VIDEO: The trailer for The Haunting in Connecticut
It's no shocker that The Haunting in Connecticut — a film inspired by the "true tale" of a family who stir up a nest of spooks when they move into a former mortuary — offers many a groan-worthy moment: the thrills are cheap, the opening credits are in Papyrus font (the fastest way to draw snorts from a theater full of Emerson students), and the expositional wad of a scene where two kids dig up the house's gory occult past at the library is more Scooby-Doo than Amityville.
Despite these eye rollers, The Haunting proves enjoyable horror fare. Director Peter Cornwell's first feature-length outing merrily mashes up The Shining and Poltergeist, tossing in gobs of gurgling apparitions, fiery ectoplasm, and one particularly nasty eyelid flensing. T
he icing on this creepshow cake are the fine performances from Virginia Madsen as a God-fearing mom and Kyle Gallner as her tormented, cancer-stricken son.
