The Haunting in Connecticut (2009)

After a family is forced to relocate for their son's health, they begin experiencing supernatural behavior in their new home, and uncover a sinister history.

Director:

Peter Cornwell

Writers:

Adam Simon, Tim Metcalfe

Stars:

Virginia Madsen, Martin Donovan, Elias Koteas

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Virginia Madsen	...	Sara Campbell
Kyle Gallner	...	Matt Campbell
Elias Koteas	...	Reverend Popescu
Amanda Crew	...	Wendy
Martin Donovan	...	Peter Campbell
Sophi Knight	...	Mary
Ty Wood	...	Billy Campbell
Erik J. Berg	...	Jonah (as Erik Berg)
John Bluethner	...	Ramsey Aickman
D.W. Brown	...	Dr. Brooks
John B. Lowe	...	Mr. Sinclair
Adriana O'Neil	...	Chemo Nurse
Will Woytowich	...	Cop
James Durham	...	Matt's Cell Mate
Darren Ross	...	Paramedic #1

Storyline

Charts one family's encounter with the dark forces of the supernatural. When the Campbell family moves to upstate Connecticut, they soon learn that their charming Victorian home has a disturbing history: not only was the house a transformed funeral parlor where inconceivable acts occurred, but the owner's clairvoyant son Jonah served as a demonic messenger, providing a gateway for spiritual entities to crossover. Now terror awaits when Jonah, the boy who communicated with the dead, returns to unleash horror on the innocent and unsuspecting family.

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Plot Keywords:

cancer | funeral home | body hidden behind a wall | vomiting | financial problem | 

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Taglines:

Some things cannot be explained.

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some intense sequences of terror and disturbing images

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 March 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Extrañas apariciones

Filming Locations:

Teulon, Manitoba, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$23,004,765, 29 March 2009, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$55,389,516

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$77,527,732

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lionsgate, Gold Circle Films, Integrated Films & Management

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min 102 min (extended cut)

Sound Mix:

SDDS DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although the film states that the house was destroyed in a fire and rebuilt, there was never a fire and the original house still stands today.

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Goofs

The movie takes place in 1987 and features Ward 13.

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Quotes

Reverend Popescu: [before the house is burning down] Fire release spirits.

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Alternate Versions

An unrated version has been released on DVD which runs 10 minutes longer than the PG-13 Theatrical Version (92mins) and also runs the same length as the version approved in the UK by the BBFC at 102mins. 98% of the changes relate on different color schemes of individual takes - partly only frame-short - as well as alternative material. The supernatural appearances are mainly in monochrome but colored in the unrated version. Many things can only be recognized in single frame mode or while watching entirely close.

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Connections

References The Birds (1963)

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Soundtracks

Ward 13
Written by Christopher Gordon
Licensed courtesy of Magic Fire Music Pty Ltd

User Reviews

A Nutshell Review: The Haunting in Connecticut

"Based on a true story". I've now begun to take things with a pinch of salt, because those five words more often than not just tries to give a horror film some street cred, trying to deflect some knuckles of familiarity by claiming that it's something experienced versus something dreamt up. I have one of my own too (that happened to someone else), which is based on a creepy mirror bought from Thailand being hung in a room, and thereafter a child continuously claiming that she sees a man standing by the window licking an ice cream every night. while the mom didn't and couldn't see anything, she got freaked out nonetheless. This stopped when the mirror got covered up and locked in a cupboard.

But there you go, a premise of a horror film in itself, involving a home, a parent, a kid and a (benign) ghostly apparition. The House in Connecticut follows those like Amityville Horror, Psycho, Poltegeist and the likes, even shades of The Shining too if you please. It's centered upon a house which is dirt cheap in rent, but only because of the things that go bump in the night, given its dark and ugly past which Sara Campbell (Virginia Madsen) decides to take no heed of, in order to house their family close to the hospital where cancer-stricken son Matt (Kyle Gallner) has to undergo frequent therapy.

For starters, the film has a relatively strong introduction, where once you got by the rather creepy opening credits, you're introduced to the family proper. After all, it's a story about a family's ordeal (remember those 5 words?) with the supernatural, which initially got you suspecting whether it's all in Matt's hallucinating mind since he's under some strong medication, and of all places decide to make the basement into his room, complete with the set from Hostel with macabre tools complementing the decor.

But what I like about the film, is how it plays up on beliefs, such as children being able to see and somewhat interact with their "invisible friends", or for those at the brink of death given an ability to see extra things within their field of vision, since they're only a stone's throw away to the other side. In fact, this aspect plays up a lot more as the film goes on, since the potential exorcist, Reverend Popescu (Elias Koteas) happens to be Matt's fellow patient, and serves as consultant to piece together the teenager's findings of newspaper clippings, photographs, and well-preserved body parts.

Like all decent horror films, this one comes with the requisite backstory which provides the rationale why the place has additional inhabitants, suffice to say that it's a reminder never to tempt fate or play with fire, and to pick your choice of homes carefully, never one that used to be a mortuary for example. But while the family angle was off the blocks in a strong start, it whimpered toward the end by bringing in a wasteful tangent dealing with Peter Campbell's (Martin Donovan) inability to handle mounting debt pressures that his family now find themselves in.

Technically, the film scored an ace, utilizing a full repertoire of sudden movements and appearances, extreme close ups, smoke and mirrors, banging doors and flashing lights to great effect. While these may not be something that's not already clichéd, and in truth being innovative and original is getting extremely tough, these tried and tested moments still worked somehow under Peter Cornwell's direction in building anticipation, just waiting for something expected to happen became part of the fun.

The Haunting in Connecticut is yet another creepy house story that's fortunately still slightly above average, where the fun factor would come with watching this with a full house of squeamish teenagers who would scream at just anything that moves.