The Haunting in Connecticut

The Haunting in Connecticut is based on a Discovery Channel documentary made in 2002 and the book, "In A Dark Place." Author Ray Garton voiced his doubt in the complete validity of the story the family was telling as he saw clear inconsistencies between the stories. Most likely, the film was inspired by events that were faulty to begin with. You come to expect something like this when a film uses the "based on a true story" claim, though. Yet, this did not take anything away from the film for me. "The Haunting in Connecticut" has an interesting take on the story, supplying us with a good back story as well as development into the present that gets the viewer to care.

Matt Campbell, played by Kyle Gallner, is a cancer-stricken teenager in massive amounts of pain. He is getting treatments, but his family is breaking in the process. Matt's mother, Sara, played by Virginia Madsen, worries about Matt's condition and their financial situation constantly. His father, Peter, played by Martin Donovan, is a recovering drunk trying to support his family. When Sara finds a cheap house to rent by the hospital, she takes it even after finding out that it used to be a mortuary. Matt picks the basement as his room, where he eventually finds the room and tools that were used on dead bodies. He begins seeing things, visions of what happened in the house years before. He specifically sees things through a boy about his age named Jonah. Matt fights these images as best, knowing he will have to take a step back in his treatment if people think he is going crazy and seeing things that aren't there.

Yet, it gets too hard to hide it from his family anymore. Eventually, he opens up to his cousin when they recover old photographs of Jonah. They discover that he was the mortician's assistant and a medium who conducted seances for customers that were desperate to have contact with their loved ones who had passed on. Matt realizes that the mortician had an evil side to him, stealing dead bodies after they were in the ground to keep them from resting in peace and giving him power through the dead. Matt doesn't know what to do with all of this information on his own so he goes to Reverend Popescu, who is also suffering from cancer and is able to see the dead. He goes to the house and gets rid of what he believes is keeping the trapped dead spirits there. In the end, it might be up to Matt to face what has been haunting him.

I really enjoyed Kyle Gallner; he proved he can carry a film and be more than a supporting character. He wore his pain on his sleeve and displayed desperation for answers that connected him to the boy in his visions. Luckily he didn't overplay the dreariness and was an enjoyable protagonist. Virginia Madsen did pretty well as the concerned mother although there were a few moments where the emotion didn't seem completely genuine. I enjoyed Martin Donovan as well, he perfectly fit the role of Matt's concerned, but unstable father. He played a recovering drunk realistically, bringing out his flaws as well as the good in him. Erik Berg gave a good mix of creepiness and tortured, strong spirit. Even before you know what his real intentions are, it's easy to sympathize with him.

The production values in the film are pretty solid. The CGI effects are actually not overdone and unrealistic, which seems rare for a horror film. The effect of the ectoplasm coming out of Jonah's mouth in the seance was a very cool image and added to the atmosphere. The house itself is pretty creepy as its dark, shadowy and muted tones give it an old and ancient feel, hinting at a house of the dead. There are a lot of black-and-white photos flashed across the screen as well as flashbacks in faded, muted colors. The flashes into the back story are a bit too frequent as it seems like the sudden, bright flashes were just for the surprise factor. It didn't take much away, but perhaps a subtler approach would have made it flow a little better. The editing throughout the film is very smooth and there's a steady pace with a good combination of story and suspense. There isn't that much gore, but there is sufficient blood. Particularly at the beginning and during the flashbacks of the mortuary, bodies are carved to relay some sort of message. The victim's eyelids are cut off, not allowing them to rest in peace.

The concept of death in the film was pretty interesting. The Reverend and Matt can see the dead, while others can't and just suspect they are crazy. The Reverend claims this is because they are both terminally ill and they are so close to death that their eyes are opened to the dead. I think the film could have been even better if they would have gone into the mind of the mortician and what he was really after. The character of Jonah was really interesting and while he became part of Matt's head, more development in the connection of their stories would have been enjoyable to see. "The Haunting in Connecticut" is a lot better than I expected it to be. It has likable and realistic characters who are given time and development. The ending seemed to be a bit too perfect and went against the mood that the film built up. Overall, "The Haunting in Connecticut" is an interesting story with good suspense and eerie visuals that could have been a stronger horror film with more exploration of the duality of the stories of the past and present.