An American Haunting

—1. Overview
—2. Cast and Crew
—3. Photo Pages
—4. Trailers, Clips, DVDs, Books, Soundtrack
—5. Posters (Horror Movies)
—6. Production Notes (pdf)
—7. Spiritual Connections
—8. Presentation Downloads

In the 1800’s in Red River, Tennessee, a supposed witch puts a curse on the Bell family after a heated dispute over land ownership and interest paid. John Bell (Donald Sutherland) is found guilty of breaking church law (usury) and loses his “good name.” After the hearing before the church council, the Bell family experiences a host of haunting episodes. There are strange sounds in the night, candles flicker and blow out, doors slam shut, and Betsy Bell (Rachel Hurd-Wood), John’s teenage daughter, is being physically abused by this poltergeist. This force cannot be stopped nor explained from religious or scientific viewpoints and the Bell family is left at the mercy of their tormentor. Now, in the present, the new occupants of the Bell family estate are experiencing a similar haunting.
An American Haunting is a retelling of the best-documented and only recorded case in American history where a spirit or entity caused the death of a human being.

This film was amazing. It may seem from the previews to be a typical story of a little girl possessed, but there is so much more. There is so much I want to tell about this film, but I dare not give away the plot. However, I can assure you, dear readers, this is not your typical possession-horror story. I will reveal one exciting clue: this spirit is not part of the house, nor is the entity contained by it.

This film was carried by the performances of the actors. A lot of times the faces of someone horrified in a film like this can cause the scene to go south because the actor looks silly, however, I never felt this way. I constantly felt the fear, confusion, and dread of the characters. Donald Sutherland plays John Bell whose physical appearance and health diminish on screen as the film progresses. Sissy Spacek delivers a great performance as Lucy Bell, John’s wife. Sissy had a perfect demeanor for this role and was the most identifiable character in the film. Rachel Hurd-Wood does a wonderful job of carrying the film and has a great scream. The first time that she was “possessed” the whole theater went completely quiet, which is a rarity.

One thing that did bug me, however (and this is me being the typical viewer) was how often they left Betsy alone in her room. The rest of the cast spent half the movie running up the stairs to the aid of Betsy. John and Lucy Bell constantly returned to Betsy’s room to find her being attacked and I just kept asking myself, “Why do you keep leaving her alone?! If that were my daughter, I would be in that bed with her! I would never leave her side!” Oh well, it’s just a movie.

The cinematography of this film is sometimes hinted of the Village, however, that is mostly because of the time-period presented. Just as in M. Knight Shyamalan’s film, the screen is full of browns, deep greens, and off-white tones which set that “old-timey” feel of 19th century living in the United States. The camera work was done splendidly considering that 75% of the film was taking place at night in a large, candle-lit house.
One thing that thrilled me was the use of screen effects in this film. The first time that Betsy Bell experiences the spirit, the screen randomly flashes with a look that resembles film-negative. Further, after everyone in household has seen Betsy being thrown about in her room by an unseen-assailant, they all congregate in the great room, silently pondering the events of the evening. As John Bell, his wife, Lucy, his son, a family friend and the local school teacher sit in this room blankly staring in fear, the camera moves between them all with seamless ease, giving the audience the point of view of the sprit. As the sprit moves between them, the screen flashes with the negative effect, but also fades in and out between the treated film, black and white, and the work print of the film. For those unfamiliar with film terminology, a “work print” is the print of the film that has not been treated, corrected, or digitally altered. This is most recognizable when watching deleted scenes from films; you can notice a “grainy” look to the picture. A third impressive effect was thin, blurred lines on the edge of the picture. We later find that this represented a dream sequence (did somebody say Saved by the Bell?!), but still wholly impressive.

Perhaps most movies that deal with demon possession or ghosts cannot escape the fact that they are going to have a religious aspect to them, and An American Haunting is no different. In an initial attempt to rid their home of this spirit, the Bells invite their friend, Rev. James Johnston (Matthew Marsh), to try and help cast away this un-holy presence. First, he leads a séance and orders the spirit to leave “in the name of Jesus Christ.” At first, it seems to have worked until the screaming starts, coming from Betsy’s room. Later, a Bible is ripped from his hands as Johnston reads, once again commanding the spirit to leave, and the pages are torn from the book as it lie on the floor.
Professor Richard Powell (James D’Arcy), the local school teacher, is asked to come to experience the phenomenon in the Bell house for himself. Powell is convinced that they are all experiencing a mass hallucination; he is quickly proved wrong. Powell tries to explain these occurrences logically, but he is convinced they are dealing with something “not of this earth” at the sight of the pages being torn out of the Bible. An interesting scene takes place here where Powell determines that the spirit knows scripture, so Powell asks questions like, “Was the reading from the Gospel of Mark? Was the reading from the Gospel of Matthew? Was is a Psalm of David?”, to which is replied only by creaks and groans from the walls of the house.

A wonderful scene takes place towards the end of this film: Betsy Bell is lying in bed next to her best friend, having just awaked from a nightmare. Her friend wraps her arms around Betsy and asks her, “Betsy… do you believe in the Lord?” Betsy replies, “I used to.”
It is true that in times of great struggle we, as weak, fragile beings, tend to doubt our very beliefs and whether or not God is there. However, James 1:1 tells us to “count it all joy, my brothers, when you experience trials of many kinds.” This proves to be one of the hardest things to do as a person; to look opposition right in the eyes and thank God for it and know that it will develop further endurance and character in us. All we can usually think during harsh times is “Why me?” and “Why did you let this happen?”
Another thing we need in life is someone that will ask us those important questions, as Betsy’s friend did in that scene. We need someone in our lives that is going to ask us the hard questions and keep us on our toes. Also, we all need to be that kind of friend: the kind of friend that cares so much to ask, “Do you believe in the Lord?”

An American Haunting is rated PG-13 for intense terror sequences and thematic material with a running time of 91 minutes.
I give this movie three dropped jaws and a spine-tingler award and I recommend this film to all fans of the horror genre. This movie is a must-see in theaters!

— Overview