I earmarked last night to knock another title off ‘the pile’. My target this time was the haunted house flick The Haunting In Connecticut, as it had been there since July. I had won a copy from somewhere and had intended to do a review for the DVD release, but didn’t get around to it. The release date came and went and some less than stellar reviews had sort of soured me on making it a priority. However, in the interest of tackling ‘the pile’, here goes.
After The Campbell’s move into an old Connecticut house in order to be closer to the hospital where their oldest son Matt (Kyle Gallner) is receiving cancer treatment, strange occurrences begin happening almost immediately.
The Haunting In Connecticut wasn’t nearly as monotonous as I was expecting, but it was still fairly mediocre. It gets weighed down for the most part – as most haunted house movies do these days – by its conventional structure. The other problem that often arises in this type of film is why the fuck the family chooses to stay, especially considering they had somewhere else to go. I know it’s a financial hit and moving sucks, but you pretty much HAVE to cut your losses when you find a box of human eyelids in the attic. But maybe that’s just me. The Haunting In Connecticut does do some stuff well though. There is a real attempt to focus on the strained relationships of the family and the acting is solid enough to support that lofty goal. Unfortunately, the overall blandness of most of the horror elements only kept me fully invested for about a twenty-minute chunk in the middle. I will say that for all the typical jump scares and ghostly posturing, there were some impressive visuals that spiked the movie once and a while, though the scene on the cover isn’t really one of them. I thought the ectoplasm-vomiting bit was far more striking as a still than it was on film.
The Haunting In Connecticut wasn’t nearly as monotonous as I was expecting, but it was still fairly mediocre. It gets weighed down for the most part – as most haunted house movies do these days – by its conventional structure. The other problem that often arises in this type of film is why the fuck the family chooses to stay, especially considering they had somewhere else to go. I know it’s a financial hit and moving sucks, but you pretty much HAVE to cut your losses when you find a box of human eyelids in the attic. But maybe that’s just me. The Haunting In Connecticut does do some stuff well though. There is a real attempt to focus on the strained relationships of the family and the acting is solid enough to support that lofty goal. Unfortunately, the overall blandness of most of the horror elements only kept me fully invested for about a twenty-minute chunk in the middle. I will say that for all the typical jump scares and ghostly posturing, there were some impressive visuals that spiked the movie once and a while, though the scene on the cover isn’t really one of them. I thought the ectoplasm-vomiting bit was far more striking as a still than it was on film.
Always wait an hour after eating before communing with the dead.
I should point out that the DVD is pretty stacked with extras. There are several featurettes on the real case the movie is based on that are often creepier than the actual movie. Their story is likely bollocks, but the family members seem pretty convinced it happened. So, even though The Haunting In Connecticut is a largely by-the-numbers affair, good performances and some cool visuals keep it from being a total loss. And it’s still miles better than the Amityville remake a few years back. But then again, what isn’t?
