Review of An American Haunting (2005) by Bren H — 15 Feb 2010
Really the only thing frightening about this movie is that people actually got paid to make it, and that Don Sutherland actually chose to star in it. I mean, geez, 18th century Tennessee, witches, pantaloons and Sissy Spacek? This should have been a cakewalk. The horror writes itself. The actual legend (which I only know the who and where of) is significantly scarier than this debacle. Blair Witch shows us people walking through a forest and it works. An American Haunting shows us a bunch of crap moving around and people being molested by entities we don't care about, and it fails miserably. For one the movie is immediately ruined by the scooby-doo villain lady who places a melodramatic curse on the Bell family. From there all the things that are supposed to be scary are just stupid because we know exactly where they're coming from... not hell or satan's woods or the blackest souls of brooding witches... it's some pissed off fat lady who got screwed on her interest rates. OH NO!
Whoever wrote this missed the core truth and terror that lies at the heart of every American witch story, and that is the fear of the unknown. The fear that despite our best efforts to create a God-fearing and peaceful community there's still a primordial evil that threatens to swallow up and consume the innocents who happen to inhabit it.
IN CONCLUSION, this is basically Burton's Sleepy Hollow but without the style, talent and decapitations.
Interesting tid-bit: Betsy is the reincarnation of Veruca Salt.
This review of An American Haunting (2005) was written by Bren H on 15 Feb 2010.
An American Haunting has generally received mixed reviews.
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