The Haunting in Connecticut (2009)

Director: Peter Cornwell

Starring: Virginia Madsen, Martin Donovan, Elias Koteas

After a family is forced to relocate for their son’s health, they begin experiencing supernatural behavior in their new home, and uncover a sinister history.

‘The Haunting in Connecticut’ is supposedly based on a true story.

We’ve seen this sort of film a hundred times before, and unfortunately ‘The Haunting in Connecticut’ makes use of all the familiar cliches. There are also too many false scares (maybe the story itself just wasn’t scary enough, so they somehow had to spice it up to at least attempt to make it scary).

I rooted for Matt (Kyle Gallner) the moment I learnt he had cancer – at such a young age. Virginia Madsen was very good as the mother. I enjoyed this strong character. I also liked Elias Koteas as Reverend Popescu. Regrettably, the film just didn’t do it for me. Somehow the trauma of a cancer patient and the suspense of a haunting doesn’t gel that well. At times it was too dramatic for a horror, and too creepy for a drama. Then again, maybe that’s what makes the movie different. (Uhm, no, it doesn’t work…)

Ultimately the film gets too weird – especially considering this is “based on a true story”. Very, very loosely no doubt!

Although the film was a box office success, it was panned by critics. Must be honest, I also didn’t like it. This was forgettable.

Would I watch it again? No.