Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I was eager to check this movie out because I really liked the docudrama "A Haunting in Connecticut" which was part of a series titled "Haunting" by the Discovery Channel. This movie was supposedly inspired by those true events. In the docudrama, Karen and Ed Parker and their family move into an old home in Connecticut, not realising the house harbors entities that are far from benign.The most affected is the couple's 14-year-old son, Paul, who seems to be most susceptible to the hauntings. In desperation, the family contacts Edward and Lorraine Warren, the same people who investigated another famous haunted house that became known as "The Amityville Horror".
In the movie version, the story remains true to the original to some extent. Virginia Madsen plays Sara Campbell, whose teenage son Matt [Kyle Gallner] is suffering from some form of brain cancer. The treatment requires them to make a long commute and to cut on the travel time, Sara decides to lease a house close by to the hospital. She finds an old house for cheap [the family already has money problems] and finds out it used to serve a darker purpose than a residence. The family moves in anyway, and straight away Matt begins seeing things and hearing noises. He moves into the basement which has a sealed off room. Upon finally opening it, Matt discovers what the house used to be - a mortuary and funeral home. Soon, the rest of the family begins to see and hear strange things and Matt together with Wendy [Amanda Crew] investigate the history of the house, discovering some truly horrific facts about the house's dark past, having to do with death, necrophilia,missing bodies and a horrific tragedy.
The movie is actually well-paced - I did not find the pace plodding nor boring. There is no gore or over-the-top special effects here. In many ways, this movie reminded me of The Amityville Horror II with the son of the house being the focus of the hauntings. Some scenes were scary, especially the flashbacks to the past involving incidents of necrophilia. The acting was ok, not great, but Kyle Gallner was quite credible in his role.
What disappointed me was the omission of two central characters in the movie - they did not include the Warrens in the movie, who played a significant role in the actual case. Instead, the movie shows a priest, Reverend Popescu [Elias Koteas] as the person the family turns to for help. His acting was not very impressive in this movie. Once again, I felt the priest role here was reminiscent of the one portrayed in The Amityville Horror.
Conclusion - for those who love the horror genre, this movie does not really bring anything new to the table. The acting and effects are decent enough, and I did find myself entertained. Recommended as a rental.
Click Here to see more reviews about: The Haunting in Connecticut (Single-Disc Edition) (2009)
Based on a chilling true story, Lionsgate's THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT charts one family's terrifying, real-life encounter with the dark forces of the supernatural. When the Campbell family moves to upstate Connecticut, they soon learn that their charming Victorian home has a disturbing history: not only was the house a transformed funeral parlor where inconceivable acts occurred, but the owner's clairvoyant son Jonah served as a demonic messenger, providing a gateway for spiritual entities to cross over. Now, unspeakable terror awaits when Jonah, the boy who communicated with the dead, returns to unleash a new kind of horror on the innocent and unsuspecting family.
Click here for more information about The Haunting in Connecticut (Single-Disc Edition) (2009)
0 comments:
Post a Comment