Malice. Adultery. Psycho-killers. Abortion.

Directors bent on filming dark movies know where to go. We call it Northampton. It’s no mystery, then, that the makers of the new Mel Gibson flick, Edge of Darkness, have scoped out the place once dubbed “the Paradise of America” for some creepy scenes.

Production people from the movie have been talking to police and other local officials about the possibility of shooting in Northampton this fall. The Hampshire County Courthouse is one prospective setting, although other prominent locales have also been mentioned.

Police Capt. Joseph W. Koncas said film officials have been in touch with his department to discuss issues such as traffic control and security for possible filming. Hampshire County Clerk of Courts Harry Jekanowski Jr. said there have also been inquiries about using the old courtroom in the original courthouse for a scene.

According to the Web site for the entertainment magazine Variety, Edge of Darkness will be a film adaptation of the popular British television serial of the same name. The story revolves around a policeman who witnesses the brutal killing of his daughter. His investigation leads him into a murky world of government cover-ups and corporate intrigues.

Studio officials could not be reached for comment. Reportedly, Gibson will play the lead role as a Boston police officer. For his work in movies such as Braveheart, Mad Max, and Lethal Weapon, Gibson earned a name as one of the world’s top actors and celebrities. His star lost some of its glitter in 2006, however, when he reportedly made anti-Semitic remarks to a police officer who arrested him for driving under the influence of alcohol. Gibson has also been called to task for making statements construed as homophobic. This will be his first major film role since the drunken-driving incident.

Gibson’s character’s descent into darkness will apparently take him to Northampton. Mayor Mary Clare Higgins’ office said the city has been notified that there will be a casting call here for extras in the movie.

According to a published report, a Boston casting agency is looking for extras to play medical examiners, nurses, forensic photographers, police officers, toll booth collectors, fishermen and videographers.

Northampton has been a choice location for major motion pictures in recent years. The 1993 movie “Malice,” starring Nicole Kidman and Alec Baldwin, was filmed at Smith College and other local sites. In the film, Kidman cons her husband with the help of the evil doctor (Baldwin), whom she later knocks off.

Annette Bening and Robert Downey Jr. starred in the 1999 film In Dreams, which was also shot in Northampton and surrounding areas. In that one, Bening has dreams about her daughter’s murder at the hands of a child serial killer.

Another 1999 movie shot in Northampton, Cider House Rules, won Academy Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Michael Caine). Some of the film was shot on the campus of the former Northampton State Hospital. Much of the story involves characters who do or don’t have abortions and how those choices affect their lives.

Perhaps the most renowned movie set in Northampton was Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, which was shot in and around Smith in 1966. It starred Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in their primes and told the story of a bickering academic couple and their extramarital affairs.

Edge of Darkness will be directed by Martin Campbell, whose films include the James Bond flick Casino Royale. Producer Graham King and writer William Monahan both won Oscars for their work on the Martin Scorsese movie The Departed.

According to city officials, Scorsese’s production people scouted out the area earlier this year as a possible location for the upcoming film Shutter Island, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Ben Kingsley. After learning that some of the old buildings at Northampton State Hospital had been razed, Scorsese opted to shoot the movie in Boston.

Source: Mass Live