Dir. Courtney Solomon, US, 2005, 91 mins
Cast: Rachel Hurd-Davies, Donald Sutherland, Sissy Spacek, James D’Arcy
Review by Richard Mellor
Say what you want about the Blair Witch, but she was definitely a classy lady. Yes, she cruelly lured innocent young students to their deaths (or did she?) in a desolate wood in deepest Maryland for no good reason, but she did so in style. Never did we see her face, or any of her dastardly incantations – it was all subtle, psychological stuff. She might as well have not been there at all…
Alas, the Bell Witch of An American Haunting (and of real American life, which she reportedly still terrorises) is not so crafty – and nor is Courtney Solomon or any of the makers of this wretched movie. The Bell Witch’s trickery is all rather hackneyed – loony-eyed young girls, creaking old houses in the middle of nowhere and even ravenous, salivating wolves. A rather tantric pace, incredibly tedious music and an absolute lack of any logic further hinder the picture she stars in. Perhaps the Bell Witch’s powers extend to sabotaging film production.
Starting from the modern day in the still haunted Bell house, Solomon’s film quickly ups sticks back to 1818 and the origins of this nasty ghoul. Donald Sutherland’s character, the bristly John Bell, is in court for an unchristian payment of land fees. Despite winning the case, John’s opponent, said by many to be a witch, vows mischief on John and, rather unfairly, John’s beautiful daughter Betsy (Rachel Hurd-Davies). Because she’s so nice, wife Lucy (Sissy Spacek) is spared, as is teacher Richard Powell (James D’Arcy), the apple of Betsy’s eye.
This is the cue for a no-surprises drive up Horror Avenue. After some initial mild scares (think windows clanging open unassisted…), Betsy begins to endure real torment. First no-one believes her; gradually though the Bells and friends are forced to admit to the haunting. But then nothing of any significance happens for ages, before a conclusion that sheds absolutely no light on anything that has preceded it. This isn’t even a clever Blair Witch-style lack of explanation; it’s just as if Solomon forgot, or accidentally cut the crucial scene from his final cinematic release.
Also missing is a dose of originality. A tremendous depression sets in when you sit and listen to mounting piano music lead to sudden ‘shock’ moments, or misleading anticlimaxes designed to lull you into a false sense of ease. Digging deep into that ever-reliable horror manual, Solomon’s film throws in a momentous number of freely slamming wooden doors and even a dusty old book (perhaps the fabled manual itself) that is used to tell the chilling tale to the modern-day characters.
Such set pieces are so age old that they simply bore. Worse, Solomon’s film genuinely loses momentum in its middle – once the nasty little Bell Witch has been established, it takes her an absolute age to demonstrate her full evil and do something really unpleasant. For almost an hour, the she tortures the same people in the same way, leaving you absolutely, worryingly desperate for an act of real severity. To sit through such turgid tripe, only to be denied the conclusion that An American Haunting so slowly builds towards, is an entirely demoralising experience.
Similarly disconcerting is the presence of two former great actors. Spacek actually does reasonably well as Lucy, injecting some refreshing spunk and bravado into the flailing female she embodies. Hurd-Davies is equally tolerable as Betsy. But quite what has happened to Sutherland is impossible to estimate. Here he looks tired, uninterested and lifeless, long before his character is required to reach that stage. As the bland Powell, D’Arcy is almost as unremarkable.
At the end of The Blair Witch Project, many of us felt inspired, energised by such a distinct, fresh approach to horror. The feeling that overwhelms at the end of An American Haunting is the complete opposite – irritability, no small amount of puzzlement at the movie’s existence, and total, profound boredom.
Lions Gate Home Entertainment have announced the UK Region 2 DVD release of An American Haunting for 28th August 2006 priced at £19.99.
Features include:
- English DD5.1 Surround
- English HOH subtitles
- Interview with Courtney Solomon and Sissey Spacek
- 8 extended deleted scenes
- 4 alternative endings
- Gag reel
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