Who payed the critics

Good concept, poorly executed.

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

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.

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!

This movie fuc*ing SUCKS. Donald Sutherland and Sissy Spacek deserve to be in a DECENT film, not a shi**y one like this.It's not scary at all and you even get bored during its stupid plot twist. It is also full of flaws. Some stupid cliché loud noises, sounds and even some nonsense scenes were added in an effort to make some scenes scary, it just made them worse.Not even Sissy and Donald could save this film. Their acting was GREAT as always, of course, but their were one of the only few good acting. The film itself is just pure sh*t.Watch a GREAT horror movie: The Exorcist.

With a title like, "An American Haunting", many viewers won't be surprised that Canadians were involved with its production. And knowing that Canadians were involved, they will have probably concluded that the movie is bad. And they would be right. I guess the production values are okay for a movie without a Hollywood blockbuster budget, but there is pretty much nothing else positive I can find here. The main problem is that there is almost no plot - it's just one ghost attack after another, with little to nothing to advance the story between these attacks. And the ghost attacks themselves are not the least bit scary. The filmmakers try to juice things up with frenzied camera movements and screaming, but this fails to liven these parts of the movie. And what does the modern day prologue/ending have to do with the bulk of the movie? The only interesting thing the movie teaches us is that ghosts like to repeatedly slap people in the face.