An American Haunting

Spooky moments hacked together

By TOM MEEK | May 9, 2006

1.0 Stars

THE EXORCIST WITH BONNETS AND BUGGIES: An American Haunting

Like The Amityville Horror, Courtney Solomon’s dim-lit, pioneer period fright fest clings to its “based on true events” tag, otherwise no one would care. The spooking takes place in an early 1880s Tennessee settlement after John Bell (Donald Sutherland), a man of stature, gets into a land dispute with a reputed witch. Doors slam in the Bells’ quaint farmhouse and their daughter, Betsy (Rachel Hurd-Wood), gets hung in the air and bitch-slapped by an invisible specter. It’s The Exorcist with bonnets and buggies. Solomon, whose only other credit is Dungeons & Dragons, hacks together one spooky moment after another — and they often, and annoyingly, turn out to be dream sequences. He also puts to sleep Sutherland and Sissy Spacek (as the mother). Hurd-Wood gives it a gutsy go, even as the hokum implodes. If that’s not enough to scare you off, the final twist that carries through to the present day will put your hair on end.

Topics: Reviews , Entertainment, Movies, Donald Sutherland, More

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