Writer: Ezekiel Lee Zhiang Yang

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Watch this if you liked: "Amitiville", "An American Haunting"

Supernatural horror - it's a weary genre and it takes very little for one to start dismissing any new movie as stale and as derivative of others.

Virginia Madsen (who has been landing dubious roles like the voiceover for a recent cartoon adaptation of "Wonder Woman") leads an uninspired cast in this formulaic, sudden-loud-noise project, based on the alleged true story of one Snedeker family back in the 80s where an ex-funeral parlour turned commercial home was given prominent media exposure for supposed paranormal activities. However, Madsen along with upcoming young players Amanda Crew ("Sex Drive") and Kyle Gallner (TV's "Smallville") were not enough to lift this movie out of its mediocrity and tedium because of an unconvincing script and a hurried plot.

Shame - the movie has some decent sequences and strong promo visuals, not to mention the superb poster with the ectoplasm-vomiting kid. That kid does have a big significance in the story but this is not adequately explored. The story even has a creepy box of dried human eyelids in it. Perhaps, props and items alone are not enough when the connecting stories do not strike intrigue and command belief.

In a nutshell, "The Haunting In Connecticut" is a very average movie that managed to secure wide distribution but is largely too similar to other supernatural horrors to be remembered for anything it does have going for it. You can also read that the true story from which it is based wasn't too much of a sensation either, after the heat of early investigations died down.

Perhaps, the rule of the day when it comes to supernatural horror is still 'how many ways can you spin a haunted house story?' Better luck next time.

Cinema Online, 06 July 2009