An American Haunting (2005)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Director:

Courtney Solomon

Writers:

Brent Monahan (novel)
Courtney Solomon (writer)

Release Date:

5 May 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Possession Knows No Bounds

Plot:

Based on the true events of the only case in US History where a spirit caused the death of a man.

Plot Keywords:

Haunting | Tennessee | Curse | School | Teacher

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Donald Sutherland	...	John Bell
Sissy Spacek	...	Lucy Bell
James D'Arcy	...	Richard Powell
Rachel Hurd-Wood	...	Betsy Bell / Entity Voice
Matthew Marsh	...	James Johnston
Thom Fell	...	John Bell Jr.
Zoe Thorne	...	Theny Thorn
Gaye Brown	...	Kathe Batts
Sam Alexander	...	Joshua Gardner
Miquel Brown	...	Chloe
Vernon Dobtcheff	...	Elder #1
Shauna Shim	...	Anky
Madalina Stan	...	Ethereal Girl
Philip Hurd-Wood	...	Partygoer (as Phillip Hurd-Wood)
Vlad Cruceru	...	Richard Bell (aged 6)

Also Known As:

An American Haunting - The Billwitch Story (Philippines: English title) (poster title)
Cauchemar américain (Canada: French title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for intense terror sequences and thematic material.

Runtime:

USA:91 min

Country:

UK | Canada | Romania | USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:15 | Ireland:15A | USA:PG-13 | Finland:K-15 | Malaysia:18PL | Indonesia:Dewasa | Taiwan:R-12 | Philippines:R-13 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:PG | USA:Unrated | Germany:16 | Iceland:16 | Australia:M | South Korea:15 | Netherlands:16 | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

MediaPro Studios, Bucharest, Romania

Company:

Allan Zeman Productions

Trivia:

The movie is actually based on a true story. Andrew Jackson is quoted as saying, "I would rather take on the entire English Fleet than stay one night at the Bell House." He later formed a group of men to test the rumors of the Bell haunting. Their findings are documented in M. V. Ingram's 1894 book, An Authenticated History of The Famous Bell Witch. This movie was based on the book by Brent Monahan,The Bell Witch: An American Haunting the Famous Bell Witch.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In one scene the sky is shown with clouds, and an obvious jet stream or contrail streak to the left.

Quotes:

Richard Powell: [of Betsy] Can she love me?
Lucy Bell: She will.

Movie Connections:

References The Exorcist (1973)

Sound, Visuals Overwhelm Weaker Story

I really don't have any major complaints about the film except it was more of a visual-audio experience than a memorable story. That makes me wonder how times I would watch this, since I already own a lot of great visual movies. Cinematography-wise, this film reminded me a bit of Sleepy Hollow, but not quite as dramatically filmed as that. There also is excellent 5.1surround sound in here. Being a ghost story, and one that is trying to scare the viewer here and there, sudden jolts of sound is important and utilized well here.

I also appreciated this was done without almost any profanity and with famous actors like Donald Sutherland and Sissy Spacek. I expected some Bible-bashing since that's normally the case in these ghost or witch stories, but it wasn't bad here. However, the "surprise" almost political-correctness ending didn't really surprise me, considering how films are these days.

A decent movie but 50-50 whether I would watch it again.