blakkdog So just to be clear, there's no actual ghost or demonic presence in this movie at all. No curse and no real haunting technically. The movie is basically about a living disassociated haunting. This movie reminds me of The Uninvited which also tries to pull a fast one by appearing to be a traditional ghost movie but breaks down to being only about hallucinations and lies and contains NO supernatural activity at all no matter how much its implied (or lied about in the trailers). Both movies left me feeling a bit empty because they try so hard to accomplish their respective twists of being a ghost film at the same time as NOT being a ghost film (and in fact being about psychological breakdown).This movie in particular was a muddled mess of metaphors and reality and "hauntings" melding into dreams melding into more and more and MORE scenes of "haunting trauma", many without a climax or an explanation or any kind of bridge to allow the audience to exhale and nod and think they understand whats going on and to prepare themselves for the next scene or to allow us to feel we are making even the tiniest bit of headway in dealing with the situation. Even without the molestation/disassociation twist being thrown in there, the movie got to be over the top with its continual haunting episodes without relief or the hint of a solution while this poor little girl is getting beat up and thrown around and raped and after a while seems almost catatonic with distress and no one seems able to handle the situation and the entity seems impervious to everything they try. I think it tries to be a little too much Exorcist without any of the depth of that movie. Just a lot of bed scenes of a young girl being tormented by something supernatural while her parents watch helplessly and a priest cant seem to help.But then you have the twist... which was too much for me. A living poltergeistic projection? What?? And her actually appearing as a ghost of herself at the end was absurd. Im sorry. And not sure if we really needed the book end bits from the "modern" family going through the exact same thing.

Josh Anderson I don't know why, because I'm a pretty harsh critic, especially when it comes to horror movies. I feel like the majority of "scary" movies rely too much on the "boo" factor and are somewhat predictable or have some silly monster that is just not believable. A lot of them, too, seem to borrow from others and just try too hard. I knew nothing of this movie going into it and started to roll my eyes after the first scene. However, when the real story in the 1800's got going, things started to get pretty chilling and I was pleasantly surprised. I was also surprised at some of the cast being some big names(Sissy Spacek & Donald Sutherland)I didn't think the plot was predictable which kept me on the edge of my seat. Unexpected elements such as the black wolf are necessary to keep a movie original and unpredictable. I wasn't a huge fan of the twist and how the hauntings were explained...In fact, that seems to be the downfall of a lot of horror...when they try to neatly tie everything up and explain the happenings.

Nitzan Havoc Being the Horror freak that I am, I like reviewing the films I watch, for future references as wall as for others to hopefully read and benefit.An American haunting is a ghost story attempting to raise fear in the hearts of spectators without using the common methods. Unlike other ghost films, no visible ghost with a creepy face is visible here, except for in one scene towards the end, and even then only for a second. Also, there was no use of the annoying "sudden occurrence + loud bass music" (and that's good, for I'm tired of directors using that cheat).So, while "playing fair" in trying to make us scared - the outcome was fairly disappointing. The story is good (though the film is based on a novel, so I could only be decent and give credit to the author for that, rather than the director or screenwriter). The turn of events towards the end was successful in catching me off guard. In the beginning of the film I actually guessed the information uncovered towards the ending, but the film did a good job in throwing me off and making me forget about it.Acting-wise, this film is a complete let down. Except for Mathew Marsh, whose vivid and true acting of religious/drunk James Jhonston was an island of comfort in a sea of let-down, the actors were mediocre at best. I'm not sure it was only the acting, perhaps also the direction... but the way the family reacted to the tragedy that befell them was as unrealistic as possible. It was like an unnatural disaster had happened, and their reaction is "meh, this isn't good..."All in all, I did enjoy watching An American Haunting, but wasn't at all spooked by it. The entire "horror" part was simply absent. Objectively - I wouldn't blame anyone who would't like this film one bit. However, if nothing more - it serves as a good "trailer" for Brent Monahan's novel, of which I wouldn't have known without this film, and which I'm now very curious to read!

kattmatt I thought the movie was okay - not mega scary, but had a few "jump" bits. Didn't mind the fact that they kept "repeating" the same thing (girl screaming, family being locked out of room) - isn't that the same with slasher flicks (girl screaming, psycho slashes, girl dies etc)?? BUT what totally lost me to this movie was the fact that it tried to end with it all being a case of incestual rape of the daughter by her father, and the mother poisoning the father... Yeah, because everyone heard voices and saw wolves etc due to the guilt the father and daughter felt... sure. Dumb arse ending. Should have left it as an actual haunting movie.