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MOVIES / ON DVD / AN AMERICAN HAUNTING
An American Haunting

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An American Haunting (2006)

12%
29%
28%
N/A
N/A
N/A
12 %
Reviews Counted: 65 Fresh: 8  Rotten:57 Average Rating: 3.6/10
 
Consensus: Good-looking but largely scare-free. Well, it looks good. But wasn't it supposed to be scary? more
 
Runtime: 1 hr 31 mins
Synopsis:
Based on true events that took place in Tennessee during the 1800s, An American Haunting tells the story of the only documented case in U.S. history (validated by the State of Tennessee) in which a spirit caused a person's death. With over 20 books written on the subject, and a town that still... [More]
Based on true events that took place in Tennessee during the 1800s, An American Haunting tells the story of the only documented case in U.S. history (validated by the State of Tennessee) in which a spirit caused a person's death. With over 20 books written on the subject, and a town that still lives in fear of the spirit's return, the story of "An American Haunting" is terrifying. Between the years 1818-1820, the Bell Family of Red River, Tennessee was visited by an unknown presence that haunted the family and eventually caused the death of one of its members. What started as small sounds around the farm and the sighting of a black, yellow-eyed wolf escalated into physical brutality against certain family members and general psychological and physical torment. The attacks grew in strength, with the spirit slapping, pulling, dragging, and even beating the Bells' youngest daughter. Though no being could be seen, its effects were evident. It began to communicate with the family aurally, eventually through multiple voices that sounded like the wind. One message it communicated was a promise that one day it would kill one of the family members. The Bells searched for rational explanations and ways to rid their house of the evil chimera, but its presence persisted. Fearing that the haunting was caused by a local woman who had been branded a witch, the Bells tried desperately to find ways of undoing what they thought to be the woman's curse, presumably placed upon the family in retaliation for a land dispute. Despite their efforts the attacks escalated. It was not until a manuscript of the local schoolteacher, who lived on the property during the disturbance, was found in 1998 that the horrifying and shocking answer to what caused this haunting would finally be unveiled. [Less]

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Starring: Sissy Spacek, Donald Sutherland, Sissy Spacek, Rachel Hurd-Wood, James D'Arcy

Director: Courtney Solomon
Composer: Caine Davidson

DVD Info

Release:

Dec 10, 2007

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Widescreen - 1.85

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
  • Closed Captioned - English

Additional Release Material:

  • Bloopers
  • Making of
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Production Interviews - 1. Sissy Spacek - Star
  • 2. Courtney Solomon - Director
  • Trailers - Internet Promos

Interactive Features:

  • Interactive Menus
  • Scene Access

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Ratings Image

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Full Review | Comment
12/30/06 06:19 AM
Empire Magazine
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06/03/06 04:04 AM
Andrew Pulver
Guardian [UK]
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Ratings Image

Unoriginal and unrelenting, this gothic ghost story invests too much time in banging doors and billowing drapes and not enough in its characters.

Full Review | Comment
06/03/06 04:04 AM
Matthew Leyland
BBC
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Ratings Image

Disappointing horror film which fails to generate any suspense or horror and is occasionally downright laughable.

Full Review | Comment
06/03/06 04:04 AM
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
Ratings Image

This allegedly true tale of demonic possession is weighed down by period detail and ponderous storytelling, which soon get the better of its Exorcist-inspired levitations, flying crucifixes and noisy poltergeist activity.

Full Review | Comment
06/03/06 04:04 AM
Nigel Floyd
Time Out
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A collection of cheap jump-scares and tacky clichéd imagery that we've seen a million times before.

Full Review | Comment
06/03/06 04:04 AM
Joe Utichi
FilmFocus
Ratings Image

Writer-director Solomon simply can't generate any actual suspense. Although he certainly tries.

Full Review | Comment
05/18/06 11:22 PM
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
Ratings Image

Despite flaws and compromises, it's ballsier than The Sixth Sense, less laboured than The Others ...

Full Review | Comment
05/03/06 11:50 AM
Daniel Etherington
Channel 4 Film
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Full Review | Comment
07/14/07 04:51 AM
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound
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it becomes haunted by the unwelcome presence of heavy-handedness, making it seem more like a busy domestic melodrama (with a ghost) than a truly unnerving chiller.

Full Review | Comment
07/02/07 05:49 AM
Anton Bitel
Eye for Film
Ratings Image

Takes the most documented ghost story in history and doesn't create one truly scary moment.

Full Review | Comment
03/24/07 11:12 AM
Brian Tallerico
UGO
N/R

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Full Review | Comment
02/03/07 04:50 AM
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
N/R

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Full Review | Comment
12/30/06 06:19 AM
Los Angeles Daily News
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Ratings Image

This is proof that it doesn't take lots of bloody gore, big special effects or jump-at-you moments to scare jaded audiences.

Full Review | Comment
08/23/06 11:10 PM
Michael Szymanski
Sci-Fi Weekly
Ratings Image

Although [director Solomon] has some great ideas, they are limited, and we are therefore treated to repeats of the same basic scenario over and over again until the effect becomes tedious.

Full Review | Comment
06/03/06 04:04 AM
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk
Ratings Image

Director Courtney Solomon’s script is a catalogue of the standard Exorcist-style special effects, hammered home by Caine Davidson’s musical score, one of the most irritating and nerve-wracking assemblies of noise in movie history.

Full Review | Comment
06/03/06 04:04 AM
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review
Ratings Image

It really is fun to watch yet another oddball turn by Sutherland, and a marginally restrained one from Spacek. It's just not that fun.

Full Review | Comment
06/03/06 04:04 AM
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle
Ratings Image

An American Haunting utterly stultifies the thrilling Bell Witch legend on which the film is based; the most disturbing ghost here is the wraith of opportunity lost.

Full Review | Comment
06/03/06 04:04 AM
Christine James
Boxoffice Magazine
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Labeled by some as 'America’s Greatest Ghost Story,' the legendary Bell Witch gets herself another movie and the result is far from America’s Greatest Ghost Movie.

Full Review | Comment
06/03/06 04:04 AM
Eric Campos
Film Threat
Ratings Image

It's less An American Haunting than American humdrum.

Full Review | Comment
06/03/06 04:04 AM
Pam Grady
Reel.com
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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