Lionsgate Films
www.hauntinginconnecticut.com
There have been many horror films apparently inspired by or based on real events. ‘The Exorcist’, ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’, ‘The Amityville Horror‘ and ‘An American Haunting‘ are to name but a few that have been released and remade over the last forty years.
Each one has been terrifying in its own right. Knowing these events have actually occurred in some respect to an actual person makes the film frightening, which is the aim in the first place. These occurrences were obviously chosen for their freaky factor and can be enjoyed with a twisted mind, which the majority of the worlds population has anyway. In the case of ‘The Haunting in Connecticut‘, the “based on true events” statement appears with the credits at the start of the film and if this isn’t enough to make you shiver from head to toe then the story and images that follow will likely do it.
Told from the perspective of a disturbed yet miracle-believing mother, ‘The Haunting in Connecticut’ sees a teenage boy dealing with the late stages of cancer. When the trips to and from the hospital become very tiresome, the Campbell family rent a house in Connecticut. Little do they know that the history of the house will not be remaining the past, but returning for a hunting. What first seems like hallucinations bought on by the drugs Matt is taking for his condition soon become real when other members of the family begin experiencing things too; from seeing images in reflections off the mirror/TV to hearing noises and creeks and even experiencing poltergeist activity. It is these quick visions that on numerous occasions offer jolts and scares. As well as dealing with present events, the story looks into the history, which is still being played out in the house. Viewers are given an insight into the unpleasant goings on that used to occur in the premises. We find out about a young boy, Jonah, who was a medium and used to communicate with spirits, and a mortician that disrespected the bodies of the deceased.
This is one of those tales that doesn’t fully make sense until the end where you can place all the pieces together. How the history plays on the present day is a thinker at first, but in the end makes a practical sense. As the stories intertwine it’s the images that cause a few squints of the eye. They include eye lids being copped off, bodies walking around like zombies, corpses falling to the ground wrapped up like mummies you get in a museum and a boy exerting the ectoplasm associated with ghosts are sometimes very disturbing and quite shocking, especially the would inflicted on poor Matt.
‘The Haunting in Connecticut’ isn’t a blood fest, but more of a paranormal experience. From a lover of all things supernatural and horror infested I absolutely adored this film. It was slightly dark, but I liked the fact it played on the mind and got a viewer thinking and trying to place the piece together before revealing all at the end. I think it is well worth the watch.
Michelle Moore