IMDb RATING
5.6/10
4.4K
YOUR RATING
A lawyer who doesn't believe in ghosts is haunted after moving into a family mansion.A lawyer who doesn't believe in ghosts is haunted after moving into a family mansion.A lawyer who doesn't believe in ghosts is haunted after moving into a family mansion.
Edward Herrmann
- Dr. Shepard
- (as Ed Herrmann)
Sara Weaver
- Helena Becket
- (as Sarah Weaver)
John J. Taylor
- Courtroom Judge
- (as John Taylor)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDr. Warren Koven's name derives from two words related to witchcraft: a coven is an assembly of usually 13 witches, and a warren is a maze of small rooms where they might gather.
- GoofsWhen Bryan (Daly) goes down to the wine cellar and gets a bottle of wine (at about 45 min. mark), it appears to be a brown bottle with a white label. It looks the same when the scene shifts to him trying to open the trunk. But a few moments later, when the scene shifts to him sitting at the table eating, with the bottle of wine quite obvious, talking about "what's in the trunk"...the wine bottle is green with an obviously colorful label.
- Quotes
[first lines]
[Deputy Lura looks around the dark house with his flashlight]
Deputy Lura: Miss Deaver? It's Deputy Lura, ma'am. Got a phone call from this house. Somebody hung up. Everything all right? Miss Deaver?
[He hears a sound]
Deputy Lura: Is somebody in there? I can hear you, you know. Miss Deaver, is that you?
[His flashlight finds Dead Miss Deaver, who appears to have died of fright]
Deputy Lura: Jesus!
- ConnectionsReferences The Changeling (1980)
- SoundtracksBrand New Me, Same Old Blues
Written and performed by Joe Whiting
Published by MinkMan Music ASCAP
Featured review
Chills without gore in tepid ghost story in need of a satisfying ending...
TIM DALY stars as a skeptical lawyer with no belief in the supernatural who moves into the house of a deceased aunt when his marriage breaks up. He soon believes that he's not alone in the creepy mansion and begins to doubt his sanity after some encounters of a ghostly kind that might just be happening in his head.
Before he knows it, he's getting assistance from a woman psychic (ZOE SALDANA) who tells him the house holds a grim secret. Gradually, we discover that the key to the haunting lies in his past, when he was subjected to harsh treatment at the age of five from a mother whose punishment makes "Mommie Dearest" look like "Snow White." So far, so good.
There are some nice shivery moments but we keep hoping for our hero to see the light and discover just what is going on. It takes a little too long to reach that conclusion and when it does, the ending is an unsatisfying letdown that leaves you jolted just as the end credits begin to unfold. That's it? Yes, an ambiguous and terribly disappointing and empty stone wall conclusion that provides more questions than answers.
Most viewers will feel cheated by the ending, after a fairly good case of goose pimples from a low key, rather tepid ghost story. In the central role of the lawyer, Tim Daly proves almost as adept at drama as he was in comedy roles. TOM ARNOLD, as a sympathetic colleague, has little to do but bark his lines in snappy fashion.
Before he knows it, he's getting assistance from a woman psychic (ZOE SALDANA) who tells him the house holds a grim secret. Gradually, we discover that the key to the haunting lies in his past, when he was subjected to harsh treatment at the age of five from a mother whose punishment makes "Mommie Dearest" look like "Snow White." So far, so good.
There are some nice shivery moments but we keep hoping for our hero to see the light and discover just what is going on. It takes a little too long to reach that conclusion and when it does, the ending is an unsatisfying letdown that leaves you jolted just as the end credits begin to unfold. That's it? Yes, an ambiguous and terribly disappointing and empty stone wall conclusion that provides more questions than answers.
Most viewers will feel cheated by the ending, after a fairly good case of goose pimples from a low key, rather tepid ghost story. In the central role of the lawyer, Tim Daly proves almost as adept at drama as he was in comedy roles. TOM ARNOLD, as a sympathetic colleague, has little to do but bark his lines in snappy fashion.
helpful•61
- Doylenf
- Sep 2, 2011
- How long is The Skeptic?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- The Haunting of Bryan Becket
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $6,671
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $1,553
- May 3, 2009
- Gross worldwide
- $205,585
- Runtime1 hour 29 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1
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