Search - An American Haunting [Unrated] on DVD

An American Haunting [Unrated]

Actor(s): Donald Sutherland, Sissy Spacek, Rachel Hurd-Wood, James D'Arcy, Matthew Marsh
Director(s): Courtney Solomon
79

Movie Details

MPAA Rating: NR
Content Advisory: Violence, Adult Situations
Movie Release: 2006
DVD Release: 10/24/2006
Format: DVD - Color,Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
Audio Tracks: English
Subtitles: English, Spanish
SwapaDVD Credits: 1
Number of Discs: 1
Run Time: 1 hrs 30 mins
Studio: Lions Gate
Total Copies: 49
Genres: Horror, Period Film, Supernatural Horror
See Also: An American Haunting

DVD Synopsis

The wind whispers ominous warnings of death before a malevolent entity arrives to claim the life of a young girl as director Courtney Solomon brings author Brent Monahan's chilling, fact-based tale of supernatural murder to the screen in this tale of terror starring Donald Sutherland and Sissy Spacek. The year was 1818 and the Bell family was a quiet clan residing on a remote farm in Red River, Tennessee. A normal, loving family by all accounts, the uneventful lives of the Bell family began to take a dark turn when strange noises around the farm preceded the arrival of a black wolf with piercing yellow eyes said to strike unspeakable fear into the very soul of all who encounter it. As the sadistic spirit singles out the youngest daughter of the Bell family for torment and her frightened parents search frantically for a rational explanation to the chilling events unfolding in their once happy home, an eerie, disembodied voice promises death from beyond the grave. With the struggle rapidly turning violent and the Bell's desperate prayers for mercy going unanswered time and again, the shocking murder that followed would prove the only case in recorded American history where the death of a human being was directly attributed to an attack by an evil entity or spirit. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Actors

Donald Sutherland - John Bell
Sissy Spacek - Lucy Bell
Rachel Hurd-Wood - Betsy Bell
James D'Arcy - Richard Powell
Matthew Marsh - James Johnston

Member Movie Reviews

Cara F. (dichten) from PRT WASHINGTN, WI wrote on 11/18/2009...

While the theory posed in this film is interesting, this theory does nothing to truly explain the Bell Witch activity going on today -- some 200 years later (though it tries, it really does). And no matter how interesting this theory is, it cannot save the previous hour and ten minutes one had to sit through in order to get to this theory. And even then

After some horrid, teenage goth font-ed opening credits, we are brought to a forest in 2006 where a teenage girl is running from some unseen force. She races into her house, then into her bedroom where she bars herself in with a shoddy-looking hasp lock. Things quiet down and we presume she is safe, until -- dum dum du-um -- the bad CGI of a ghost girl hovers in the mirror beside this living teenager.

We are we even in 2006? Didn't the whole Bell Witch thing happen a long time ago?

We are in 2006 because we have to be introduced to this girl and her mother. Mom seems fed up with the daughter, learning that she has gone into the forbidden attic and stolen a diary.

Through this diary we are taken back to 1818 and the Bell family. Ha. Ingenious, right?

The film jumps back and forth between the Bell haunting and the mother reading the diary. On more than one occasion the 2006 mother looks at what appears to be an old wedding photograph between Betsy Bell and her teacher.

All in all, this movie is horribly milquetoast. Sissy Spacek and Donald Sutherland (the two actors I thought would carry this movie) seem if they were suppressed to the point of drowning.

Granted, there are a few scenes which made me jump -- but not so strongly to make me watch this movie again.

My advice: read a book about the Bell Witch (there are quite a few out there) instead of watching this movie. The books will surely spook you more thoroughly.

Brad S. (Snibot) from CEDAR PARK, TX wrote on 11/17/2009...

I liked it, then it ended, and I thought "I sat through this movie for this?" It was well written, fantastically acted, the soundtrack was fitting, and the wardrobe and setting, really sold the movie, it was really quite interesting. The ending just killed this movie, it made no sense as it came out of left field, actually it came from a different field. Anyway, worth watching once, but I can't see myself sitting through it again.

Aimee S. (Ariadnae) from SCOTTOWN, OH wrote on 11/21/2008...

0 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

I found this to be interesting film, perhaps since I have had a great interest in the Bell Witch for some time. I found myself intrigued by the treatment of the ending, one of many theories concerning the origins of the Bell Witch. Special effects are good, character development could have been a little more detailed. A good, but not a great, film.

Lisa E. from MUNDELEIN, IL wrote on 1/27/2008...

who said all the good gools are over seas in the UK some are here also.

Jason C. (JJC) from NEWARK, NJ wrote on 1/18/2008...

3 of 4 member(s) found this review helpful.

"An American Haunting" is an attempt to bring us an old-fashioned witch story, which is based on true events of the Bell Witch. It fails miserably. If it wasn't for the good cast and a few cool moments, this movie wouldn't be worth a damn.

The look of it is great, the acting solid...but it's horribly manufactured. Then again, this came from the writer/director of "Dungeons & Dragons," what was I to expect? What is written of the Bell Witch in books and on websites is much more chilling and interesting than this film.

Don't waste your time. "An American Dud" is more like it.