The Haunting in Connecticut

(2009) ***1/2

Based on a true story, a family rents a really scary house in Connecticut to be closer to the cancer treatment center their oldest son Kyle is utilizing. They are told pre-rental that the house has a history. The Mom actually heeds the warning and turns it down. Later when making the long drive back home her son becomes very ill. She decides to about face and rent the creepy house to spare Kyle the painful drive home. That night the boy has a disturbing nightmare which takes place in a room that is later revealed to be the basement room that he then picks as the room he wants for a bedroom. Kyle immediately starts to see some trippy shit which we are led to believe is due to the experimental drugs he's being treated with. Since no one else in the house is seeing any of this stuff it really begins to look like that's the case. Then things begin to occur to other occupants of the house and it's here that the story gains substance.


Kyle meets up with a Reverend at the cancer treatment center who he entrusts with his story and damned if the the old Rev doesn't believe him straight up just like that and offer his guidance. They finally take the old guy up on his offer after finding a hidden box full of goodies like pictures of dead people and a box of eyelids, eeeeew! Here's where things really light up, nothing pisses off a pack of ghosts like bringing a holy man into the mix. On that note, I dare not go on or I'll give away all the good stuff.


First of all, I have to say that these people had more warning bells than a four alarm fire and they still stayed in the damn house. At first meeting the landlord only half kidding offers them the first month rent free. Then he tells them there was a history, landlords never tell you that stuff. On the first day in, Mom finds a bunch of pictures of dead people and throws them out. Which I believe pisses the ghosts off. Anyway, who keeps framed pictures of people in caskets lying around? Creepy or what? Then they find an embalming room filled with all kinds of weird tools and gadgets and only seem mildly disturbed by it. At this point I'm sure that I'd be long gone, but on the odd chance that I did happen to stay the following discovery of a box of eyelids would have sent me hurling toward the door at light speed. Not these folks though, they just call the Reverend. Please! It's just a damn rental house. Not like they have a mortgage with all kinds of money tied up in it. Just leave!


So now you're probably wondering why I gave it 3 ½ stars. Certainly not for the basic story. It's really the same old haunted song and dance we've all heard 1000 times over. It's the visuals, that's what makes it all work for me. The flashbacks to the past of the weirdo guy carving letters into dead bodies and cringing through him cutting off an eyelid. Also, the first appearance of the uber-creepy lettered ghosts that seem to travel in packs lurking about the house. The house itself which seems to convert from rustic charm to scary old house at will. It's a bit flashy at times but in these type of horrors flashy can work. It's the past story that's much more interesting then the present. You just want to know what the deal is. Why the hell is this dude carving up dead people and who is this kid that is always watching him. Some may think that I'm being a little generous with that extra ½ star but I stand by it. Sure it relies on cheap scares for the most part, but this film had an Amityville charm for me and I liked it.