The Haunting of Molly Hartley (2008) User Reviews

Lame...at least everyone in the movie is good looking

[The_Amazing_Spy_Rises · 3/10 · 3 November 2008]

Well, I didn't really want to see this movie at all. I work at a theater, and I was forced to watch this with my boss so I could talk with her about the promotion I've wanted for a very long time. By the time the credits rolled, "Molly Hartley" had injected me with insane predictability, zero plot, and good looking people to the point where I almost didn't want said promotion anymore.

Like I've already mentioned twice, the film's best and only strong point is the amount of good looking people in the movie. Even the geeky character is good looking. Haley Bennett manages to carry the movie in decent fashion, avoiding becoming laughable as most PG-13 horror movie heroines do *glares at Camilla Belle*. Chace Crawford was a presence I could have done without, while Shannon Woodward was the best performer (and had the best character) in the movie as Leah.

I will give this movie a bit of credit for not being formulaic for about 75% of the movie...while it avoids typical clichés most of the time, it arrives at a conclusion so obvious, stupid, rushed, and unfinished that you can't help but wonder who allowed this movie to be made. It doesn't go for cheap jump scares, which I appreciated, and is more of a satanic thriller than a straight up horror movie. Of course, it's my feeling that PG-13 horror movies not named "The Ring" are just as bad as the Disaster/Date/Superhero Movie franchise, but Molly Hartley manages to barely avoid being as disastrous as Prom Night or When A Stranger Calls. Don't take that as a compliment. It's very easy to beat those movies.

My biggest complaint would be the fact that the movie basically has no plot. We just follow Molly Hartley around aimlessly as the evidence of her being the hottest devil child ever builds up, and then "BAM", an epic fail of an ending comes, scroll goes the credits, and SMACK goes the sound of heads hitting desks. Whoever greenlit this movie is on crack, and I'm not joking.

Please don't waste your time.

A failure of a movie... a failure of humanity in general.

[karel747 · 3/10 · 14 November 2008]

Horrendous. I've never written a review for a movie, good or bad, nor have I even been inspired to; but this absolute garbage of a movie made me furious enough to want to express what I feel: The failure of this movie can not be overstated.

If you want to know what watching this movie is like, combine the following: *A "noisy shocker" at least once every ten minutes (I wish that were an exaggeration). You all know the noisy shocker; like when a loud barking dog or a group of birds suddenly bursts into the otherwise quiet and peaceful scene in order to make you jump. Overuse of this dynamic is a sure tell of an uninspired and boring thriller/horror movie, and this movie totally engulfs the entire cake of it.

*A disgustingly sappy high school teen atmosphere. Complete with the sassy and rebellious cool girl, handsome and charismatic romantic interest, jealous girlfriend, and all the drama you might find in any teen show on TV. Rich cute white teens all around, for your viewing pleasure.

*About 20 minutes of plot. The rest of the movie deals with the stereotypical problems of the modern rich white high school teen. The first and last 10 minutes are where the plot takes place - the entire middle of this movie goes absolutely nowhere.

*A lazy and transparent religious undertone. We get it. Just accept Jesus as your lord and savior, or else. Everyone else will let you down.

*A twist so mind-numbingly ridiculous, nonsensical and frustrating, that it will leave you with a truck-full of questions (not good philosophical questions, but bad "WTF?" questions), as well as make you wish bad things happened to everyone involved in writing/directing/producing this movie, because they got paid to deliver this abomination of a movie.

All that said, if I had to dig for a good quality in this movie, I would say it is the acting. And that's the only praise I can think of really. All 3 stars I gave this movie are for the decent acting in the face of sheer stupidity.

So in conclusion, avoid this movie, unless dull, boring, lazy and banal high-school-teen based thrillers/horrors with a religious undertone and shockingly idiotic twist happen to be your favorite.

rosemary's baby revisited

[overniteredhead · 3/10 · 2 November 2008]

Well I typically don't read the comment before mine but I decided to take a little peak just to see if I was the only one that thought this movie was a waste of time. There is nothing extraordinary about this flick in fact its your typical fright fest though without the scares. Feel free to get up for a snack break or visit the bathroom at any time because you wont miss anything upon your return.

Its a film about your average teenager who is running from a secret past. Her father forces her to attend a new school in a new city even though the secrets from her past continue to haunt both her and her father. and well thats about it. With a very unoriginal plot I struggled to honor this movie with a three.

Just go read a book or plant a tree. Anything but this.

[stoneydoc · 1/10 · 31 October 2008]

I actually registered on this site to post this comment. I feel it is my duty to save you precious moments of life that are better spent elsewhere.

This film used the normal scare tactics, i.e. suspenseful building music, quick appearance on camera of people or things, reflections in mirrors, etc., but nothing new or original. The little whispers in the background try to make you nervous, but it leads to a dead end.

Speaking of endings, just when you think the movie has built to where it will explain exactly what is going on, it ends. One minute it seems all hell is about to break loose, and then there is a very weak resolution and the movie is over. The best way to describe it is to take a movie that is 2 hours long, and cut out the last half hour except for the final few minutes. I actually had to go home and verify that the theater didn't skip a reel or two. Unfortunately for us, they didn't.

Words can not express how terribly this movie ends. I am amazed that this ever made it into a theater. Don't waste your time and money on the theater, or even a rental. Hell, don't even waste your time watching it for free on TV. I've had bowel movements much more interesting and fulfilling than this movie. Maybe the director had a vision in his head, I just wish he would have let everyone else in on it.

Worth a comment

[prestwich65 · 1/10 · 12 January 2009]

Pure garbage. I think that says it all, but I have to write 10 lines so here we go. Acting is terrible , story is terrible and I'm mad at myself for wasting my time watching it. I like watching horror movies and I even love a good cheesy one once in a while. This was just like a TV movie with zero scares. It is basically an episode of gossip girl and beverly hills 90210 combined with a few predictable and laughable murders. I gave it a one star ( its not even worthy of that)thats my lowest rating in the last few years and this is the first time I have ever commented. I could'nt in all good conscience let another person watch this without giving them fair warning.

Let's put it this way...

[Smells_Like_Cheese · 1/10 · 12 November 2008]

After this painful movie, I drank, I did illegal substances, I even beat myself with a shovel, and still I was in pain from watching this horrible movie! The Haunting of Molly Hartley or as I'm going to call it from this point on "pretty white kids with satanic problems", where do I eve begin on how awful this film was? OK, let's start with the actors, horrible horrible actors that only got their roles because they were just too beautiful to pass up on. The editing/scare tactics: let's make loud noise constantly, that'll make the audience jump. The script: let's make up a non-sense story about a teenage girl who has powers from Satan and we'll put her in high school with other pretty people and while she has to go through the hardships of being a teenager. Even though the story in no way makes sense, we have a Zac Efron look a like, so we're going to get a huge female teen audience and they'll love this film. Oh, boy, I'm rambling, OK, let's just say this, if you were, you'd see all the bruises on my head from banging it on the wall after watching this movie that I'll never know how it got green lighted.

Molly Hartley is the new girl at school who is very subtle about her strange side, she has headaches that lead to disillusions about her mother who tried to kill her a few years ago, she automatically stays away from people and is getting hit on by the most pretty rich boy in the whole school, but she is absolutely refusing to do anything until her father takes her to the hospital and they find a brain tumor, so it seems like everything will be all good after they remove it, but things are obviously not getting better when her mother escapes the insane asylum to kill Molly before she hits her 18th birthday to gain full powers of the devil... yeah, wow.

Oh, boy, I wish there was a rating lower than 1, because honestly this film is one of the worst I've ever seen in my life. It's just so odd to me that there are some films that people absolutely refuse to give a fair chance, yet this movie that has no right to be called a horror movie has a 3.4 rating? Come on, this belongs in the bottom 100 here on IMDb, I'm going to be a good citizen, please, stay away from this movie, save yourself the pain I had to endure. I had to take my cousin to see this, now I feel that I can never let her pick a film again, because for my health's sake, I just can never see a movie like this again, I'll go insane. Just trust me, this is a very very bad film, film? Why did I say that? This is trash, just trust me, the only thing horrific about this is that I wasted 90 minutes of my life that I will never get back... I could have watched paint dry, that has more meaning than this stupid movie ever will.

1/10

Waste of Time

[elicichy · 1/10 · 1 November 2008]

I never post preferring only to read and see what other people say, but I felt I had to for this movie.

It is an utter waste of time and money. I spent the whole time in the theater going what? The story line is chunky. There is no character development. The ending leaves you going huh? It really makes no sense.

The film seems to almost move to fast and doesn't really explain everything as it moves on. The film would pick up a story line and drop just a quickly as they picked it up. I very seldom walk out of a theater and feel I got ripped off but I must say I wanted my money back. I was sorely disappointed and had more questions than answers.

Save your time and your money and just stay home. If your looking for a scare rent something else. This movie would be a total waste of your time.

Very Boring

[axd92 · 2/10 · 2 November 2008]

I went into the theater not knowing anything about this movie; I hadn't seen any previews on TV, no reviews on the Internet, nothing. A good buddy of mine wanted to go see it, so I thought "What the heck, it's Friday night and I don't have anything better to do", so we went. Boy, did I learn my lesson.

I can't believe I actually paid to see this movie. Do yourself a favor and just wait until this comes out on DVD. Actually, don't do that; this movie isn't even worth renting. This is one of the most boring and non-entertaining movies I have ever seen. Although this movie is labeled as "suspense" or "thriller", there is nothing even remotely suspenseful or scary about it. It uses all the scare tactics you're familiar with, and thus are not affected by anymore. For example, the bathroom mirror trick. Come on, how old is that trick?

As for the acting, I would say it is mediocre at best; no great performances from anybody that will save this movie. There were a couple of scenes in which I thought Haley Bennett (Molly Hartley) was going to be able to turn the movie around, but ultimately ending up crushing my hopes.

If you want to spare yourself two boring hours, don't go see this movie; it's just not worth the money. Also, remember to do your research. And don't trust your friends. (Just kidding)

Started Out Strong But Ended on a Whimper

[john_ccy · 6/10 · 2 November 2008]

I actually enjoyed most of the movie except the last 5 minutes, which ruined everything for me. It's a pretty serviceable PG-13 horror film otherwise. There were several effective scares (albeit not of the torture porn kind) mostly just the jump scares kind, but also some real one too (with knives, etc.) This movie is clearly targeted at teenage girls and to get a PG-13 rating, so if you go into it with that mindset the scare level is pretty decent and what you would expect for a PG-13 movie.

Now onto what I hated about the ending: *****MAJOR SPOILERS ALERT (i.e. the entire ending)***** I have to say, the ending was very disappointing and made me feel that I wasted the entire movie worried about her soul getting taken by the devil, since in the last resolution scenes, the way the movie portrays it, it didn't seem so bad for her after all.

She graduates as the valedictorian, ends up with a hot boyfriend, becomes part of the popular crowd, and it's implied that she'll go on to a life a privilege, power, and position. Big deal. It doesn't effectively portray what might potentially happen after that.

It's like if they had ended "Faust" near the middle when he's still enjoying all of the benefits of trading his soul tot he devil rather than following it all the way through to the later horrible consequences of that.

Also, one part that I felt could have been explained better (and seemed to confuse a lot of commenters) is the stabbing at the end, and why the lead devil-worshiper said "Now you're one of us" when she stabs herself rather than her father.

They actually had to get her to do that to seal the deal so her soul would be "damned" forever. (Yeah, I'm a lapsed Catholic, who went through Catholic high school...) According to what I learned in Catholic school, at least, suicide is considered the only sin that can never be absolved and condemns the person to hell forever because not only are they committing the sin of murder but they would never be able to receive last rites before they died. They used to bury people who committed suicide outside of the church graveyard, because being damned forever precluded them from being able to be buried on "hallowed ground." Anyway, they should have explained that better in the movie.

So, in balance, everything except the last 5 minutes is a relatively serviceable PG-13 scare fest, but then everything goes down the drain after that.

A Predictable Collection of Clichés

[claudio_carvalho · 5/10 · 7 February 2010]

The bright atheist teenager Molly Hartley (Haley Bennett) moves from Boston to the Huntington Prep to start a new life with her father Robert Hartley (Jake Weber). Her mother Jane (Marin Hinkle) stabbed her on the chest trying to kill her and now she is confined in the Clayton Mental Institution, and Molly wants to forget her past. In her new school, Molly befriends the outcast religious girl Alexis White (Shanna Collins) but sooner the popular Joseph Young (Chace Crawford) flirts with her and she despises Alexis. On the eve of her eighteenth birthday, Molly's mother escapes from the asylum and explains to her that she died in the delivery. However, a woman promised to revive her but her soul would belong to the devil that would collect on her eighteenth birthday. Molly runs to the Christian Community Center seeking salvation, but would it be possible?

"The Haunting of Molly Hartley" is a predictable collection of clichés, with a plot that it is possible to anticipate what will happen on the next scene. The story uses the idea of the masterpiece "Rosemary's Baby" in a different approach; freely insults the Christian followers with a weird character; and has a terrible conclusion where evil wins without any explanation since the lead character decides to stab herself to save her soul and spare her father. Anyway this movie is not as bad as indicated in many IMDb reviews. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Jovens Malditos" ("Damned Youngsters")

A pretty good horror movie for a rainy night

[robertallenandersonjr · 9/10 · 19 November 2008]

The Haunting Of Molly Hartley was a very good horror movie. I thought it did a great job explaining the story. It takes a while to figure out the whole story and piece it all together but you do eventually. It was entertaining for the most part. I think many teens would like this movie and it is a great movie for Halloween time. It was pretty good acting for the most part. The movie makes you think twice about Jesus and getting saved. It wasn't that predictable except for a few scenes. As the movie goes on it gets more and more intense. It did keep me on the edge of my seat in the last few scenes of the movie. In ways it was kind of a sad ending. It had a few corny and cheesy scenes but for the most part was a pretty well filmed and directed movie. Overall I would say go see this one it is worth your time.

Surprisingly enjoyable

[MattyGibbs · 7/10 · 28 June 2013]

Judging by the current rating of 3.8 I was expecting this to be awful however it was actually entertaining and although it wasn't anything new it was nowhere near the worst film I've ever seen. It does make me wonder exactly what people expect when watching films like this.

The acting was pretty good for one of these types of films with Haley Bennett putting in a good performance in the lead role and Shanna Collins putting in good support.

It's not a scary film and maybe the lack of many frights and gore put off many people. Although this is a film more about the story than the gore there are a few creepy moments and a less than predictable last 15 minutes.

This is far better than the rating suggests and worth watching if your at a loose end.

Molly, you in danger girl......

[FlashCallahan · 2/10 · 19 July 2014]

The titular character starts a new life with her dad, after her mum tries to kill her.

Trying to forget though is no mean feat, as she has counselling, demonic visions, and of course, her mother is staying in the least secure facility known to man, as she turns up every now and again, as a supposed way to keep the narrative flowing.

But what haunts Molly the most is the fact that she cannot get away with the fact that under all this horror sheen, is just a really poor high school drama, that makes Hollyoaks look like Shakespeare......

First off, the title is wrong, she isn't haunted, she's more harassed than anything, but The Harassment Of Molly Hartley sounds more like a courtroom drama than horror film, but the makers could have came up with a better title, something like 'guess who's coming to my 18th?' Would have sufficed.

The acting is poor, it ticks every cliché in the book, and the story has been done time and time again.

It tries to reference Rosemary's baby, but it offends it more than anything.

And the shock twist is laughable, and is spoilt by the opening sequence anyway.

I ended up just looking at it.....

The Haunting of Molly Hartley (2008)

[suspiria10 · 4/10 · 25 February 2009]

Rating: 2 out of 4 (OK)

Genre: Horror / Thriller / Supernatural

Director: Mickey Liddell

Stars: Haley Bennett, Jake Weber, Chace Crawford, Shannon Marie Woodward, Shanna Collins, AnnaLynne McCord, Marin Hinkle, Nina Siemaszko, Josh Stewart, Jessica Lowndes

Synopsis: Molly's a 17-year-old starting a new school after moving to a new town since her mother tried killing her by stabbing her in the chest. All seems to be going well but hallucinations and nosebleeds lead her to believe that something will happen to her on her eighteenth birthday.

Thoughts: 'Molly Hartley' is a supernatural thriller that does its hardest to channel the spirit of films like 'Rosemary's Baby' with a healthy dose of '90210'-like teen angst drama. Since the scares are all of the jump variety and no sustainable atmosphere is anywhere to be found 'Molly' just spins around in the tired circles of the latest CW drama. I guess it should come as no surprise that the powers that be loaded this one with the beautiful faces that populate '90210' and 'Gossip Girl'. Heck looking at the IMDb filmography and you start to think that 'Molly Hartley' seems more at home on the Lifetime Movie Channel than on the big screen. The cast and crew do a decent enough job with a script that plays more like a 90 minute episode of a teen drama series with a slight supernatural twinge and a thoroughly nut-scratching finale.

In Conclusion: Taylor made for 'tweens and teens, 'The Haunting of Molly Hartley' is just a tepid thriller that builds ever-so-slowly to a crescendo of mediocrity.

Scare free occult thriller with echoes of CARRIE & THE OMEN

[george.schmidt · 1/10 · 13 November 2008]

THE HAUNTING OF MOLLY HARTLEY (2008) * Haley Bennett, Jake Weber, Chace Crawford, Shannon Marie Woodward, Shanna Collins, AnnaLynne McCord, Marin Hinkle, Nina Siemaszko. Laughable occult thriller with echoes of "Carrie" and "The Omen" about a teen girl (Bennett) who begins to realize she may be a satanic presence as she attempts to fit in her new high school. The young cast is pretty lame overall despite a relatively plucky Bennett as the titular character. Large gaping holes in the story are only the least of this film's troubles (the opening teaser for example is never explained and the 'boo' factor of having birds suddenly thrust into view is cheap) ; the other being largely not scary in the least! (Dir: John Travis)

A Nutshell Review: The Haunting of Molly Hartley

[DICK STEEL · 2/10 · 16 January 2009]

I guess all teenage starlets have to go through their cinematic rites of passage by having some horror flick under their belt. So far I've seen every film on the big screen that Haley Bannett had starred in, from her breakthrough role as the uber-sexy Cora "Buddha's Delight" Corman in Music and Lyrics, to Kendall of College, and now, the titular character in this horror film. Save for her debut, everything else had been of dubious quality, and I'm afraid without another hit soon, she'll more than be forgotten and should concentrate on her singing career instead.

The film begins in some spooky woods in the 70s where a girl, on the cusp of her 18th birthday, begins to hear voices swirling around, and eventually got deliberately killed by her father. We don't know why, because we're suddenly transported to today, and to the bedroom of Molly Hartley, who is starting life afresh with her father (Jake Weber) in a new town.

The focus is then shifted to high school pangs, of having to deal with new rivals, new potential love interest Joseph (Chace Crawford), and new friends such as the rebel Leah (Shannon Marie Woodward) and Bible-thumper Alexis (Shanna Collins). And because of a near fatal accident involving her mother, Molly's got regular shrink schedules with the school resident councillor Dr. Emerson (Nina Siemaszko), where doubts are planted in the audience mind that Molly's not who she really seemed, having strange habits of going to the toilet to hyperventilate, or hearing voices of unknown folks again swirling around her, or experience hallucinations which provide for plenty of cheap scare tactics. Scenes like these were repeated ad-nauseam.

But they are nothing frightening, because the movie has an entire look and feel of High School Musical, save the characters don't break out into song and dance. A little bit of positivity about the film is that there was an air of mystery about it, having this cool scream queen who doesn't know what her destiny is, always possessing this edgy feel to her character that there's more than meets they eye, holding you in some suspense. Coupled with the strange and slow revelation on what happened between Molly and her mom, it leaves you guessing for the most part.

Until it decided to play it fast, and here's where the loopholes all start to appear really dumb in this hurried mode to finish the story off. You laugh as it went from scene to scene and not made much sense, and the worst part of it all was how it leapt into some bubblegum pop type of film, betraying all instances of sane thriller development into something that could have been the Wow factor when revealed, instead of the Duh factor. In doing what it did, it showed the filmmakers had lack of flair and skill, making some very strange decisions to have the story take on this flaccid psycho-babble route, and lacking any compelling characters to feel for. Heck, there's not even a decent body count too.

The Haunting of Molly Hartley had an idea, but alas the translation of this idea into a feature film, with eye candy looking cast and all, failed miserably. Save your money, and fans of Haley Bennett would be better off watching her (non) performance on rented DVD instead.

"The Haunting of Molly Hartley" Will Leave You Wanting Something Better Like "Rosemary's Baby."

[zardoz-13 · 4/10 · 2 November 2008]

Since he produced 50 episodes of "Everwood," executive producer Mickey Liddell has gotten some other ideas about the trials that single fathers face raising their teenage daughters. Liddell transplants the "Everwood" premise to a horror setting in his directorial debut with "The Haunting of Molly Hartley," a lukewarm supernatural chiller about the demonic possession of a paranoid 17-year old prep school student and her single dad who worries about her safety. Clearly, Liddell and his scenarists missed the spectacular "Omen" sequel "Damien: Omen II" (1978) about a 13-yeard old private school student who took advantage of his powers as the anti-Christ to wreak anarchy. Imagine what the Roman Polanski classic "Rosemary's Baby" (1968) would have been like if the infant had been forced to wait until her 18th birthday to emerge as evil incarnate, and you've got a good idea what is in store for you with this predictable PG-13 thriller.

Additionally, "The Haunting" does itself no favors with its negative frontal assault on mainstream evangelical Christianity. As one of the villains, a deranged female Christian teen tries to drown our troubled heroine so Satan cannot claim her soul. "The Haunting" may rake in millions at the box office east, west, and north, but you can already hear Tupelo-based Donald Wildman leveling broadsides against it here in the South. Aside from some intense scares that may startle some, this low-budget, derivative thriller lacks the element of surprise. "The Haunting" qualifies as a revisionist horror movie, too. In traditional horror pictures, Good conquers Evil. In revisionist horror epics, however, Evil triumphs over Good. "American Zombie" scenarist Rebecca Sonnenshine rewrote freshman writer John Travis' script, but neither Mickey Liddell nor she can do much with this hokum. Banal dialogue, contrived predicaments, incoherent writing, and hopeless stereotypes eviscerate the horror content.

"The Haunting" opens with a pre-credit scene whose characters that have nothing to do with the rest of the film, but serve to put the plot into context. The year is 1997, and Laura (Jessica Lowndes) has a rendezvous with her boyfriend Michael (Randy Wayne) in the woods at an abandoned house. Laura's father (Jamie McShane) appears unexpectedly and hauls his daughter away from Michael and into his truck. Careening off down the road with her, the father pulls into the path of a laden farm vehicle that T-bones them in a violent crash. The grieving father grabs a broken piece of mirror and stabs his daughter to death to save her from 'the darkness.' "The Haunting" then shifts to the present day and the problems that Molly Hartley (Jodie Foster look-alike Haley Bennett of "Music & Lyrics") faces as she shows up at an elitist prep school Huntington Academy.

Molly's life has been anything but a picnic. Molly's mom Jane (Marin Hinkle of "Quarantine") tried to kill her by stabbing her in the chest. Since the incident occurred, Jane Hartley has been locked away in an asylum near the town that Molly's dad Robert (Jake Webber of "U-571") has decided to locate near so they can visit her. Molly is neither crazy about her new school nor its atrocious uniform apparel. Strange things happen when Molly enters an English class where they are analyzing British poet John Milton's "Paradise Lost." At one point, blood drips from her nose when she opens the Bible. Clearly, old Nick isn't happy. Moreover, Molly has begun to hear voices. Worse, she hallucinates that her mother is trying to finish what she started. Desperate to save herself, Molly converts to Christianity at the insistence of Alexis who tries to drown her in the baptistery.

"The Haunting" relies on a gallery of stereotypes. Molly's father forever frets about her welfare. Huntington Academy hunk Joseph Young (Chase Crawford of "The Covenant") has babes smacking each other around over him. Joseph is the son of the wealthiest man in town. Joseph's jealous, blond, ex-girlfriend Suzie (AnnaLynne McCord of "Transporter 2") refuses to give him up without fighting Molly. Their catfight concludes too quickly, but Suzie's comeuppance is amusing. You know dark-haired Leah (Shannon Marie Woodward of "The Comebacks") is the bad girl because she smokes marihuana in the girl's lavatory, pilfers cafeteria lunch items, and wears torn fishnet hose. Born-again scholarship babe Alexis (Shanna Collins of "War of the Worlds") alienates everybody with her complete lack of tact.

Altogether, "The Haunting" qualifies as a chick-flick friendly horror opus about a teenager-in-turmoil. Hardcore horror fanatics will feel cheated by the scarcity of blood & gore. The menacing moments consist of birds flying out of nowhere and snarling dogs suddenly lunging up against chain-link fences. Mail plunging through a drop slot in the door at Molly's house sounds like an avalanche. Indeed, Liddell suggests the violence more often than shows it. You won't see any knives penetrating flesh. Several characters die, but Liddell artfully conceals the gruesome details. Typically, mainstream PG-13 movies for teens cannot show them imbibing alcoholic beverages without receiving an R-rating that cuts into the film's box office earnings. Molly's mother takes a header off a balcony, somersaulting between the floors before she lands face down on the bottom with virtually no damange done to her physique. Clocking in at 86 marginal minutes, "The Haunting of Molly Hartley" will leave you wanting for something more stimulating like "Rosemary's Baby."

Scariest thing about this movie is how bad it is!

[autobahnsau · 1/10 · 31 October 2008]

My girlfriend wanted to keep it low key this Halloween and go catch a scary movie but we didn't want to go see the played out "Saw" series so we went to this expecting some thrills and good time "B-movie" fun. Sorely disappointed. I actually left the theater to see when Saw or anything else was playing instead, but no luck. The "scares" were too obviously telegraphed and there were none of the special effects teasers we see in the previews.In fact there were little to no special effects at all, the budget on this film should have allowed for at least one or two awesome makeup effects or cool plot devices.In addition there was an entire lack of psychological horror or tension!Everything was so dull and predictable we kept hoping something would turn around or at least show some sign of intelligence but no!Ladies, if you are going for Chase Crawford he is a mess here. Yeah he's an attractive guy but he is utterly useless in this and his acting is bad. The lead girl cannot hold anyones attention at all and I'm sorry but her acting is wooden and distracted.It all felt like 90210 (the new one) meets "Carrie" and and "The Omen" but doesn't hold a candle to those. The direction was lazy and cinematography so by-the-book that Ihonestly think that someone with NO film experience could have done a better job.Not worth it.Not even as a fun B-movie or cult classic! DO NOT SEE THIS FILM!You'll just end up saying you want your time and money back.Total waste.

Not brilliant, but not terrible

[RiceBunnyx · 6/10 · 18 August 2011]

I'll admit, this is a poor excuse for a horror film, but it still isn't completely awful. Loads of people will be disappointed with this film, and so I seriously hope you know what you're in for.

17 year old Molly was stabbed by her mother who is now in a mental hospital. Molly lives with her dad and attends a new school, but strange things start to happen to her.

Yes, sounds cliché, and it is, but there are some decent moments in it. The problem with this film is it opens with a fairly impressive scene, but the tension just fails after that and the whole thing goes downhill.

Normally, I wouldn't have watched this film. The only reason I did was because of Haley Bennett as the lead role. Yes, that is the ONLY reason. She has a wonderful horror movie scream and does a good job of acting scared, and she is in fact the highlight of the movie. The other characters aren't fleshed out enough and the way they pop into Molly's life with different reasons gets a little confusing.

This film didn't have a huge budget and so I can forgive the lack of gore and special effects which I was expecting, but the script is rather weak and the plot is pretty thin so the supposed twist ending is predictable. Oh, and the ending scene will confuse some and outrage others, depending on if you understand it. Long story short, it isn't very good.

Despite all the negative things, some people will enjoy this film. I am one of those people, I could definitely watch it again and don't regret buying it. Not one of my favourites, but if you're looking for a cheesy horror movie to bitch about, then it fits the bill. If you want a true horror with lots of blood and screams and special effects, then this isn't even close to what you're looking for.

All in all, I liked this film enough to buy it and watch again. I'm giving it six stars because although it severely lacks the shock factor to make it a horror, it still qualifies as one of those bad movies you watch on Saturday night. Just remember that you may still be very disappointed, so lower your expectations.

Save your money and see something else

[darksoulhunterk5 · 5/10 · 1 November 2008]

So after seeing this I realize I wasted my money seeing this trash. The film begins with a girl playing a follow the notes type of game with her boyfriend, until her dad interrupts and they have their daughter-father argument. Then the father breaks down, goes crazy, and kills his daughter. The story then jumps to Molly, who's had problems coping with the stress of her mother's insanity. Though locked up in the asylum, she sees her mother chanting things such as "I've got to save you" "this is for your own good" It's all fun and entertaining at first, but the movie seems to just loop in a circle.This movie is a big disappointment, as I had some expectations from it.

Not the movie you expected

[antiflag8789 · 9/10 · 1 November 2008]

As I sat in the movie theater watching The Haunting of Molly Hartley, I noticed many elements that are normally not used in horror/thriller films. The music is one of the strongest elements. It plays with your emotions, jumping from up beat pop music and slowly drowning into a fearful rythmic pulse. The cinematography was also top notch, and played with the classic elements of horror, such as mirrors. This film had me gripping my girlfriend and saying "Oh my god, I'm so scared". The thing that truly made me a fan of this film is how it ends. I don't want to ruin it for anybody, but this movie turns out to be much more than a quick scare, it will stay in your mind forever as a great example of creating horror using the element of surprise.

Don't Let The Haters Win, OK Movie!

[katyzone · 6/10 · 24 February 2009]

Really. Good acting. Fair production values. Thinking persons script. Make your own opinions and don't let the hate win! Bennet's acting was very good. She can definitely hold her own. Look forward to seeing her in more productions once she gets past this. Hopefully the critical pan of this movie won't taint her, even though I thought the movie was okay.

Bennet is a truly beautiful and expressive actress (I read she sings and has a lovely voice as well).

I thought it was realistic, and watch, it will be a semi-cult movie once the critical debris fades and the haters move on and the thoughtful move up.

Started out pretty decent actually--ended with a bang.

[skinhunger · 2/10 · 31 October 2008]

A very bad bang. I'm not talking bang as in, WHOA! THAT WAS FREAKIN' AWESOME! kind of bang. I mean bang as in: What the frick?

I didn't expect much from it. I mean, come on: American horror films for the past say, four or five years have all been pretty lame. Even before that they weren't that great. And seriously? Girl's parents sell her soul to the devil and when she turns eighteen, she basically belongs to hell and she's trying to stop it? *spoiler* and her mum tries to kill her and she's super traumatized and thinks she's going insane, blah blah blah. Her mother gets out of nut house, blah blah blah. Dad doesn't believe her, blah blah blah. *end spoiler* How unoriginal is that? Because basically, I just summed up the whole thing. But look here! There's a movie that actually made me jump a couple times. Sure, it wasn't that scary, but I guess it was pretty decent. The acting was rather...crappy. Haley Bennett has her moments, and I actually feel like Chace Crawford wasn't good enough. Which is sad, because I'm quite a fan.

I feel like... the movie was rather flat. The story line doesn't really hit a climax until the very end--and this is where it really ticked me off. I'm sitting here thinking, Hey, this movie isn't that bad! And then *spoiler alert* girl turns eighteen, realizes she has been betrayed, she's trying to kill herself so she doesn't have to kill her father, and then WHAMMY !

Suddenly the screen blacks outs and wowza, Molly Hartley (Bennett) is graduating and Joseph Young (Crawford) and her are exchanging goo-goo eyes and stealthy smirks.*end spoiler* Uh, okay? How exactly does this conclude the whole story?

Wait until it comes out on DVD or television--and rent it from the library or see it for free, because frankly, this wasn't worth my money or my sister's.

Beyond "awful"

[PoisonKeyblade · 2/10 · 3 November 2008]

Okay, I will try my very best to make this a somewhat "fair" review. I wanted to like this movie. And I'm not just saying that either. I love teen horror movies, I'm a big fan of such fare as The Craft and The Covenant, and I sometimes even like questionable fare like I Know Who Killed Me and The Eye. The Haunting of Molly Hartley, however, was equally as bad being drowned in a vat of holy water, like one of the characters in the movie. It stings the eyes and the soul and it's void of any sort of real emotion. The only scenes that were even worth watching were those which involved heartthrob Chace Crawford, but more on that later. The Haunting of Molly Hartley is directed by first-timer Mickey Liddell, and has a cast which consists of (from best to worst) Chace Crawford, Shannon Marie Woodward, Haley Bennett, AnnaLynne McCord, Shanna Collins, and Jake Weber.

Molly Hartley has had a tough life. Her mother tried to kill her, but she survived, and now she's trying to put her troubled past behind her by starting anew. As the theatrical trailer tells you, Molly's parents made a deal with the devil to save her life, but the day she turns 18, her soul will belong to him.

Okay, so the plot wasn't the best thing in the world, but it could have easily evolved into a semi-decent Halloween flick. Instead, for the entirety of the film, the script remains stuck in the mud. It would all make sense, had things led anywhere. Instead, the movie's last fifteen minutes make everything else seem random. Things are thrown constantly at you nonstop, and you expect them to make sense or be explained at a later time, as is the formula for most movies. For instance, Molly's mother appears in the bathroom once, and she says "The nurse believed me, so she let me out." We are never given any explanation for this. No funeral for the mother, no mourning from the father or daughter, no arrest of the nurse, no glimpse of the mental hospital which could have been a potentially terrifying setup. Everywhere there's potential, it is simply squandered in favor of moving quickly.

That leads me to another complaint. The film is literally 87 minutes long. With movies like Saw V, a fast pace is warmly welcomed, as we already know most of the characters. With something like Molly Hartley, if we had more time for characters, setup, everything basically, then it would become an exponentially better film. Honestly, at its best, Haunting of Molly Hartley is a teen drama. The scenes at Joseph's house work so well because they aren't trying to hard to scare us, they are genuinely interesting. In some scenes, there are echoes of great teen shows like Gossip Girl and 90210, but then the very next it completely falls apart.

At its worst, this film fails as a "scary" movie. If the long, drawn-out scare scenes that lead to nothing were stripped away, we would be left (at most) with a half-hour long film. There was literally nothing to this movie. There's a mother with scissors, a ghost with no explanation who appears for a fraction of a second in one scene, and a "devil" who is better left in made-for-TV movies. Halloween: H20 was the perfect scare formula. At first, it would fake the audience out a couple times with a few "false" scares, but then it got into the really terrifying stuff and didn't let up. The Haunting of Molly Hartley takes the opposite route. It supplies the audience with an endless supply of "false" scares and never gets in to the good stuff. It tried to have plot twists, but they made no sense when coupled with the rest of the movie.

Even with all these complaints (and I could go on for a very, very long time), I kept watching the movie just for Chace Crawford and in the hopes that it would get better and that the end of the movie would leave me breathless. While Crawford tries really, really hard, he simply cannot overcome the terrible script or even the absolutely ridiculous twists and turns of the plot. As if the movie wasn't bad enough already, the final fifteen minutes alone make The Haunting of Molly Hartley one of the worst movies of the year. It tries to have a Saw-esquire ending, and it tried to be clever about it, but the end leaves so many major characters and events in the movie in the dust that it's almost something a kindergartener could have written.

If it's not obvious enough, this movie was absolutely, positively, one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Don't waste your money on it, whatever you do. It was absolutely awful. In the end, you feel empty, as if you have wasted time in your life that you will NEVER get back. It's a shame, too. This movie had such wasted potential. It could have been great. Instead, it ended up about as scary as a towel.

Um, no.

[soccerismylove04 · 1/10 · 14 November 2008]

Well, I don't know much about the special effects of movies, or don't really pay attention to them, I kinda just watch the movie. I don't know why I even checked the box for a "spoiler" because there is nothing to be spoiled about this movie. It was absolutely horrendous, I should have guessed by the very original title that it was going to be an absolute waste of my money. I actually thought the movie had a chance, but the ending? What the heck...did someone forget put in what it seems like a missing half an hour of the movie? She stabs her self with a knife, through her coastal cartilages and in to her heart and did not die? And then she pulled out the knife with very little blood even though she just stabbed her largest artery? Okay....that makes a whole lot of sense, also the constant changing of night and day? I guess one day equals fifteen minutes? Oh, and my favorite, when she gets brain surgery and is released in a few days with no scars or shaved head? My boyfriend and I were trying to figure out if the pointless movie had point or even if there was going to be a sequel? We couldn't even figure it out. It's one of those movies where you're watching it and you're like, "Oh, if the movie ends here I'm going to be mad," but the movie doesn't end, well this one does. It's so dumb you can't even laugh at it when you leave.