I was born and raised in Wilkes-Barre, PA. I was in high school when this was going on. There was a story in the local papers like everyday. It was so weird. Some believed the Smurls and some, of course, did not. Personally, I believed them for the most part. Why would anyone subject themselves with the kind of ridicule they had to endure? Not to mention my personal experiences with the supernatural (which are stories within themselves). This movie may not be a very good movie (however, I wouldn't say it was bad either), but it was frightening to me, because I was relatively close to the true story. One of my best friends lives in West Pittston, in fact the next street over from where the Smurls once lived. Although I didn't know the Smurls personally, my friend did. She used to be good friends with the oldest daughter and went to high school with her. My friend had told me stories about their house that she remembered from before it became public knowledge. She had been over the house many a time. She claims to have witnessed some strange goings on there, however nothing major. Some strange things even allegedly went on at her house after she was over there. As to how much truth there is to the Smurls' claims, I don't really know. As far as the movie is concerned, it's not great, but not half bad for a TV movie. It was spooky whether or not one was close to the actual events or not. As I've heard many Northeast Pennsylvanians complain about how they mispronounced Wilkes-Barre; that is one thing that makes me squirm probably more than anything else in the film. I realize for people living anywhere else, they would not know..but if your making a film revolving around any city, you'd think the filmmakers would make an effort to get it right. I've heard people from the area pronounce it different ways, but not "Wilkes-Bar"! "Wilkes-BERRY" (most common) or Wilkes-Bear-Ah..even Wilkes-BEAR. It may seem trivial, but it's rather cringeworthy to the natives of the area. And the set they used; they made it look like some 'happy-swell-meadows' neighborhood. It looks nothing like that...it's much more urban. All the houses are close together. I do realize that having room to shoot is a factor in making a movie, but this was way more suburban than it was. There was one night just a few years ago, I drove past the old Smurl house to show some out of area friends. That night after I got home, the lamp in the room I was staying in at my parents house just started flickering out of nowhere. My father checked it out but found nothing wrong with the lamp or the circuit. Qhite bizarre. One thing that sticks in my mind about this movie is the fact that they had the same pattern of sheets that I do!!! Freaky!!!! Overall, this movie was far from a great ghost story flick, but it was spooky, and I may only feel that way, because I was in that area when these things were allegedly happening. That's why I say, "I guess you had to be there".
Review of The Haunted
