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An American Haunting (2006) Certificate 15

An American Haunting
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Rated 3.0 stars
Average rating
(56%)
 
Starring: Rachel Hurd Wood | Sissy Spacek | Donald Sutherland | Matthew Marsh | Howard Rosenstein | Lila Bata-Walsh | Miguel Brown | Shauna Shim | Thom Fell | Sam Alexander | Gaye Brown
Director: Courtney Solomon
Studio: LIONS GATE HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Run time: 87 mins
Genres: Horror | Thriller
Languages: English
Hearing-impaired: English
Released: August 28, 2006

Based on a true state-documented case that took place during the 1800s, the Bell family of Red River, Tenn., was visited by an unknown presence that haunted the family and eventually caused the death of one of its members. What started as small sounds around the farm and the sighting of a black, yellow-eyed wolf escalated into physical brutality against certain family members and general psychological and physical torment. The attacks grew in strength, with the spirit slapping, pulling, dragging, and even beating the Bells' youngest daughter. Although no being could be seen, its effects were evident. It began to communicate with the family aurally, eventually through multiple voices that sounded like the wind. One message it communicated was a promise that one day it would kill one of the family members. The Bells searched for rational explanations and ways to rid their house of the evil chimera, but its presence persisted. Fearing that the haunting was caused by a local woman who had been branded a witch, the Bells tried desperately to find ways of undoing what they thought to be the woman's curse, presumably placed upon the family in retaliation for a land dispute. Despite their efforts the attacks escalated. It was not until a manuscript of the local schoolteacher, who lived on the property during the disturbance, was found in 1998 that the horrifying and shocking answer to what caused this haunting would finally be unveiled.

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Highest rated reviews

38 out of 50 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 1.0 stars
Worst horror film EVER!

David Worthington from Yorkshire, 15th April, 2006

After falling for all the hype I was astonished that a film could be this bad! I could have written a screenplay, directed and acted out a better movie. Don't waste youre time on this 'shocking' unscary excuse for 'past-it' actors to have a pay day!!

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21 out of 26 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 3.0 stars
A good run of the mill horror

Graham from UK, 8th January, 2007

An American Haunting is a film we had very much looked forward to, big billing, strong cast and our expectations were high, but like many others we were left a little disappointed although it was certainly not as bad as other reviews suggest. This Exorcist style horror set in the early 1800s’ follows a family convinced their daughter has been cursed by a gypsy woman over a land dispute, the young girl played adequately by Rachel Hurd Wood goes through a series of strange phenomenon as the family desperately try to unravel the causes. The film does make you jump a few times and asks a few less taxing questions before taking an unusual turn for a conclusion. The fact is it never really concludes nor does it succeed in fully intoxicating you as the viewer but never the less An American Haunting does provide light entertainment and the scares are certainly present and in all honesty well created as they do not rely on gore and shock horror which has become so popular recently. A good run of the mill horror but both my wife and I agreed that the Exorcism of Emily Rose was a stronger movie. 3 Stars..

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16 out of 19 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 1.0 stars
Did I miss something?

taximan from Dorset, 2nd September, 2006

Having looked forward to this for a while I just couldn't believe that such a well filmed and thoughtfully casted movie could be let down by having virtually no plot at all.

I still don’t know what the heck happened or why. It is also far too short. Maybe another half an hour may have helped to explain what was meant to be happening. It is a bit like a cross between ‘The Exorcist’ and ‘Sleepy Hollow’, but no where as good as either.

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8 out of 8 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 1.0 stars
What on Earth?????????

A Customer from Manchester, 9th April, 2007

Nothing more to say other than this was boring, very boring. I hope I never waste another hour and 27 minutes of my life like this again.

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Most recent reviews

Rated 2.0 stars
An American Haunting (2005)

Libretio from , 22nd February, 2010

Sissy Spacek makes an appearance in this fact-based shocker, set in 19th century rural Tennessee, as the matriarch of a devout family haunted by a demonic spirit which specifically targets their teenage daughter. The story of the Bell Witch was always ripe for cinematic plunder, and director Courtney Solomon (DUNGEONS & DRAGONS) makes a fair stab at recreating events which followed a curse placed on the Bell household by an aggrieved neighbour. Donald Sutherland suffers manfully as the father of the house, unable to comprehend the horrors visited nightly on his virginal daughter (Rachel Hurd-Wood), until an even more horrible truth is revealed in all its ugly squalor. Some of the events witnessed by the family don't tally with the explanation offered at the end of the film (based on an account of the story written by Brent Monahan, entitled 'The Bell Witch: An American Haunting'), but the bleak locations and committed performances of a game cast make it worth the effort. What begins as a simple ghost story transforms into something even more troubling, though as other critics have pointed out, the narrative plays its ghostly hand too early and has nowhere else to go, leading to repetition. Unfortunately, the rental DVD version is badly cropped from the original 2.39:1 (Super 35) to 1.78:1, made worse because the supplemental section contains many clips from the film, all of them framed at the correct 2.39:1 ratio! Whichever idiot at Lionsgate was responsible for this stupid decision ought to be fired.

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Rated 3.0 stars
GRIPPING!

A Customer from ANTRIM, 5th February, 2010

GOOD ENTERTAINABLE FILM - MADE ME JUMP A FEW TIMES - HELPED THAT IT WAS BASED ON TRUE STORY.

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Rated 2.0 stars
Hmmmm

hYdEsF from from sheffield, 4th February, 2010

Is it me, or are supernatural films just not that scary anymore? I know that most of them are rated 15, but surely there' s got to be a way of making a film like this more scary? Some of the scenes are quite good, the story is sound enough, but it just felt like it was going throught he motions, not really going anywhere precise. You don't have to be psychic to see the twist in this film, but worth a watch if you are running out of other titles!

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Rated 2.0 stars
Good start then it goes very bad

louise1982 from , 1st February, 2010

The start of the film was very good made me jump quite a lot but then at the end of the film I was totally confused on what had happend or what was going on. If this had a better ending it would have been an average film.

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