The Haunted Boy, The Show Will Go On: Property Owner Withdraws Injunction to Stop Release of Exorcism Film

The owners of the former St. Vincent's Mental Hospital (now a subsidized housing project called "Castle Park Apartments") have withdrawn a request for a restraining order against a film to debut in St. Louis next month.

The Haunted Boy: The Secret Diary of the Exorcist tells the story of a 1949 exorcism involving Saint Louis University priests and a boy from suburban Washington D.C. believed to be possessed by the devil. Part of the movie is filmed at Castle Park Apartments in north St. Louis County with filmmakers (and brothers) Christopher and Phillip Booth investigating the old hospital for paranormal activity.

On Tuesday, Community Housing Concepts LLC filed for a temporary restraining order against the Booth brothers seeking to to block the release of the film. The injunction reportedly asserts that the Booths had no permission to film on its property and falsely claim that the apartment complex was once a "haunted asylum."

Today, Daily RFT contacted Community Housing's attorney Paul Puricelli of Clayton, who informs us that the request for a restraining order has been withdrawn.

"Turns out they did have permission to film and did so prior to my client taking ownership of the building in 2007," says Puricelli, who adds that Community Housing has no plans on filing other actions against the film.

That's right. The show will go on! Haunted Boy is to debut October 21 at the Tivoli Theatre. Oh, and, it includes an interview with me regarding my 2005 story on the exorcism, Hell of a House.

Note: The Booths could not be immediately reached for comment.

http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2010/09/property_owner_withdraws_injunction_to_stop_haunted_boy.php#more