Film Reviews

An American Haunting

• Rating:
• Director: Courtney Solomon
• Starring: Donald Sutherland
• Details: US, 92mins, 15s.

With almost twenty books written on the subject, this true story happened between the years 1818 - 1820 when the god-fearing Bell family of Tennessee were subjected to the torments of a demon, which terrorised the house and concentrated all its venom on the young girl Betsy (Hurd-Wood). What started out as moaning coming from the attic and blankets ripped off beds in the middle of the night, the demon soon became violent and started to slap and beat Betsy, causing her much physical harm. If anyone tried to help the girl, they were subjected to beatings from the poltergeist. Soon, the spirit started to communicate with the family and seemed intent on killing at least one member. Nothing could stop the evil spirit, not even the presence of a priest who all but moved into the Bell house to get to the bottom of the problem. But what caused the horrific events only unfolded in 1998 when a manuscript by the schoolteacher Richard Powell (D'Arcy), present throughout the ordeal, was discovered.
Kicking off with pomp and confidence by giving his film a dark, creepy atmosphere, director Courtney Solomon (Dungeons and Dragons) loses the run of himself before the half four mark, dropping the ball on what could have being a complex gothic horror/thriller. His sepia-toned demon POV swooping around the family looks like an amateur student film, the habit of killing the action by fading to black just as a scene is reaching a climax (Betsy being dragged by the hair up the stairs by an invisible force being just one example) is infuriating and his initial overkill of the 'false jumps' that are a horror movie staple become redundant once the real jumpy moments appear. And then there's that ridiculous twist and an infuriating superfluous ending.

Review by Gavin Burke