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Scary Movie Reviews
An American Haunting
Release Date: May 5, 2006
Length: 1 Hr. 31 Min.
Rated: Rated PG-13 for intense terror sequences and thematic material
Distributor: Media Pro Pictures, Midsummer Films, Mighty Panda, Remstar, Sweetpea Entertainment
Starring: Rachel Hurd-Wood, James D'Arcy, Sissy Spacek, Donald Sutherland, Matthew Marsh (II)
Directed by: Courtney Solomon
Produced by: Nelson Leong, Simon Franks, Zygi Kamasa
Written by: Courtney Solomon, Brent Monahan
You better believe it; the ticket money that you wasted on watching this movie is going to haunt you forever. Yes, yes. It’s not really your fault that you rushed to watch a film without any time wasted on reading about the reviews. After all, it has Donald Sutherland and Sissy Spacek in it. Aw hell, you know, they two were just possessed by the same evil spirit and were forced to sign up for this movie.
For all of you who have not watched the movie yet, here is a brief summary. The film is centered around a young teenage girl who is having a very difficult time because there is a poltergeist haunting her. At first, it used to be really simple and annoying. But slowly, it got alarming and dangerous. Her worried mother tries to solve the problem and comes across a diary in the attic which explains a lot.
She finds out that in 1870, a man used to live in the same house with his young daughter. He has some troubles with his neighbor who, unfortunately for him, puts a curse on his house. C’mon! It was 1870. People knew how to put curses then…
Anyway, the man and his beautiful daughter are terrorized by the evil spirit till the end. Cut to now, when the same thing is happening with this poor young girl. How can she be saved?
The entire film was banking on the fact that it is based on a true story. In fact, this was one of the main portions of their publicity campaigns where they said that this was the only recorded event of a haunting which has claimed a human life. I think we all know that some people will do anything to sell what they have. But this is just the limit of it.
God alone knows what Donald Sutherland and Sissy Spacek were doing in this film. It is surely a case of hypnosis because there is no way on earth they would ever sign up for this film, especially considering the parts they got.
The film is also extremely repetitive- the guy who wrote the dialogues obviously was not paid very well considering his every second dialogue consisted of the words nightmare, and oh so terrible. And the noises. Where the script lacks, they have tried to make up with loud and punctuated music. Or maybe they are just trying to deflect the viewer’s attention with the noise- they would pay less attention to the appalling movie then.
In my opinion, a true massacre of what could have been a good film. Not only that, also a brutal throttling of the expectations of the audience and a total mood dampener for those who have seen it. The director should be caught and made to pay our money back. Actually, if man could curse effectively then, I’m sure that still happens. We will find out pretty soon- a lot of curses are coming Solomon’s way.
A TRUE AMERICAN HAUNTING:
