The Haunting In Connecticut (Lionsgate)
Things That Go Bump In the Night
As horror/thrillers go The Haunting In Connecticut is too reminiscent of The Amityville Horror to break new ground. Still if you want a movie that raises some chill bumps on your arms and has a fairly good plot to hold things together, you could do worse.
The trump card in the deck of this story is the fact the teenage son in the film has cancer. He is taking treatment that may be causing him to hallucinate. Matt Campbell (Kyle Gallner) moves into a rental house close to where he receives treatment for his cancer. He lives with his mother Sara (Virginia Madsen), his brother, sister and a cousin. Matts father Peter (Martin Donovan) stays in another city where he is employed.
Immediately upon moving into the house, Matt begins to see phantoms and to be plagued by other nightmarish visuals. He is the only one in the family who is affected this way. Eventually he identifies a young man who was known as Jonah (Eric J Berg). This ghost seems to be trying to communicate with Matt.
Later the whole family gets into the ghost action after they learn the house once served as a funeral home, and that sances were held there. Meanwhile Matts illness gets worse and worse. He meets a preacher (Elias Koteas) at one of his treatments and convinces him to come to the house. The preacher is convinced the house is possessed.
All of the scare sequences are done without being overly gory.. It is the impact of the situations that creates the most fear rather than gotcha type events. That is not to say it isnt scary, but it isnt terrifying.
The film is rated PG-13 for mild profanity and some violence.
The acting in the movie is above average with Gallner being most impressive as the victimized Matt. Madsen is also good as the mother who is more concerned with losing her son than fighting ghosts. Donovan adds complexity to the story as Peter, a man who is trying to hold his family together while at the same time fighting an alcohol problem.
Koteas is totally convincing as a man with a terrible illness who is also trying to help a family fight against possession. He projects the right amount of world weariness and wisdom.
The Haunting In Connecticut is worth watching just for the thrill of it all. It carries more of an impact because of the statement that it is based on the true story. Plus the cancer treatment meshed against the possession of the house makes for a unique angle on which to hang the story.
I scored The Haunting in Connecticut a spooky 6 out of 10.
