The Haunting in Connecticut (2009)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Peter Cornwell

Writers (WGA):

Adam Simon (written by) &
Tim Metcalfe (written by)

Release Date:

27 March 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Some things cannot be explained.

Plot:

After a family is forced to relocate for their son's health, they begin experiencing supernatural behavior in their new home, which turns out to be a former mortuary.

Plot Keywords:

Cancer | Mortuary | Funeral Home | Funeral Parlor | Reverend

Cast

Virginia Madsen	...	Sara Campbell
Kyle Gallner	...	Matt Campbell
Elias Koteas	...	Reverend Popescu
Amanda Crew	...	Wendy
Martin Donovan	...	Peter Campbell
Sophi Knight	...	Mary
Ty Wood	...	Billy Campbell
Erik J. Berg	...	Jonah (as Erik Berg)
John Bluethner	...	Ramsey Aickman
D.W. Brown	...	Dr. Brooks
John B. Lowe	...	Mr. Sinclair
Adriana O'Neil	...	Chemo Nurse
Will Woytowich	...	Cop
James Durham	...	Matt's Cell Mate
Darren Ross	...	Paramedic #1

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some intense sequences of terror and disturbing images.

Runtime:

92 min | 102 min (extended cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #44104) | UK:15 | Ireland:15A | Finland:K-15 | Brazil:14 | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Netherlands:16 | Sweden:15 | Mexico:B15 | Hong Kong:IIB | South Korea:15 | Singapore:PG | Germany:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Teulon, Manitoba, Canada

Company:

Lionsgate

Trivia:

The character of Reverend Popescu was supposedly based on John Zaffis, an investigator who worked on the case.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The film takes place in 1987, buthe ambulance shown immediately at the beginning is much newer than that.

Quotes:

[telling a joke]
Matt Campbell: Doctor says to patient, "You have cancer and you have Alzheimer's." Patient says to doctor, "Wooo! At least I don't have cancer."

Movie Connections:

References The Birds (1963)

Soundtrack:

Prayer for the Innocent

Fails to deliver some real frights

I admit that I like the idea behind this movie, and I like what the creators were going for. However, in the end this movie delivers quite poorly. Its not the worst movie I've seen, but it is very typical modern horror-thriller stuff, and because of that it doesn't stand out that much. The film starts off very well while introducing us to the main-characters. The acting is boring to say the least. Its not horrible in terms of acting or over the top, but I feel that the actors could have put much more soul into their roles, especially seeing how this movie is supposed to be based on real experiences.

In about 15 minutes into the film it starts to turn into another The Amityville Horror clone, which sucks since the set-up was quite good and the atmosphere was alright. From that moment on you can pretty much guess what is going to happen really. Unless you haven't seen any horror-movie for at least a decade or something you will probably be as bored out of your mind like I was during this film. It just gets so cliché; the music starts getting louder, and louder, the camera starts getting closer and... BOO!! Some random zombie-ghost guy appears out of nowhere. I think in this day in age these cheap tricks are getting a bit insulting towards horror-fans to be honest. I would have rather seen the movie focus more on the atmosphere because I thought that was one of the few things it had going for.

Another thing; why is it that these kind of movies also always have to end on a religious note these days? I hated it in I Am Legend, and I still hate it. Thats the most terrible way to end a movie, "because god wanted it". The person who wrote the script should actually try and come up with something believable and a satisfying ending.

If you like horror-movies, then you can skip this because you won't miss a thing. Everything in this movie has been done in another and done better. This is just one horror-cliché after another piled on each other, and it gets dull very quickly.