The Haunted (1991)

When the Smurl family moves into a duplex, they find out its haunted.

Director:

Robert Mandel

Writers:

Robert Curran (based upon the book by), Jack Smurl (based upon the book by)

Stars:

Sally Kirkland, Jeffrey DeMunn, Louise Latham

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sally Kirkland	...	Janet Smurl
Jeffrey DeMunn	...	Jack Smurl
Louise Latham	...	Mary
George Wallace	...	John (as George D. Wallace)
Joyce Van Patten	...	Cora Miller
William O'Connell	...	Father Kearney
Stephen Markle	...	Ed Warren
Diane Baker	...	Lorraine Warren
Cassie Yates	...	Dorie
Allison Barron	...	Katie
Krista Murphy	...	Colleen
Ashley Bank	...	Shawn
Michelle Collins	...	Erin
John O'Leary	...	Father Larson
Jake Jacobs	...	Father Kent

Storyline

The Smurl family move into their new home on Chase Street only to find that it is plagued with three spirits and a demon. The demon wants to destroy their family and they are constantly desperate until they find the Warren family to get rid of them.

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Plot Keywords:

non statutory female on male rape | stain on a wall | watching television | demon | duplex | 

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 May 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Haunted: A True Story

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

FNM Films,20th Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Early in the film the kids are watching Lost in Space on television; presumably due to copywriters issues, the vocals of the episode have been dubbed with sound alike voice artists.

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Goofs

When the family is having breakfast, we hear daughter Shawn complain that the milk is nonfat. But the milk has a red cap. Skim milk never has a red cap, it is always yellow or blue.

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Quotes

Jack Smurl: You better pray for me tonight hon'. Cause that is the only thing that is gonna keep me from killing somebody.

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Alternate Versions

Some scenes of "The Haunted" were cut off the video version, but the scenes were included when the movie first aired on television:

• a scene where Jack and his father are watching football on television, right after the family moved in, and the television explodes;
• a scene where Kate, as a little girl, tells Janet, at breakfast, that she saw "people floating in her room" last night. Janet doesn't give any attention to her;
• a scene where Janet finds a strange stain in the new carpet she bought for the living room.

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Connections

Referenced in The Man Who Saw Frankenstein Cry (2010)

User Reviews

Spirit-tease.

Straight-to-TV, inspired by true events hokum… well that's what I thought I was getting myself into. However this dramatised case is a surprisingly eerie, bizarre and downplayed supernatural case that can get under our skin because the actual performances (the Smurls family) are sympathetically portrayed. The normal plot mechanics of the haunted house sub-genre are evident, and the atmosphere isn't particularly striking as it hangs there. You might think that if you see one, you've seen them all. But the predictable material does get more compelling further down the track, before coming to an unfulfilled abrupt conclusion that wraps it up. Everything (from the performances to the script) is done straight-face, with very little in the way of hysteria and humour. Patchy, but it works for most part. It heavily relies on story and mood, than say big special effects and lashing thrills. Although there's something just spooky about those reappearing spirit manifestations. Sally Kirkland and Jeffery DeMunn are capably good in the lead roles of Janet and Jack Smurl. Robert Mandel's crisply well-judged direction and Richard Bellis' hovering score added to the above-average production. I see plenty of jabs about the slow, ponderous pace, but I didn't feel it was that sluggish. Far from it. Slow, but not dull.