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If you want to make a list of the most common cheap scares used in the history of horror, don't bother researching a hundred terrible horror movies. Save yourself some time and just watch The Haunting in Connecticut.
I could tell when and where the ghosts would appear just by looking at how the camera moves.
I loved that movie! An wonderful old-fashioned ghosthouse-flick with brillant actors, an authentic plot, loads of seat-jumps and cool CGI effects. Great!
Posted By: groundgamer at 12:58pm, August 24, 2009
I must be like, one of three guys on here who actually loved this movie from start to finish! This chilling horror, with amazing CGI and a great plot and script, is a scary as hell, modern jumpy horror, with scary scenes and some cool CGI work that will make Juarassic Park look dull. I loved the plot, the acting and the ending, they were all superb, with a great atmosphere throughout. The Haunting in Connecticut is a wonderful, modern horror with jumpy moments, and a great cast, so I highly reccomend to horror fans everywhere.
An decent old fashioned ghost story that was atmospheric, intriguing and sported some pretty good jump scares but at the same time though it was nothing truly amazing either. I thought the acting was pretty solid and the ghosts were creepy looking but not used nearly enough and the filming was ok but I wasn't a fan of the quick flashes to scene to scene but the director definitely knows how to create a creepy atmosphere. Overall most of this is pretty standard, PG-13 stuff and doesnt surpass other haunted house movies like Poltergeist or even The Amityville Horror remake but definitely it's the more decent one to come to theaters in awhile and is certainly better than the bad reviews it has been getting from critics. It's chilling to know that this was based on a true story but some of the things that happened in this movie couldn't possibly happen in real life but you just never know unless you experience it. Go see it you might like it!
!Rogue! aka !!rogue!! aka the #1 Dumb ass. 2 accounts and not able to give the same notes.
Anyway, not a bad movie. I'm even surprised to have liked it.
I like this movie. even though they really didn't stay true to the actuall story, but that always happens to movies "based on a ture events" so whats new?... nothing! but it was a good movie, if you like the whole haunted house thing, then you'll probably like this movie.
Well I saw the trailer for this movie in April and saw a bunch of advertisements for the dvd release and everything -- and I got the dvd right when came out, and that was almsot the best 18 dollars I have spent! Overall this movie was terrifying and not so gory! The ectoplasm was actually interesting because it is real! This is the first horror movie ive seen that is based on a true story (emphisis on the based)
Slightly generic, but a good unsettling, atmospheric film, with some really good performances and a few decent jump out of your seat scares. Not the greatest, but by no means the worst film I've ever seen.
I thought that this film was entertaining. The studios always put there hands in the pot and use things that have work before too make it more of a safe bet for them. but over in all this film is very watchable not a masterpiece by no means.But it is all about money not art!!
overall this movie was good, but lacked a lot of flare that is required in a thriller type of movie.....a good story and amazing acting were the two best parts of this film, but with that is a downfall because the quick jumps are supposed to be the remembered parts!!! cant wait for NY and Georgia!!!!
I thought this film was pretty damn scary, but I'm not a fan of "happy" endings. The director did a great job of recreating a frightening environment even though he relied heavily on the cliche techniques of the past. But hey they work I guess.
The subject matter can evoke a wide variety of emotions, and make anyone's home a scary place to be. But in the end it won't win awards and it won't stick in the back of your mind to haunt over and over.
See it if your a horror fan, or prepare for a sizzling end...
Mixing sadness with fear is sort of weird. From the beginning they make you warm up to the poor cancer bloak and then eventually try to scare you AFTER the sad part comes in. THIC is just like any other Haunting movie, and the downside to that is, that I really doubt the paranormal. So naturally I figured it would be a yawn, since the movie was more based around story instead of scares, which isn't really bad it just, makes it hard because you actually have to watch and pay attention to it (which isn't a bad thing, it just makes it boing). I almost fell out of interest with the same old build up and then the sad takes and then a quick scary montage that almost makes me think twice but then makes me think "Oh, well, what a weird flashback...to a Poltergeist movie!" Hopefully you all know what I'm talking about because it was shown more than once but anyways, aside from boring cuts and flashbacks and all that I mentioned earlier there is still hope for this movie. Well, that would be a lie because then again it didn't really work, but the twist at the last thirty minutes of the movie really caught my interest and spooked me quite a bit but it was too short. The rest of the movie didn't fill my time at all but thank god for the twist because it saved itself from my horrible words and actually made me give it a decent rating. But, religion was definately the moral of it all, I wasn't thrilled or pleased but for those that like hauntings with a faith that God..."God" can save us from true evil then enjoy but for me it was a bore but good towards the end but still lame. If you like these movies then watch them. Other than that I would skip it.
I was thinking "Amityville" too, only more plausible and less hoaxy. There were some cheap scares, great effects not terribly overdone, and the story itself was pretty good, revealing what you'd probably already figured out in an effective way.
Sad thing IMO is that it's a better film because it doesn't follow the usual conventions of horror movies these days (remake, Asian remake, twist ending, hand-held camera, torture and gore for the sake of it).
Take that out of the equation, and my impression was that it's good as a drama or documentary. Madsen's acting was kinda dry, and I got tired of Gallner's constant brooding, but overall I'd watch it again.
This was an ok movie, not anything amazing like DRAG ME 2 HELL or LAST HOUSE ON LEFT..definately not worth buying but a good time spender. It was kinda depressing at some parts too, with the whole cancer thing. Anywho, all in all worth a watch.
This movie was incoherent. It felt like random clips of bad haunting ideas. For me, the tension failed to build, and there was no payoff. I generally don't like haunting flicks to begin with, but if it's done well, and is creepy enough, count me in. This film never manages to pull creepy off. It just kind of felt like another cookie cutter MTV generation PG-13 horror flick. The wife usually likes these silly little movies, but even she was begging me to shut it off at the 3/4ths mark. Instead, I finished it, just to say I did. I'll give the sequel a go, as I'm in to the director, but I doubt this will ever grace my bluray player again.
The haunting in CT not only had a scary objective to the audience but I also think it had a more serious one, Cancer. This movie had the one thing that most scary movies need, a detailed background explaining all what went down. Although not many scary parts but when there were, they had to have been some of the scariest things I've seen in awhile, worse then when I see freddy's face...that ugly mother fucker. Anyway all out good movie I give it almost great, PimpNastyDeluxe OUT!
Holy shit I can't breathe. That had to be the most fucked up haunted house movie I've seen in a while. I never get scared, but this movie chilled me to the bone, maybe not as much as REC but still. The visuals were fuckin insane, and I couldn't believe it was PG-13 It didn't really feel like one, and it was sort of sad.
All in all a good flick, maybe not the best movie ever made, but still it did what it was suppose to sad the fuckin shit out of me... KUDOS for that.
And the people who say this is boring and slow, don't listen to them, the first like 6 mins is like really slow and dull and after that its what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck. If oyu don't agree you can call me an asshole for free.
boring. This movie dragged on and on with little excitement. i kept thinking of event horizon with the whole burnt dude, but not as good. I'm more haunted with what i payed to rent this shit.
One of the best PG-13 supernatural horrors I've seen in a while and much better than some of the mediocre asian remakes we've had recently. It's original, wasn't a remake of an asian film and didn't have any ghost girls trying to kill people (not that that's a bad thing). Veronica and Kyle were excellent in their roles, I liked and felt for the family in the film, there was some really good suspense and the script was written very well. I thought it was very well done, but it was obvious this movie would get bashed.
I actually enjoyed this movie. While it wasn't the most terrifying film I've ever seen it was consistent. One is always certain that there is a scare coming up as it doesn't go for too long without another jump. While it wasn't an original story, it also wasn't a remake, which was a plus. And lastly it didn't try to flush us out with the cliche "twisted" ending; something that is so overdone it's become expected now (eghad!)
The problems I had with this movie? The acting was below great, it felt too long, and the ending (although they didn't try to do a twist) was less than exciting.
I believe before this film, I rented the movie An American Haunting (which was a complete mistake) and so I felt a lot better watching this film. It felt a little too Amityville, but that was forgivable because it was such an improvement from many of the recent horror movies taht have come out before it.
The music, I thought, was brilliant too. Being a horror junkie and a music junkie, the score has always been important to a film for me. If i don't like the score, chances are I will not like the film very much (an exception would be Spiral, which was alright). I loved this movies soundtrack, and while it was nothing close to Hans Zimmer's 'The Ring' soundtrack it was still refreshingly frightening. Kudos to 'Connecticut' for that!
Anyone who gives the film at least three skulls clearly doesn't understand the word "horror" or doesn't comprehend it. This is nowhere near horror and is just a washed-down mess for the teenagers who thinks that when something says "Boo" it's scary. After seeing the advertisements for the film, I thought it would be creative and unique for a PG-13. I ignorantly neglected the critic's reviews and saw the film. I was so ashamed at the waste of time and money this was.
I have to admit, the first four scares were pretty frightening and I thought that the film would be just as good as the beginning. Unfortunately, only the beginning, ectoplasm scene, and the ending were the only good parts. The remaining hour is slow, tedious, and predictable. Also the subplots were too perplexing and complicated to be understood, especially since you're being sidetracked by this mess of a film.
Overall, I feel that Haunting in Connecticut is a total wash of a film and doesn't deserve to be dumped into theaters like it has. Pointless, dumb, tedious, and predictable. Even the documentary was scarier than this shlock of a film.
This is about the best you can do with PG13 horror. The Ring (2002) is the best, but this is still well made and had a budget to go along with it.
I found it unique interesting and decently suspenseful. Gore Hounds avoid but if your looking for something to watch that will keep your interest and provide some solid story development that ties everything together. Its worth it.
this movie was boring and had more plot holes than swiss cheese. the discovery channel documentary was more creepy than this. this was made for middle schoolers who can't get into real horror movies.
Ok, so I want to start out by saying that this movie deserves a lot more credit than it's been getting.
The first quarter or so of the movie was extremely slow paced and a bit hard to watch at times, think, 'After school special'meets Hollywood rehashing of the t.v. special 'A Haunting in Connecticut'. The vision of a "perfect" family was a bit overdone with scenes of the children praying before bed and everyone getting along in perfect harmony...(Except for the severely ill teenaged son, Matt).
My faith in this movie was quickly restored by some particularly stunning visuals, including a SAW-inspired eye-lid removing mechanism and some startling glimpses of the other horrors that the house holds (shadows, demons...that sort of thing).
The second half of the film pretty much blew me away. The story kept me interested until the very end. "The Big reveal" was a wee-bit predicable but executed brilliantly, nonetheless. The acting took a turn for the best as the characters seemed more involved and believeble than they did during the first half of the film. (The Dad's completely unforeseen drunken rampage was HILARIOUS.)
This film totally got me interested in digging deeper into the world of paranormal phenomena. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone that's up for a good, spooky psychological/paranormal horror film.
i thought it was okay Kyle Gallner was pretty good, i just wasnt blown away by it, i thought it were awright, nothing too memorable, cgi aswell kinda ruined it for me aswell as it just looked so fake and immediately took me out of the movie, meh
I enjoyed it.The character base in this film is unlike any horror film definitely most anyway.It does give you a give a shit feeling to these people and what happens to them.Other than that...its just a haunted house movie.Nothing more or new but the great character base.Great acting by everyone especially Kyle Gallner.He is a great newcomer and looking forward to seeing him in the Nightmare remake/redux.Also Virginia as always good and Amanda Crew.It's definitely worth checking out but it can also wait til dvd.
I like the fact that it is based on a true story; but unsure about PG-13 horror films. Most PG-13 horror flicks i have seen really disappointed me. I think i am going to wait to rent this one. I do not think PG-13 films are worth seeing in theaters.
When it comes to Haunted House Flicks these days, you seen one, you seen them all. The Haunting In Connecticut stays true to form. Literally a patchwork quilt of ghost movie cliché's with some terrible dramatic threads keeping them all together. (The father's performance is laughably bad.) I found myself looking around the theater, checking the time, etc. throughout the film, which was barely ale to keep my attention. It would be easy to blame the writers for the chain or rehashed horror moments, and I do, but the director should also bare the burden for forcing the obvious scares instead of tapping into something more interesting. And for the performances. Did I mention the father character? The film's one saving grace was the climax which has some interesting ideas, and somewhat glossed over my prior disappointment. What's worse is that this film had some great acting, design, and photography, as well as what appears to be a sizable budget for a horror film, so there is no excuse, except for lack of creativity. This film will work for your average dildo who just wants to turn off their brain and experience cheap jump scares every fricken five minutes, but for any real fan of horror, or of cinema for that matter, I'd pass. Rent the original TALE OF TWO SISTERS to see how it's done right.
I'm a little late to the game on this one but still have to put in my 2 cents. I will not get into the technicalities of the film or how good the acting was--I'm just going to say that this was definitely worth the ride to hell that I was expecting. After seeing the infamous story on A&E's A Haunting I new that the cinematic version would be just as creepy as the documentary was. Most of the main characters are easy to sympathize with and although the main character is dying of cancer he still manages to look kind of hot doing it. Anyway I digress, this movie is as good as the original ghost stories of haunted houses Like Amityville Horror and Ghost Story. Not since REC. have I been so scared out by a movie that I had to hide in the safety of my coat, choosing not to look at the creepy fucken ghosts. I enjoyed it and glad it was still daylight out when I left the theater. A must watch.
What a slow movie!! The cast had no emotion and the two kids seemed pointless in it. The 'ghosts' were more comic than actually scary, however, there were a couple of almost jumpy moments. Overall an ok film for a based on true events theme, but definitely not worth watching for those who love a bit of gore and blood.
Pretty interesting. Not scary. HELL NO. But intriguing. Drags on a bit but I would rather watch this than some of the other PG-13 crap: White Noise, Pulse? Overall probably a better rent than watching in theatres.
I was pretty bored with this film. A decent ghost tale overall but I just wasnt very into it. It dragged a little, the 'jump' scenes wernt anything special, and I thought the story (or adaptation of the story, whatever you want to call it) was quite lame.
I dont have much to say about this film in depth aside from how bored I was with it.
A bunch of us went to see this Sunday night and while many of them jumped repeatedly, I was bored out of my mind. Really not that great of a movie, the documentary from the Discovery channel was actually creepier. Alas, this movie and story turned out to be a hoax, a la Amityville. Did some research after getting back from the film. No one else has ever experienced anything in that house, nor did people that lived in the upper part of the house in real life experience anything when the rest of the household was supposedly being terrorized.
All in all, I was more excited by the trailer for "Inglorious Basterds" at the start than by anything else.
I dont believe in any of that shit but overall not that bad of a ghost movie. Not horrible but not really good either. Basically this was a rip-off of Amityville Horror. Lets just say if your bored its an entertaining movie to go see.
I would suggest everyone just watch the "true" story on the discovery channel, from the mouths of those invloved in the haunting. You can even rent the documentary on dvd titled... A Haunting in Connecticut.
follow link to find out more about the "true" story. ........................... http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/haunting/haunting.html
i felt this movie was consistent enough with being good, that it actually is good. i felt the added drama of the kid with cancer in an already broken home added something better than most haunting flicks. the imagery was pretty cool, the acting was damn fine, the story was simple enough but also kinda sloppy, like why is the niece and her sister living with the family? whats with the birds flying all around?i wish there was perhaps more reasoning behind the haunting. i mean its straightforward with whats going on, but somethign was missing, like REALLY missing. there were some moments that were trying to tug at my heart and made me want to cry, like the the last house on the left remake did so well, but i didnt for this, cause something was missing. overall its a good film, well made enough(although, will anyone ever learn that jump scares by way of loud music just pisses people off nowadays?). also will any studios ever learn that 'based on a true story' just pisses most people off too? cause WTF? we know this isnt true and DO know its just attempted added bucks to the box office, they should admit its inspired by a true case, but not publicize with that fact and hope for quick cash.
UMM
I DONT KNOW IF I BELIVE IF THIS
IS BASED ON A TRUE STORY, BECAUSE
IT SEEMED LIKE A AMITY VILLE HORROR
WANA BEE.
ALTHOUGH THERE WAS ALOT OF CHEAP SCARES
THIS MOVIE WAS DECENT.
I LIKED THE MUSIC TOO.
Okay, enough movies appealing to 8th graders! This was boring! Nothing too great at all. Disturbing? Yeah, at some parts. A little wierd? Yep. Anything else? Not at all.
Where has all the supernatural gone? It seems all we get in terms of horror lately is psychos gone wild, so a haunted house movie is refreshing. Startlingly original? No. Shockingly scary? No. Entertaining and captivating. Absolutely! There is some great imagery: the shadows of the birds, the ectoplasm scene, the crowding lid-less ghosts, and some great tense scenes (never play hide-and-seek in an old house). I actually jumped at some of the really effective jump scares. Overall good acting, great production values, and a rich if convoluted story were also welcomed. Definitely worth a view by the more mature horror fan (the PG-13/slasher crowd will likely be bored to tears and texting about this movie blowing or sucking, hard).
Family under a lot of stress + Son with brain cancer + Experimental medication with auditory/visual hallucinatory side effects + No "hunting" since family lived in the house = Not real haunting !
It was good, not great, but good. Some scenes were actually disturbing surprisingly. I saw it in a big group. It made me jump some times which is why I didnt give it a 6.
P.S. The Line to get in the theater was incredibly long.
It was okay. Nothing I would see again. If it wasnt for being based on a true story then I think the movie would've sucked even more then it did. Because if all the crap in the movie actally happened then id say thats pretty scary.But the movie was nothing to brag about, It had some good parts but it wasnt amazing. Pretty dissapointing. I almost fell asleep, it was so predictable.
You know I'm not sure who the marketing guys at Lionsgate are but whomever they are they deserve a big pay raise. They have the extremely hard job of making crappy films look good and do a damn good job. Case in point Haunting in Connecticut. The ad campaign promises an old fashioned horror flick in the realm of the original Amityville Horror, The black and white Haunting from the 60's, Poltergeist and Legend of Hell house. But what we get is rehash of the worst kind of collection of genre cliches tied together with stolen scenes from far better films, The mega annoying Saw editing and boosted sound effects from the new crop of lame PG-13 horror films. It's supposed to be the true story of a family that rents out a house because of their son's cancer to be closer to a hospital for experimental procedures. But the house turns out to be supposedly haunted. Say ons were held there with a powerful medium, it was a funeral parlor yada yada yada. The film doesn't feel real for a moment. In fact it feels very TV-moviesh because of its amateur execution and it also feels like the makers doubt the story they are trying to tell. And if they doubt it how are we supposed to believe it. And for most of the films running time unintentional or not I felt that they were trying to establish that it wasn't happening. The young man who had cancer was on all different types off drugs that were making him have hallucinations. Which no one experiences until his freak outs. All this thrown out the window in the final reel when it receeds into a by the numbers straight to DVD haunted house horror flick. When the film first started I noticed a big emphasis on the emotional aspect of the story in the opening scenes but much like everything else it never goes anywhere. You never feel involvement on any level. And I'm not a huge fan of tacky jump out sound scares but I can enjoy them in the right movie. But it has to be surrounded by a film drenched in a dark mood and atmosphere. It has to be scary to begin with to enjoy those startling moments. Dumb or not. But "Haunting" isn't particularly dumb it's just a half ass movie. Everything about it is. The acting. There are some moments with Madsen and Gallner but overall especially Madsen's complete performance feels choppy and unfinished. And there are some emotional scenes that left the audience in stitches because off their ridiculous over the top nature that came off unintentionally funny. For Madsen this was a far cry from her brilliant interpretation of Helen in Candyman or that overrated piece of crap Sideways. The direction has moments but feels too amateur and unoriginal to work. The special effects and cinematography are expected and predictable and the sound effects and score are abundantly weak as you would expect.It just makes me a little sad that this is what passes for horror nowadays. Kids were screaming through out the sold out show and I just feel sad for them cause they don't know what great horror films are. As i was walking out they were all saying in ridiculously annoying fashion how scary the film was. There seems to be a trend this year whenever any genre film is severely over marketed it tends to suck majorly. Like Unborn and the miserable Friday the 13th remake and now this. And the less advertised little gems like My bloody valentine 3-D and the brilliant Last house on the left remake do a lot less business. The movie will no doubt be huge this weekend almost guaranteeing an unwanted and unnecessary sequel especially with that ridiculously hammy last line. But be forewarned investing money in films like these will only guarantee more of them. And although it may not be a remake or sequel make no mistake the film has nothing original to offer they were just smart enough to stamp a true story sign on it and not steal the title of any of the older, better films its ripping off. So if this is the future of the horror count me out I'll stay at home and watch the classics and even The Amityville horror remake which wasn't great mainly because it has sexy as hell Ryan Reynolds half naked through out it and though the kid is cute in this one he's not enough to save the flick from being almost unwatchable.
I went to see The Haunting In Connecticut at its first showing at the movie theater by me with my friend when nobody was there, expecting to walk into a movie that has really cool ADs, but may actually suck in the full run. To be honest, I enjoyed this movie more than any other PG-13 horror movie I think I've ever seen. This may be because no little kids were screaming during it as usual, but I enjoyed it. The movie was great and the ending wasn't even that bad. The "jumps" throughout the movie were constant and very exciting. After seeing this movie, I am going to ask my friend if we can go visit his grandfather's funeral home so that I can look at a morgue for myself. Seems like a friendly place to bring children too. My friend's mom also knows the main character's aunt personally. I enjoyed seeing the bodies that were written all over them when they appeared in the house, especially the hand in the mirror when the girl was brushing her teeth. Great film. I highly reccomend it. Overall, I'd give it an 8/10.
this movie sucked...i was expecting to be terrified but all the good stuff in this movie was shown by the trailer...this movie is way too long and just is boring...the only thing i liked was that the son who had cancer was sexy as hell and he took his shirt off a couple of times....the skull only goes to the son not to anything else in this boring movie
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