The Haunting of Sarah Hardy (1989)

A woman's husband and his lover try to drive her mad at their seaside mansion.

Director:

Jerry London

Writers:

Jim Flanagan (novel), Thomas Baum (teleplay)

Stars:

Sela Ward, Michael Woods, Roscoe Born

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sela Ward	...	Sarah Hardy
Michael Woods	...	Austin Hardy
Roscoe Born	...	Allen deVineyn
Polly Bergen	...	Emily Stepford
Morgan Fairchild	...	Lucy
Charles Bernard	...	Uncle Neddy
Vana O'Brien	...	Aunt Caroline
Janet Penner	...	Sarah's Mother
Steven Clark Pachosa	...	Shingler
Bethany Ward	...	Young Sarah
Joe Cronin	...	Burton McMahon
Dawn Prociv	...	Young Lucy
Jeff Williams	...	Young Alan
Mitzi Ellis	...	Nan Claiborne
Rod Pilloud	...	Biff Claiborne

Storyline

As a child, Sarah witnesses her wealthy mother's suicide. Later, as a young bride, she moves back into her mother's old estate. Shortly after, she is haunted by her mother's voice, receiving strange phone calls, and other bizarre occurrences around the house. Is it her imagination, her dead mother's spirit, or someone playing tricks on her..?

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Plot Keywords:

haunting | childhood trauma | suicide of mother | funeral | wedding | 

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Taglines:

Money, Madness, Murder.

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Did You Know?

Trivia

Misspelling of Haunting when the mother is reading a research book titled "The Truth of Hantings"

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Goofs

When Sarah returns home one afternoon, and goes into her bedroom, she quickly closes the door behind her. We hear the distinct sound of a lock or latch being fastened while her hand is briefly on the door knob. The viewers are to assume that she has locked the door. But when Miss Thetford then tries to come into the room, and the camera gives a close shot of the door knob while she's twisting it, we see that the only way to lock that door is with a skeleton key. There is no key in the hole, and there would have been no way for Sarah to have locked the door so quickly unless she had left the skeleton key in the hole.

User Reviews

An unpredictable TV thriller.

This is a not a bad TV thriller starring Sela Ward as Sarah Hardy, who is haunted by the suicide of her mother when she was 12 years-old. After Sarah moves in to her childhood home with her new husband, she experiences voices, apparitions, and noises in the house, thinking it was from her mother's spirit.

Some good thrills and suspense here, with a very unpredictable second half of the movie. Acting was good for the most part, but there were some plot-lines left unaddressed.

Grade B-

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 May 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Loucura de Sarah

Filming Locations:

North Coast, Oregon, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Millenium Pictures, Wilshire Court Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Color:

Color