevator's camera.
It emerged during the investigation that Satanist serial killer Richard Ramirez, known as the Nightstalker, had lived at the Cecil Hotel for several months in 1985. Ramirez died of cancer in June 2013 while on death row for 13 killings and 11 rapes.
Deadline reported that The Bringing will be produced by Matt Tolmach and Daniela Cretu. Tolmach is the producer of the latest installment of the Spider-Man franchise, due in cinemas in April.
