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The Haunting in Connecticut

2009 film From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Haunting in Connecticut
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The Haunting in Connecticut is a 2009 American supernatural horror film directed by Peter Cornwell, based on alleged events experienced by the Snedeker family. The film stars Virginia Madsen, Kyle Gallner, Martin Donovan, Amanda Crew, and Elias Koteas.[4][5]

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The Haunting in Connecticut was released in the United States on March 27, 2009, by Lionsgate. It received generally unfavorable reviews from critics and grossed approximately $78.8 million worldwide.[3]

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Plot

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In 1987, Sara Campbell searches for a rental home closer to the hospital where her son, Matt, is undergoing cancer treatment. She rents a large house after a chance encounter with the owner. Sara's husband, Peter, a recovering alcoholic, moves into the house with Matt, their son Billy, and their nieces Wendy and Mary. Matt chooses the basement as his bedroom, where he discovers a locked door.

Shortly after moving in, Matt experiences visions of an old man and mutilated corpses. Peter later learns that the house was previously used as a funeral home, with the locked door leading to a mortuary. Matt confides in Reverend Nicholas Popescu, another hospital patient, who advises him to discover what the spirits want. Matt's visions intensify, culminating in an episode where the family finds him scratching the walls with bloodied fingers.

The children uncover photographs depicting Jonah, a young man featured in Matt's visions, participating in séances. Research reveals that the funeral home was operated by Ramsey Aickman, who conducted psychic experiments with Jonah as a medium. During one séance, all participants, including Aickman, died under mysterious circumstances, and Jonah disappeared.

Nicholas theorizes that Aickman practiced necromancy, binding souls to the house. Nicholas discovers human remains within the property and removes them. Meanwhile, Matt is hospitalized after finding Aickman's symbols carved into his skin. In the hospital, Matt and Nicholas experience visions of the séance deaths and Jonah's attempted escape. Jonah was ultimately trapped and incinerated in the mortuary's crematory by a malevolent force.

Peter and Sara learn that Matt's cancer treatments have failed. When Matt disappears from the hospital, Nicholas contacts the family, warning them to leave the house immediately. Matt returns and breaks through the walls, uncovering corpses hidden by Aickman. He instructs Wendy and the children to flee and sets the corpses on fire. The flames engulf the house.

Emergency crews arrive as Peter and Sara attempt to rescue Matt. As Matt nears death, he envisions Jonah leading him into the afterlife, but he returns to his body upon hearing his mother's voice. Jonah's spirit departs peacefully. Following the incident, Matt's cancer disappears, and the house is rebuilt and resold without further reported hauntings.

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Cast

Production

Casting

Virginia Madsen was cast in the film in May 2007.[6] In September 2007, The Hollywood Reporter announced the casting of Kyle Gallner, Martin Donovan, and Elias Koteas.[7]

Filming

Principal photography for The Haunting in Connecticut commenced on September 10, 2007, and concluded on December 16, 2007. The film was primarily shot in Winnipeg and Teulon, Manitoba, Canada. Teulon served as the principal location, with a large, century-old house in the town used to depict the haunted residence central to the film's narrative.

The production was a collaboration between Gold Circle Films, Lionsgate, and Integrated Films & Management. It also benefited from financial support through the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (CPTC) and the Manitoba Film and Video Production Tax Credit.

Factual basis

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Promotional material for The Haunting in Connecticut claimed the film was "based on true events" experienced by the Snedeker family of Southington, Connecticut, in 1986. Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren asserted that the family's house had previously operated as a funeral home where morticians engaged in necromancy, and described the property as harboring "powerful" supernatural forces that were eventually expelled through an exorcism.[8][9] Carmen Snedeker's claims were later dramatized in episodes of the television series A Haunting, Paranormal Witness, and Mysteries at the Museum.[10]

Skeptical investigators have disputed the validity of the Snedeker family's story. Benjamin Radford noted there is "little or no proof that anything supernatural occurred at the house" and reported that author Ray Garton, hired by the Warrens to co-write In a Dark Place: The Story of a True Haunting, was instructed to "make up" material to create a more compelling narrative.[11] Researcher Joe Nickell similarly dismissed the case as a hoax, observing that some of the Warrens' collaborators later admitted being encouraged to fabricate incidents for dramatic effect following Ed Warren's death in 2006.[12]

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Release

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Box office

The Haunting in Connecticut opened in North America on March 27, 2009, and debuted in second place at the box office behind Monsters vs. Aliens. It grossed $23 million during its opening weekend, averaging $8,420 per theater across 2,732 locations.[13] The film ultimately earned $55.4 million domestically and $23.4 million internationally, resulting in a worldwide total of $78.8 million.[3]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 17% of 105 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.3/10. The website's consensus reads: "Though it features a few scares and some creepy atmosphere, The Haunting in Connecticut ultimately relies too much on familiar horror clichés to achieve its goals."[14] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 33 out of 100 based on 23 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[15] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.[16]

Critics largely criticized the film for its reliance on familiar genre tropes and overuse of jump scares. Justin Chang of The Hollywood Reporter described the film as "a grimly efficient but largely uninspired haunted-house chiller."[17] James Berardinelli of ReelViews noted that it offered "occasional shivers" but lacked originality, calling it "standard haunted house fare."[18]

Cath Clarke of The Guardian criticized its "cheap scares and emotional manipulation," while Empire described it as "a rote rehash of haunted house movies with few surprises."[19][20]

Nevertheless, the performances, particularly those of Virginia Madsen and Kyle Gallner, received praise. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times called the film "technically proficient and well-acted," even though he awarded it only two stars.[21] Common Sense Media praised Madsen's "sincere and grounded" performance, noting it elevated the material.[22]

Tim Robey of The New Republic commented that the film "musters some atmosphere", and Time Out acknowledged its "sporadic effectiveness" despite the predictability.[23][24] In The Austin Chronicle, Marjorie Baumgarten wrote that the film "manages to create genuine tension" but ultimately "falls back on standard horror conventions."[25]

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Home media

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The Haunting in Connecticut debuted at number one on the DVD and Blu-ray charts, selling 1.5 million units during its first week of release.[26] Rentrak reported that the DVD was the top-selling title in North America for the week ending July 19, 2009.[27][28]

The extended edition DVD includes two audio commentaries: one featuring director Peter Cornwell, co-writer Adam Simon, producer Andrew Trapani, and editor Tom Elkins, and another with Cornwell and actors Virginia Madsen and Kyle Gallner. Additional features include deleted scenes with optional director commentary, and several featurettes such as "Two Dead Boys: Making of The Haunting in Connecticut", "The Fear is Real: Re-Investigating the Haunting", and "Memento Mori: The History of Post Mortem Photography." The release also included a digital copy of the film on a separate disc.[29]

The DVD supplementary material was produced and directed by Daniel Farrands, who also served as a producer on the film. The featurette "Anatomy of a Haunting" includes commentary from parapsychological researchers Dr. Barry E. Taff and Jack Rourke.[30] The DVD release received the Best Ghost Story award at Home Media Magazine's 2009 Reaper Awards ceremony, held in Los Angeles in October 2009.

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Sequel

Gold Circle Films produced a follow-up titled The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia, directed by Tom Elkins and written by David Coggeshall.[31][32][33] The film was released through a limited theatrical run and via video on demand on February 1, 2013.[34]

See also

References

Sources

External links

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