Haunted

(1995) *

In 1905, a young boy and his sister are playing by the stream. One friendly shove later, and the girl drowns, leaving her brother to feel very guilty. Fast-forward 25 years, and we find that the boy is now an American professor, expounding about how there is no after-life, psychics are frauds and of course – no ghosts. A woman back in England is in the throes of psychosis, claims to be tormented by ghosts, and thus, summons his assistance. Once back in England, the professor proceeds to treat the woman, but is more entranced by her niece, a young Kate Beckinsale, who, despite being British in the 1930s, is as sexually liberal as one of the slutty teens that is usually the first to die in modern horror films.

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This Brit flick has its moments, but was never theatrically released stateside for a very obvious reason. The biggest is that this movie is never quite sure what it’s supposed to be. Scary movie? Horror/romance along the lines of Ghost? Period piece emphasizing 1930s conventions or lack thereof? There’s a little bit of everything. What that results in is something not scary, not romantic, and the anachronism of Kate Beckinsale always getting naked despite social mores. But, before you get excited about the possibility of Kate Beckinsale naked, to add insult to injury, I’m almost positive it’s a body-double.

This picture is not in the movie