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0

JaysonL.Mar 27, 2009

Waste of time. Completely retarded movie that is only about 1% of the actual haunting, and 99% of family drama. It was so bad that everyone in the theater was actually chatting/whispering instead of watching it about 30 minutes in. I can Waste of time. Completely retarded movie that is only about 1% of the actual haunting, and 99% of family drama. It was so bad that everyone in the theater was actually chatting/whispering instead of watching it about 30 minutes in. I can only recommend this movie to people who enjoy torturing themselves.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful

5

TheQuietGamerOct 30, 2017

There's a decent little story at the core of this movie. The family drama primarily deals with a family's struggle when one of their kids is diagnosed with cancer. The strongest aspect is definitely the mother's love and strength whileThere's a decent little story at the core of this movie. The family drama primarily deals with a family's struggle when one of their kids is diagnosed with cancer. The strongest aspect is definitely the mother's love and strength while dealing with her son's ever-worsening condition. It tries some other stuff like the grief-ridden alcoholic father angle, but the rest of it is underdeveloped. Even the 'barely scrapping by' element gets lost at some point. Strong performances make up for the fact that this is barely above Lifetime original movie quality in terms of production. You can tell there wasn't much money funneled into this. What really holds The Haunting in Connecticut back is that it's so generic as a horror movie. Every trick it has up it's sleeve has been seen elsewhere countless times before. Never before has a house filled with dead people felt so lifeless. Far from the first horror movie to boast that it's "based on a true story," the plot here serves as an example of why not many people actually believe in this stuff. First off the supposed actual events themselves have been met with much scrutiny. I doubt this movie, which supposedly deviates even farther from reality than the book, will do anything to persuade people otherwise. You can literally see in every scene how the family could have faked the entire thing. The way any and all evidence to support their claims was lost at the end of the movie is all too convenient. The extra added monologue where the mother character says that doesn't she doesn't care whether the audience believes her or not because she knows what happened only makes it harder to take any of it seriously. Just going off of this movie, I've got to say I think the story is complete crap.

So many overused scare tactics have been borrowed here to no avail. It also ruins the already shaky credibility of the so-called "true haunting." There is a little something here in terms of a surprisingly great cast and likable family drama that brings actual emotion to the table. Something is largely in part due to the excellent performances from Virginia Madsen and Kyle Gallner as the two leads. Unfortunately those elements are kind of wasted in such a bland and dull horror movie. It's a bunch of borrowed parts that were taken from better and much scarier films. You should go watch one of those instead.… Expand

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All this user's reviews

4

KivaJul 19, 2013

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The haunting in connecticut has a good plot and starts with a good idea. It has great atmosphere and it is dark which is a good thing for a horror film. Also it is good for horror films to scare a thing that this movie doesn't. It is annoying and boring and there is not actually a perk of watching that film. It is lame and uninteresting as the plot goes. It would be great if someone at least would die or even explain the movie better. Nothing happens and that is bad as the trailer shows good stuff.… Expand

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All this user's reviews

4

FranN.Mar 30, 2009

The documentary on the discovery channel was so much better, and didn't involve all the cheap tricks. The fact that this happened to a really family is ridiculously disturbing but this depiction is completely lack luster.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

2

CaroleS.Jul 25, 2009

OH MY GOD. I give this rag 2 stars. Very disappointing, and I'll tell you why. First they tell you that this movie is based on a true story. By telling me that it is based on a true story it set my expectations very high. For a true OH MY GOD. I give this rag 2 stars. Very disappointing, and I'll tell you why. First they tell you that this movie is based on a true story. By telling me that it is based on a true story it set my expectations very high. For a true story I expected the realism to be REAL. You know, something I could believe. Well this movie was anything but realistic. It was typical Hollywood.We found ourselves laughing through 95% of this movie. Watching this and trying to believe that it really happened to someone was hysterical. We couldn't stop giggling. Nice try Hollywood, but this was a NO GO!! Scary??? NOT!!! hilarious?? ABSOLUTELY! Rent this one if you want a good laugh fest.… Expand

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5

JayHJul 9, 2009

Unconvincing horror flick. It is well produced, the cast is capable but the story just simply isn't very good. Nuff' said.

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10

TamHMar 29, 2009

Involving, fun, and thoroughly frightening with just enough creeps and crawls to keep you on the edge of your seat. Check it out!

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6

TonySMar 30, 2009

I'll admit this movie really wasn't anything new. I mean a haunted house movie comes out every year like clock work. Most of them come with the slogan "inspired by actual events" or "based of a true story" this one isn't that I'll admit this movie really wasn't anything new. I mean a haunted house movie comes out every year like clock work. Most of them come with the slogan "inspired by actual events" or "based of a true story" this one isn't that much different from those. Now this movie did have plenty of jumps and frights. But nothing amazing.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

8

ShaunP.Mar 30, 2009

Alright. So this isn't a classic. It isn't a shining example of film as an art form. It isn't much of anything other than a scary movie. And on that level, it delivers the shocks and scares better than any of the horror movies Alright. So this isn't a classic. It isn't a shining example of film as an art form. It isn't much of anything other than a scary movie. And on that level, it delivers the shocks and scares better than any of the horror movies I've seen in the theatre in the last year. Sure, anyone familiar with horror film tropes will experience a distinct sense of deja vu, and anyone who's seen The Amityville Horror, with which this movie's inspiration shares many real-world connections, will connect the dots between that movie's plot and this one's, but Haunting manages to bring the scares without being a remake of something done in America in the 80's or in Japan in the 90's. Surely that counts for something.… Expand

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9

AnnaRApr 20, 2009

So this probably won't go in the Hall of Fame for film ingenuity, but as the modern horror film that it is, it delivers a very intriguing plot that really caught my attention. The characters were mostly pretreated beautifully, except So this probably won't go in the Hall of Fame for film ingenuity, but as the modern horror film that it is, it delivers a very intriguing plot that really caught my attention. The characters were mostly pretreated beautifully, except for a couple times when their actions were a bit predictable. I honestly love this movie because it doesn't solely rely on blood and guts to deliver a good shiver, it creeps you out with ghosts and real life experiences that can be more relevant to people's lives (therefore more believable and creepier). I would strongly recommend for people to watch this.… Expand

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10

RachelSApr 25, 2009

A great movie that keeps you guessing till the very end!

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6

MichaelCJun 27, 2009

As many have probably pointed out, the movie was just too predictable to be even considered for a high score. However, the wonderful acting and the outstanding effects leave it out of the trash heap. I personally liked the double-take As many have probably pointed out, the movie was just too predictable to be even considered for a high score. However, the wonderful acting and the outstanding effects leave it out of the trash heap. I personally liked the double-take disappearances throughout the movie by the soon-to-die child, it gave a creepy air to it but still left the predictability o f any old haunted house movie. I can't say anything about the ending, though, because I left the theater before it came around, so I'll assume it was the same old "happily ever after" tale.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

7

JimboH.Jul 15, 2009

Does it's creep-outs very well, this movie gets the award for making my fiancee scream/jump the loudest I've seen her while in front of a movie. I thought this one was up there with Amityville, if not creepier, so I'm not sure Does it's creep-outs very well, this movie gets the award for making my fiancee scream/jump the loudest I've seen her while in front of a movie. I thought this one was up there with Amityville, if not creepier, so I'm not sure where the negative comparisons come from. Amityville's plot line is quite a bit different than this one (actually to be honest they aren't even remotely similar), which makes me wonder how many critics even watched the damned movie. Apparently if it is in a house, and people died, and its scary, then it must be an Amityville rip-off, right?… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

9

DavidDJul 16, 2009

I went into this expecting The Exorcism of Emily Rose part 2, in other words just utter crap, but this was a really good horror movie. As far as horror movies that make it to theatres in North America this was one of the scarier ones. I went into this expecting The Exorcism of Emily Rose part 2, in other words just utter crap, but this was a really good horror movie. As far as horror movies that make it to theatres in North America this was one of the scarier ones. It's creepy as hell and the acting and plot is good enough to make you buy in to the whole mess. If you like horror movies first off you know to ignore what critics say, and just look past the crappy title and cover art and watch it. definitely worth it.… Expand

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6

RyanSJul 29, 2009

Oooohhhh scary. They sure like to use the same tricks over, though. At least it kept me watching. Not bad.

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0

JohnSJul 6, 2009

Movies with cheap scares should not be classified as horror but trash rather. Anyone can surprise an audience, horror movies requires good plot and storyline.

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3

ChadS.Mar 27, 2009

Priests err. The priest in Peter Hyams' "End of Days" corrects the biggest clergical error of them all: the sign of the devil was misread("666" is actually "999" upside-down). When the priest in "The Haunting in Connecticut" realizes Priests err. The priest in Peter Hyams' "End of Days" corrects the biggest clergical error of them all: the sign of the devil was misread("666" is actually "999" upside-down). When the priest in "The Haunting in Connecticut" realizes his own error, he calls the family and leaves a message on their answering machine. It's only natural that the urgent transmission goes unheard. The message itself has a self-relexive quality WHICH deconstructs the horror sub-genre that is the haunted house flick. Reverend Propescu's words are plain-old common sense, but the characters that inhabit these fatalistic diegeses are stuck in a circumstantial paradox. If these non-people behaved in a rational manner, the narrative would be over before the first reel. In this case, we'd miss out on the supernatural hurl. It's bad enough that Matt(Kyle Gallner) insists on sleeping in the same room where the ghosts without eyelids regularly scare the bejesus out of him, but his sister Wendy(Amanda Crew) takes the customary lobotomized thrill-seeking nonchalance of haunted house victimization to the next level. Unfazed by the systematic decomposition of all the house's perishables, Wendy takes a shower, where the unflappable girl seemingly starts a fight with the shower curtain. And still Wendy won't leave the goddamn house. Once the ghosts can't be allocated solely to the mental sphere; a mere psychosomatic reaction towards Matt's cancer-fighting drugs, the Campbells need to make like the Lutzs and flee. The family's painfully slow-reaction time to the obvious dangers of the house, makes "The Haunting in Connecticut" increasingly convoluted as the facts about their home stack up like a hundred dead textual bodies.… Expand

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0

AaronSMar 27, 2009

This movie was awful. It was just a string of nonsense connecting jumpscares, which were too frequent and unimpressive. It also had one of my most hated plot devices, an old spiritual person who meets the main character in the middle of the This movie was awful. It was just a string of nonsense connecting jumpscares, which were too frequent and unimpressive. It also had one of my most hated plot devices, an old spiritual person who meets the main character in the middle of the movie and seems to know everything about everything. The movie follows its own internal logic to a degree until it's time to throw in the twist, at which point all of that gets thrown out the window. Unsurprisingly, the elder expert who was completely wrong about everything up to this point as it turns out suddenly knows... exactly what's going on! Skip it.… Expand

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5

FrankieHJul 17, 2009

Overall, the movie is okay, but not so a 'horror' movie. The story doesn't really make sense, if they knew the house has problem, and it is only rented, they could have just move back , or find elsewhere, don't really Overall, the movie is okay, but not so a 'horror' movie. The story doesn't really make sense, if they knew the house has problem, and it is only rented, they could have just move back , or find elsewhere, don't really have to deal with it.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

3

FitriAmirrolDec 5, 2010

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. At its core, Connecticut is a fairly warm, heart-rending family movie frequently disguised as a low-grade horror movie of shoddy writing and cheap thrills.… Expand