Hantée

Yeah it might fit some of the clichés like a father who doesn't believe his wife until the last second, the power of love to drive away demons, and the reclusive fortune teller who ends up saving the day, but i found it an easy entertaining watch. Maybe it has something to do with how old the film is, it's kind of nostalgic and cheesy.

There could've been more moments of horror though which would've made it stand out a little more. Some of the graphics made the film look a little too cheap but I guess back then it was something far advanced and out of this world so I really can't hate on that.

I am particularly attracted to haunted house and ghost movies, even bad ones, but this movie which is supposed to be documenting the true story of Doretta Johnson's experiences in Madison,Indiana has every contrived haunted house plot point from every haunted house movie ever made, and a few new ones. There's the bodies buried on the property (it's not built on a cemetary as some commenters have thought), there's too many special effects, a crazy psychic, a disbelieving husband and a child in danger. Toss on top a mother whose stories are so crazy they have to be delusions and doctors more concerned in her than the truth and you have a movie that isn't really worth watching. One the plus side, Sharon Lawrence really has some good moments and Alex D. Linz shines as a true child actor. The hauntings aren't very scary, though, but the movie does push maybe too hard for the emotional scenes. A lot of it, however, I find just too ridiculous. The plot is just not very realistic or believable. This is what happens when you push a script too fast into production. If you want the real story, check out the re-enactment on "Haunted Lives" or the investigations on "Sightings."

Can anyone tell me where the house is in Tuckerman Arkansas that this took place with the Johnson family? I live in Tuckerman and just curious. Pretty interesting!

I believe the writers were inspired by older films to write this script and it's characters - unimaginative. The little boy will smile and follows the ghost sometimes (he reminds me a little bit of the boy in The Shining at times). The father with an axe, although Beau Bridges' characters didn't go crazy he had to use an axe on the door, reflections of The Amityville Horror and The Shining here. The psychic and the ending of the film reeks of Poltergeist.

In these types of films, why is it the neighbors will never see all the bright blinding "strobe lights" and all the screaming from the family being terrorized? This usually happens at the end/climax of the film. Yea sure blame it on sleep but all that screaming and loud "ghost noises" should have awakened one neighbor up! LOL.

This movie has a family-styled film written all over it... especially the colorful orbs from the little boy ghost. And the cutesy moments that happen, in particular with the mom, psychic and ghosts.

It's far from being a good haunted house movie but it's got a few moments of being fun. - Jeff Bridges is good in this one, he seems like an average dad with a wife seemingly going "mad".

5/10

I love ghost stories and movies but it feels like it would have been an outright lie if they had said this was BASED on "true events" instead of INSPIRED by "true events". So I'm picturing the creators sitting around discussing actual ghost stories and wanting to make something spooky and handing it over to someone who probably only worked in advertising before who had a limited knowledge of the supernatural, that being movies like Poltergeist. Throw in a mid-1990s daytime television budget and this is what ended up being trodded out.

This review was INSPIRED by actual reviews. I know that didn't make sense.