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

Ed and Lorraine Warren also investigated the Amityville house and the Perron's house from the "Conjuring".

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Goofs

When the Smurls are driving home from camping, John calls his wife Mary "Kate", which is their granddaughter's name.

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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

Features Disorder in the Court (1936)

User Reviews

I guess you had to be there.

I was born and raised in Wilkes-Barre, PA. I was in high school when this was going on. There was a story in the local papers like everyday. It was so weird. Some believed the Smurls and some, of course, did not. Personally, I believed them for the most part. Why would anyone subject themselves with the kind of ridicule they had to endure? Not to mention my personal experiences with the supernatural (which are stories within themselves). This movie may not be a very good movie (however, I wouldn't say it was bad either), but it was frightening to me, because I was relatively close to the true story. One of my best friends lives in West Pittston, in fact the next street over from where the Smurls once lived. Although I didn't know the Smurls personally, my friend did. She used to be good friends with the oldest daughter and went to high school with her. My friend had told me stories about their house that she remembered from before it became public knowledge. She had been over the house many a time. She claims to have witnessed some strange goings on there, however nothing major. Some strange things even allegedly went on at her house after she was over there. As to how much truth there is to the Smurls' claims, I don't really know. As far as the movie is concerned, it's not great, but not half bad for a TV movie. It was spooky whether or not one was close to the actual events or not. As I've heard many Northeast Pennsylvanians complain about how they mispronounced Wilkes-Barre; that is one thing that makes me squirm probably more than anything else in the film. I realize for people living anywhere else, they would not know..but if your making a film revolving around any city, you'd think the filmmakers would make an effort to get it right. I've heard people from the area pronounce it different ways, but not "Wilkes-Bar"! "Wilkes-BERRY" (most common) or Wilkes-Bear-Ah..even Wilkes-BEAR. It may seem trivial, but it's rather cringeworthy to the natives of the area. And the set they used; they made it look like some 'happy-swell-meadows' neighborhood. It looks nothing like that...it's much more urban. All the houses are close together. I do realize that having room to shoot is a factor in making a movie, but this was way more suburban than it was. There was one night just a few years ago, I drove past the old Smurl house to show some out of area friends. That night after I got home, the lamp in the room I was staying in at my parents house just started flickering out of nowhere. My father checked it out but found nothing wrong with the lamp or the circuit. Qhite bizarre. One thing that sticks in my mind about this movie is the fact that they had the same pattern of sheets that I do!!! Freaky!!!! Overall, this movie was far from a great ghost story flick, but it was spooky, and I may only feel that way, because I was in that area when these things were allegedly happening. That's why I say, "I guess you had to be there".