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An American Haunting [Unrated] [DVD] [2006]
An American Haunting [Unrated] [DVD] [2006]
 
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5 out of 5
5
Nearly fell of my bed!!
on September 27, 2009
Posted by: Swedekiss
In An American Haunting, a heavily stylistic gothic mode piece, things really do go bump in the night. Well, not so much bump, but more like thrashing around. Along with banging noises in the attic, slamming doors and windows, spinning clocks, shaking beds, rabid beasts, disappearing children, the movie offers up a barrage of sights and sounds and spooky shocks.
Heavy on the atmosphere, An American Haunting is supposedly a true story of the Bell Witch incident of 1818-21, which is supposed the most documented paranormal event in America and the only case that officially attributed a man's death to a spirit. The film uses a present-day framing device in which an adolescent girl is haunted by nightmares of an invisible intruder after discovering an old journal, an ancient doll and an equally ancient letter.
When her mother starts reading the journal, the film flashes back to the early 1800's where the Bell family of Tennessee is in a spot of bother. Up until now, Mr. Bell (Donald Sutherland) has been a respected figure in the community but it seems that he has charged a certain Kate Batts (Gaye Brown) 20% interest on a loan and then used her failure to pay, to take the land he was renting from her.
The court offers a kind of quasi-religious judgment saying it was usury, but when the judges don't exact enough punishment, Batt's puts a curse on Bell and his beautiful teenage daughter Betsy (Rachel Hurd-Wood). It doesn't take long for spirits to appear and what starts out as something sounding like squirrels banging in the attic turns into a full-blown poltergeist as Betsy's covers are pulled off her bed and she's thrust around her bedroom hanging from her hair and smacked across the face.
Whilst Betsy's father gradually deteriorates, falling ill, and seems resigned to his fate, is wife Lucy Mother Lucy (Sissy Spacek) and son John Jr. (Thom Fell) are really concerned, but haven't a clue what to do. Documenting the unsettling events in his journal is Betsy's initially skeptical teacher (James D'Arcy), whose attraction to the girl is encouraged by Lucy for grim reasons made clear in the film's final moments.
The performances are all strong, especially from veterans Sutherland and Spacek, and the revelation when it comes is actually quite a surprise. The pacing is tight and the period detail and the sense of time and place is beautifully wraught. Pulse-quickening elements abound, from cinematographer Adrian Biddle's circular camerawork, in wintry Bucharest and Montreal locations, to the dynamic sound design and Caine Davidson's all-enveloping musical score.
Some may find the episodes where Betsy is being tossed around in her bed, dragged across the floor, held suspended in midair and slapped by an invisible entity, a bit silly. And there's a real question mark over how much of these events are actually true and how much has been embellished for the film.
Still, the movie manages to boast a gothic visual atmosphere that's quite appropriate for this type of story. Those eerie forests, dimly lit rooms, washed-out dreamscapes, and dark rainy nights really give you a creepy feeling and really help perpetuate the foreboding ambience that something is not quite right at Bell House.
What's great about it: Good atmospheric ghost story
What's not so great: a little Confusing
I would recommend this to a friend!
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