West Baden Springs Hotel movie

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FRENCH LICK, Ind. — A new movie may make Indiana’s West Baden Springs Hotel synonymous with horror history in the same way The Shining did for the Stanley Hotel.

The big difference?

West Baden Springs is both the inspiration and setting for So Cold the River starring Bethany Joy Lenz (One Tree Hill, Drama Queens podcast).

The film is based on The New York Times bestselling novel of the same name by Michael Koryta.

Helmed in part by Bloomington-based production company Pigasus Pictures, So Cold the River was entirely shot in the West Baden Springs Hotel and surrounding community.

The movie follows Lenz’s character Erica Shaw, a documentary filmmaker hired to profile a dying millionaire with a dark past.

Adapted for the screen by director Paul Shoulberg, the film also stars Tony Award-winning actress Deanna Dunagan and Alyssa Reiner (Natalie “Fig” Figueroa from Orange Is the New Black).

Many of the hotel’s most well known vistas are featured prominently in the film, including the renowned atrium.

*So Cold the River* still, courtesy of Pigasus Pictures.

One of the hotel’s more than 750 guest rooms and suites, Room 4626, was used during filming as the room where Lenz’s character stayed. It has since been dubbed “The Movie Room” and is being preserved as it appeared in the film.

“With its rich history and eye-catching architecture, the West Baden Springs Hotel inherently became a character of its own in the film,” said Pigasus Pictures CEO Zachary Spicer. “From the original inspiration for the storyline to the film’s release, this is a true full-circle moment. We are proud to bring this thrilling storyline to the big screen and with it, highlight an Indiana landmark.”

So Cold the River still, courtesy of Pigasus Pictures.
So Cold the River still, courtesy of Pigasus Pictures.
So Cold the River still, courtesy of Pigasus Pictures.
So Cold the River still, courtesy of Pigasus Pictures.

Executive producers for the film include Lenz, Carl Cook, Pete Yonkman, and Koryta in collaboration with the hotel’s parent company Cook Group and Pigasus Pictures.

So Cold the River is rated R and will be released in select Indiana theaters on March 25. It will be released On Demand and digitally on March 29. You can find more about the film here.

Participating theaters: