The Haunting in Connecticut (DVD, 2009, Full Screen/ Widescreen Edition)

THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT is a good horror film that misses being great because of odd pacing. It starts out very slowly: a family is coping with their teenage son's cancer. The boy is put on an experimental treatment that, according to the doctor, may cause hallucinations. The boy sees flashes of ghosts in the family's newly-rented house. He does not tell the doctor when the doctor specifically asks about hallucinations. The only other odd thing that happens in this section of the film (which seems to go on too long) is the mother finding a stash of Victorian post-mortem photos (in which the dead person is dressed & propped up, often with other family members, as if he were alive). Mom flips through the photos much too quickly for a viewer who doesn't know the backstory to realize what they are; then she throws them in the garbage (which caused me to cringe; as an antiques dealer, I know those things are worth a lot of money!) The story doesn't really get going until the teen boy confesses his experiences to his teen girl cousin. She promises to help --- and does she ever! In the next scene, she is suddenly revealing the history of the house as a funeral home where seances were held and a boy medium named Jonah contacted the dead, complete with photos and old newspaper articles. OK, she could have gotten this stuff on the internet, at the library, or from talking to neighbors, but we don't see her doing this; she just suddenly explains everything at lightning speed, much like Mom flipped through the photos. If you don't ALREADY know the story, you're going to miss some of it here. After that, the movie settles down to being a traditional haunted house film with everyone in the family experiencing strange phenomena. The ending is a real stunner and almost makes you forget snoozing through the first third. While the cancer/haunted house story is OK, the really interesting and creepy part is what happened to Jonah in the past. If only they had shown more of that, instead of bits and pieces in choppy flashes! I liked this movie, but it would have been better if the horrors in the past and those in the present had been given equal time.

Okay, so I've seen it more than once. I don't know why, but this movie was well done. But the editoreal was different then movie was! in the real story apreist exsoied
the house!











For a PG-13, it could have slipped by as an R with some slight adjustments. I expected it to flop but it was surprisingly good with some jumpy moments throughout, especially the fact that it's based on a true story, makes it a few times more creepy. How true the story actually is - I have no idea. I just love Virginia Madsen! What a terrific actress. The guy who plays the son did great as well; prepare that this movie is also very sad! An all around good horror flick, this should please most horror lovers!

Okay, so I've seen it more than once. I don't know why, but this movie was well done. For a PG-13, it could have slipped by as an R with some slight adjustments. I expected it to flop but it was surprisingly good with some jumpy moments throughout, especially the fact that it's based on a true story, makes it a few times more creepy. How true the story actually is - I have no idea. I just love Virginia Madsen! What a terrific actress. The guy who plays the son did great as well; prepare that this movie is also very sad! An all around good horror flick, this should please most horror lovers!

I loved this dvd movie and it was great horror unless I fell asleep
or boring with it. It has been enough time to watch until end. It seems
not concluding of this movie. I can seeing tht there spirit mask come at
the concluding. It must be continuing to part II in the future. When it
comes in the future and there are new other people move in rebuild house
right after part I people left this house until finding where to stop the spirit dead people and everything go away for good.

This is basically little more - or less - than 'Poltergeist' revisited with modern scare tactics and quicker cuts. Despite the hype, this is in fact a thumpingly old-fashioned chiller, with scant chills due to the antique formula. Which includes the obligatory night when the family stays in the house after having seen and felt some pretty nasty stuff. And my favorite, culled straight from 'Poltergeist': the psychic aide who gets it wrong, leading to an all too familiar riot of corpses popping up everywhere.
Some decent acting - the boy is good - but, no. Spare yourselves.