The Haunting in Connecticut (2009) Movie Review
Written By: TJ
Edited By: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Director: Peter Cornwell
Producers: Paul Brooks, Andrew Trapani, et. al.
Writers: Adam Simon, Tim Matcalfe
Date Released: March 27, 2009
Cast
Kyle Gallner as Matt Campbell
Virginia Madsen as Sara Campbell
Elias Kotias as Reverend Popescu
Martin Donovan as Peter Campbell
Amanda Crew as Wendy Campbell
Erik Berg as Jonah
John Bluethner as Ramsey Aickman
Rating = 3.5/5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
With her son battling from cancer, Sara Campbell (Virginia Madsen) decides to move closer to the hospital so that Matt Campbell (Kyle Gallner) wouldn’t have to endure long drives. Despite learning the house’s history, Sara agrees to rent an affordable home in Connecticut. During the first week, Matt already experiences a lot of visions involving an old, bearded man and corpses with symbols carved into their skin. His family dismisses them as hallucinations caused by his treatment medicines. Back when the house was still a funeral parlor, the owner’s clairvoyant assistant, Jonah (Erik Berg), served as a gateway for the dead to enter the physical world. Jonah accidentally unleashed an unspeakable horror and the house was haunted since then. Seeing her son suffers not only from the disease but also from the disturbed souls, Sara asks the aid of a priest to drive the spirits away but he makes a terrible mistake, making the terror more intense than ever before.
Gore Factor
The Haunting in Connecticut (2009) carries the gore element in its name, especially in the beginning. With the story revolving around the house that was once a funeral parlor, dead bodies are commonly seen throughout the film. However, it has a lot more in store for your gorehound’s desires than just generic corpses. Watch out for scenes showing body parts either being removed or lacerated, scalpels cutting through skin, and lots and lots of blood and vomits. There is also quite a number of jump scares that will create involuntary movements from your body. After watching this film, I did not have any food intake for at least an hour. The part that had me wincing is when Aickman cut out the eyelids of the cadaver. The camera shot is so focused on the activity that will make you touch your eyelids and see how much pain it can bear. True to its title, the images will haunt you even after you close your eyes.
The Grave Review
The Haunting in Connecticut (2009) was allegedly based on a story that happened in the year 1987. Due to this, the film earned controversies circling whether the events did occur or not. According to investigator Benjamin Radford, there isn’t a concrete proof that anything supernatural occurred in that house. He even claimed that Ray Garton, author of In a Dark Place: The Story of a True Haunting where the film is adapted from, was paid to make up a story about the Victorian abode. However, no conclusion has been proven up until this moment.
Hoax or not, the film is in between. For the first part of the movie, the story seems credible. With the first half of the backstory revealed by Wendy, everything can make sense. However, the other half of the film strayed too far from reality that it’s even harder to believe anything at this point. Also, the execution of the first half is seamless that you’d think you found a true horror film, but nearing its ending, you again found yourself just watching another preposterous one.
Technically speaking, the film can be considered good. Camera shots/angles are so intense that you’d feel the emotions each scene wants to convey. The graphics are quite cool, but fail on the part where a substance is oozing out from Jonah’s mouth. During that scene, the tension that the film built up from the beginning has come to a sudden drop. The background score is well done, but the sound mixture doesn’t fit because you have to adjust volumes for particular scenes or moments in the film.
The cast are praiseworthy. With the exceptional performance from Kyle Gallner, who played the role of Matt Campbell, suffering from a disease causing him to have a hard time separating reality from hallucinations. The subtle change on his aura when he is being possessed by Jonah is extremely creepy. Take note of the scene where he makes his little brother lie down on the metal table and spins the boy round and round, make sure that you notice his facial expression. Another commendable actor is Virginia Madsen as Sara Campbell, who is an Oscar winner and surely no doubt about her motherly vibe that will let you feel the pain of watching your son slowly die. These actors are one of the key elements that made the film struck a chord to its viewers.
For the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives The Haunting in Connecticut (2009) three and a half graves out of five graves.
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