John Chard

The Connecticut Horror. Supposedly grounded in truth, The Haunting in Connecticut is a decent little spooker, yet still a pic that has all the pitfalls of other notable films of its ilk. Plot for what it's worth has a family move into a new home, only to find that it has ghosts and ghoulies residing within. But why? There's good strength in the family dynamic at work here, the eldest son has cancer and is undergoing treatment. Thus he becomes the conduit for the strange happenings, and this as his parents fight impending grief and personal worries. The scares toddle along effectively, atmosphere via camera work and sound effects is perfectly efficient, and the story has enough mystery about it to carry you through to the end. Unfortunately there's a lot of daft stuff as well, I mean who in their right mind would sleep in a basement room and not force open an adjoining door to see what is in there? It's these ridiculous leaps of faith required that if you are not willing? Then they kill the movie for you. The ending also takes some believing, such is the rampant stench of Hollywood of it all. Well performed in the main (Virginia Madsen solid as a rock/Elias Koteas shining in spite of being under used), this deserves to be rated above average. But ultimately it rings hollow at times and quickly runs out of scares in the last third. 6/10