Haunt (C+)

So you want to hear a ghost story?

I really had to give my rating for Haunt a good think before I decided what to rate it. In the end, I felt it was definitely worth my time to watch. It doesn't break much new ground, but it's still a quality film with a lot of creepy moments. I've never heard of the director, Mac Carter, before, but this was his feature film directorial debut. I'm quite interested to see what he does next, as Haunt is a well-crafted film which may lead to more original works in the future (knock on wood).

Like many ghost stories, Haunt begins with a house. A family of five lived there, but something horrible happened to their three children. We meet the father, Franklin Morello (played by Carl Hadra), in the opening moments of the film. He uses a wooden "ghost box" (which appears to be a modified radio) to contact the spirits of his dead children before being violently slain by some otherworldly power. A voice over from his wife, Janet (Jacki Weaver), accompanies the film's opening and sets the initial tone.

Fast forward to another family, the Ashers, who are viewing the house with their realtor. They buy the house, of course, because there wouldn't be much of a movie to see if they didn't. The three Asher children, Evan (Harrison Gilberson), Sara (Danielle Chuchran), and Anita (Ella Harris), don't seem overly thrilled about the place, but their parents, Emily (Ione Skye) and Alan (Brian Wimmer), are immediately enamored by it. It's a pretty nice house, honestly, large and in great shape. The only downside is the mysterious circumstances by which Franklin Morello and his three children met their ends. Local folklore insists the home is cursed, but the place is much too good of a deal to pass up.

She's not really chewing the scenery here. Just wait.

Janet Morello shows up at the house one day, looking for a painting of her son that she left behind in Evan's new room. She meets the Ashers and welcomes them to the home. Still, she's a creepy lady with a haunted look, doubtless the result of losing her entire family to... something. Janet sticks around long enough to get her painting and drum up some pity from Emily.

After the Ashers have moved in, Evan excuses himself one evening to go for a walk. While out and about in his somewhat rural neighborhood, he meets Sam (Liana Liberato). Sam, after taking a beating from her drunken father, is upset, and Evan attempts to soothe her. She rebuffs him, but it's obvious the two are going to end up together later on.

After another night of abuse, Sam sneaks into the Asher's home and slips into bed with Evan. Nothing sexual goes down between the two (at least, not yet), but Sam's presence is discovered by Anita the next morning. Evan's a good, honest kid (almost too good and honest, despite smoking the occasional joint), and he doesn't hide anything from his folks. His parents, though concerned with Sam's sudden presence in their son's life, trust him. Evan's mom, Emily, senses there's more to Sam than meets the eye after noticing bruises on Sam's arm. She tries to talk to the young woman, and offers to help her if she needs it. Sam refuses.

Dental care isn't all that important in the afterlife.

Sam tells Evan that she's been in the house before, though she isn't specific about why or when. She reveals the presence of the ghost box in a small room connected to Evan's. The two use the ghost box and hear something that frightens both of them, especially Evan. Things begin to spiral out of control until Evan decides to pay Janet Morello a visit to ask for help. Janet isn't happy to see Evan, and she wigs out, telling he and Sam to burn the ghost box, which they do. Of course, this isn't the end of their paranormal problems, far from it.

The film's ending is brutal and tragic, and answers the majority of the questions surrounding the haunting and its origin. I'm not sure it will satisfy all viewers, but that's sort of up to you... right?

Haunt contains a lot of ghost story tropes--EVP (electronic voice phenomena), possession, and slamming doors, to name a few. It utilizes them well, though, and the results are creepy and, at times, genuinely frightening. It does resort to a few "gotcha" scares here and there, which I've never been a huge fan of, but they're largely in line with the movie and don't detract from it too much.

Sam's got a few problems to hammer out.

The acting is very good across the board. The cast seemed very talented, though Jacki Weaver does chew the scenery up whenever she's on camera. The cinematography, too, is fine, and the special effects definitely get the job done. Like I mentioned initially, the story doesn't break much new ground as far as these sorts of movies are concerned, but the fact that Haunt is well-made makes up for the lack of innovation.

Haunt is currently available on NetFlix if you feel the urge to watch it. IMDB's reviewers aren't very kind to the movie, but everyone's going to have a different opinion. I, for one, enjoyed the movie, especially after some of the real stinkers I've seen, and I'd recommend it to my friends. And to you, of course.