THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT - FIRST REVIEW

By Graham Young on Mar 27, 09 04:17 PM

FILM distributors Entertainment specialise in not providing press previews of films if they can help it.

Which goes against the grain when punters deserve to know whether a film is worth seeing or not.

The Haunting in Connecticut was not ready in time to be seen for today's edition of the Birmingham Mail.

But, having now just seen it, here's my first review to help you to decide whether or not to splash your cash.

THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT (15)
Verdict: +++

WHY is Hollywood so blinkered when it comes to horror?

The events leading up to the denouement of this film are, for the most part, the stuff of Beverly Hills retreads.

Whenever there's a shock in store the editors flash a telegram to your eyes at the same time as the sound department is rattling your ears.

As usual, Tinseltown barely gives your brain the time to be afraid.

But it's all watchable enough. A couple of moments are likely to jolt the faint hearts or more inexperienced and a grisly scene involving the eyelids of the dead will draw hands over many a face.

Come the climax, there's also a big set piece which is fascinating for the scale of its visual ambition if hardly scary enough to cool a carton of milk.

For a film said to be 'based on a chilling true story', you'll still leave the cinema thinking it was all an opportunity missed. The Orphanage this isn't.

The Campbell family moves to upstate Connecticut so that their eldest son Matt (Kyle Gallner) can continue with his treatment for cancer.

Mum Sara (Virginia Madsen) doesn't tell the rest of her family about the history of the new home she has found.

But clairvoyant's son Jonah (Erik J Berg) soon disturbs the peace by providing a gateway for spirits to cross over.

During one of his hospital visits for treatment which may or may not be causing hallucinations, Matt meets a fellow patient who just happens to be a man of the cloth, the Rev. Popescu (Elias Koteas / Zodiac).

So when strange things are happening back home in the house, who ya gonna call? Ghostvicars!

Bearing far too many similarities to The Amityville Horror remake of exactly four years ago, The Haunting... draws heavily on the fact that the Campbell's new house was formerly a funeral parlour.

Old photos, ghostly visions, dodgy floorboards and secret compartments all come into play, not to mention a new twist on the Psycho shower seen.

But debut director Peter Cornwell is too busy giving us predictable multiple-choice answers without first asking the serious, challenging questions to make any of it truly scary.

www.hauntinginconnecticut.com