An American Haunting

Word of warning, I'm mentioning throughout this the answer to the mystery of who is tormenting Betsy, so be wise to move on if you have been ever so fortunate not to have sat through this tripe.

American Haunting...what a tiresome, overwrought steaming pile of excrement. Director Courtney Solomon uses so much POV as to evoke us seeing through the eyes of the spirit (or id or whatever the hell you want to call it) to the point of nausea. I can only imagine Donald Sutherland was questioning to himself how he ever got involved in this inept attempt at ghosthouse horrors. It really uses The Exorcist as a model in regards to the torture Betsy endures. She gets the invisible bedroom mistreatment, the covers moving off of the body, hair pulled, extended in mid air, slapped in the face repeatedly, nightmares, weird sounds that cause her to sleep erratically, leaving the time for her to doze during school classes. The Bell family suffer hardships of a supernatural, emotional, and physical kind when patriarch John uses land of a reputed witch, Kate Batts, for its timber, even charging her 20% interest for getting it back. Batts tells John she put a curse on him and his family, although it seems Betsy gets the brunt of it. Whispers, telling Betsy to remember, could be the answer as to why she's being punished.

That is where the film really blunders. Yes, what causes all of this is Betsy herself. A part of herself is on the rampage, targeting Betsy as to remind her--in essence, to take her back to that night that seems to have been buried away--of what Daddy did to her. That is also why John himself suffers serious ailments, such as bleeding from the mouth and bodily pain. Seeing some sort of vengeful part of Betsy causing all of the violence just made me laugh. This is what we get for sitting through all that screaming, and nails scraping wood, and ficticious ferocious wolf on the Tennessee grounds, the windows breaking, the camera taking us for roller coaster rides throughout rooms, in black-and-white, a little girl popping up from time to time to visit (haunt) Betsy? Whatever.

Although the movie is shit, there are some awe-inspiring moments that creep into it every once in a while.

The film has an opening and ending in modern day where the Bell family once lived, hinting at sexual abuse all over again, this time a girl in 2005 is the subject of her papa's deviancy. Ugh.
Sissy Spacek is the mom of the Bell family, summoning up the sincerity and concern for a daughter in need of some sort of help she cannot provide, eventually wakening from whatever daze she has been under to see what has been visible all along regarding her husband and the signs of his abuse of their daughter. Regardless of the material or direction, seasoned pros like Spacek can somehow persevere. Sutherland's demand of God to take him but leave the family alone couldn't be less inspired and who could blame him? The only good thing, besides a Spacek who tries to rise above the film's abundance of deficiances, is the beauty of the Bell home and grounds, the art direction is not too shabby. All the special effects, including the candles going out and fire inside the fireplace erupting with explosiveness, in the world couldn't save this movie. To be honest, I only bought this because it was fitted in a package with The House That Dripped Blood at Walmart; it I could have cut it away like a cancer, and just had the Amicus classic my life would have been far better...

A question--Could someone please make a Gothic horror film about the Bell Witch where there isn't a heavy emphasis on loud music cues and jump scare theatrics trying to get a rise out of a bored audience? And, please, oh please, try and give us a movie with a legitimate witch and use some old school methods that get under the skin like the good old days. Nah, that is all passe in today's time where CGI is the norm and the use of tactics such as loud sound design are opted to try and make you jump out of your seat. One more question, why does Betsy's eyes go white? Explanations, please? None, no surprise... The actor who portrays Richard, the schoolteacher in love with his student, Betsy, couldn't be more dull (maybe it is the bland character he's saddled with?).