An American Haunting (2005)

Director:

Courtney Solomon

Writers:

Brent Monahan (novel)
Courtney Solomon (writer)

Release Date:

5 May 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Possession Knows No Bounds

Plot:

Based on the true events of the only case in US History where a spirit caused the death of a man.

Plot Keywords:

Haunting | Tennessee | Curse | Schoolteacher | School

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Donald Sutherland	...	John Bell
Sissy Spacek	...	Lucy Bell
James D'Arcy	...	Richard Powell
Rachel Hurd-Wood	...	Betsy Bell / Entity Voice
Matthew Marsh	...	James Johnston
Thom Fell	...	John Bell Jr.
Zoe Thorne	...	Theny Thorn
Gaye Brown	...	Kathe Batts
Sam Alexander	...	Joshua Gardner
Miquel Brown	...	Chloe
Vernon Dobtcheff	...	Elder #1
Shauna Shim	...	Anky
Madalina Stan	...	Ethereal Girl
Philip Hurd-Wood	...	Partygoer (as Phillip Hurd-Wood)
Vlad Cruceru	...	Richard Bell (aged 6)

Also Known As:

An American Haunting - The Billwitch Story (Philippines: English title) (poster title)
Cauchemar américain (Canada: French title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for intense terror sequences and thematic material.

Runtime:

USA:91 min

Country:

UK | Canada | Romania | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

UK:15 | Ireland:15A | USA:PG-13 | Finland:K-15 | Malaysia:18PL | Indonesia:Dewasa | Taiwan:R-12 | Philippines:R-13 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:PG | USA:Unrated | Germany:16 | Iceland:16 | Australia:M | South Korea:15 | Netherlands:16 | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

MediaPro Studios, Bucharest, Romania

Company:

Allan Zeman Productions

Trivia:

The movie is actually based on a true story. Andrew Jackson is quoted as saying, "I would rather take on the entire English Fleet than stay one night at the Bell House." He later formed a group of men to test the rumors of the Bell haunting. Their findings are documented in M. V. Ingram's 1894 book, An Authenticated History of The Famous Bell Witch. This movie was based on the book by Brent Monahan,The Bell Witch: An American Haunting the Famous Bell Witch.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the bed sheet is being pulled up over Betsy, right when the lightning flashes, a string or wire is clearly visible.

Quotes:

Richard Powell: [of Betsy] Can she love me?
Lucy Bell: She will.

Movie Connections:

References Monster (2003)

An abomination of film

Despite being based on one of the most famous ghost stories in American history and including a solid cast, this 'horror' film is anything but scary, dramatic, or even interesting. Instead, the flick is largely boring, confusing, and poorly executed. Even though it clocks in at a running time of just 90 minutes or so, the film drags throughout most of the non-horror scenes, and even through some of the so-called 'scary' moments. All of it leads up to a conclusion that is baffling, illogical, and very stupid. The twist is one of the least sensible of its kind in recent memory, as there is nothing in the film, up to that point, to warrant such a move. Pretty much a terrible film.

Though the cast looks solid on paper, the acting here is quite bad. Everyone looks like they're just picking up a paycheck, from Sutherland, who looks bored, to Spacek, who's never been more shrill, to Rachel Hurd-Word, who attempts to do her best Linda Blair impression but ends up just screaming and staring around wide-eyed most of the time. The direction is absolutely abysmal, as all scenes with the spirit look incredibly amateurish with the swooping camera, and, for some reason, are shot in black and white. Although it's clear this was done with some foolish artistic idea in mind, it ends up standing out terribly and erases any small amount of suspense or tension that might have been built up. Most of the suspense, though, is destroyed by the absolutely atrocious editing, which is, at once, frustrating, annoying, and pointless. It all adds up to a lame excuse for a horror film.

The only thing that saves this from being a complete waste is that there are some cool visuals, and occasionally some decent cinematography. Other than that, though, this is an abomination of film, with terrible acting, dreadful directing, and awful editing. A complete waste of time.