Highly Overrated But Still Good

Better Late Then Never

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Pretty much what you would expect from a '90s television horror movie; a retread of plot themes already covered - in a far better way - in many other films. Bad acting, scenes of sentimental dross. And this film doesn't even give us any special effects to laugh at, which makes it very dull indeed.The acting is consistently poor, performed by low-level actors who fill out bland, uninteresting roles. I mean, one guy is called Shag, which pretty much sums up the awfulness of this film. The only actor of interest is a slumming David Soul but even he doesn't appear very much. The plot has generally been stolen from POLTERGEIST, with bits of THE AMITYVILLE HORROR and the odd scene from THE BIRDS thrown in for good measure. Except, forget any frightening phenomena...the ghost in this film delights in repeatedly flushing toilets and making the garage door go haywire. Yeah, really scary.The main trouble is that the plot just doesn't go anywhere. It briefly looks like it's going to get interesting with the family contacting a lawyer to start some kind of legal battle with the estate agents, but even this theme is not explored fully. At least they didn't opt for an overly sentimental ending, instead one of the main characters, who has a weak heart, drops dead, and the family moves out, defeated. This is probably about the only mildly interesting point of the entire film. It's long, it's boring and it doesn't go anywhere. So what if it's based on a true story, I want sensationalism in my films, not endless scenes of nothing happening! Forget this one at all costs.

This movie is about a true ghost experience that happened that happened to a couple in Texas. Other comments have been made about that it wasn't a good plot or that ghosts don't have shadows. This was not just a movie but a true story and those things really happened. For a true story, this was a pretty good movie and not just some made up Hollywood fantasy movie.

In the late 80s, Ben and Jean Williams sank their savings into having their dream home built not knowing that the developers had callously and coldly plowed over and built on top of a hitherto forgotten old black cemetery. Actually, you may want to blame the original owner for not telling the developers.Of course,the spirits of the dead are not going to sit still for this and fight back as only they can - dirty!. Instead of a psychological good-notch ghost story, the movie tells the plight of the Williams against the developers who built the Williams house. Sounds like the plot to "Poltergeist," doesn't it ? This true story is the more accurate account of the actual events near Crosby,Texas. David Selby goes from fake ghosts on "Dark Shadows" to dealing with real ones in this factual if not stirring movie. Patty Duke plays his forceful and endearing wife (I guess his DS co-star Kathryn Leigh Scott wasn't available) who tries to convince him of the ghosts' existence, but fails to do so until he gets the cahones scared out of him. David Soul plays the neighbor,Sam Haney, who put in a swimming pool and accidentally dug up the bodies. Stand-up comedian Blake Clark from "Home Improvement" is the jovial neighbor next door whose wife gets scared in the middle of the night and permanently moves out. Interesting enough, Blake has seen real ghosts himself in the haunted Laugh Factory Comedy Club in Los Angeles,California. This movie though has a wonderful plot, but it's more of a re-enactment than a movie. Thank goodness, the Warrens never got involved (see the movie "The Haunted" - 1992) or else this whole story might have smacked of a hoax. Not to insult the Warrens, of course, I really respect their profession, but every time they get involved, someone screams "Hoax !" (such as in the whole "The Amityville Horror" mythos). The characters are wonderfully portrayed, but the supernatural aspects and suspense has been played down for a more than intelligent ghost story. The only ghosts seem to be paper cut-outs seen as shadows, but then they might not have had the budget for all the special effects. The best but most brief shot is when Selby first comes across the ghosts. The movie is very realistic and emotional with some thought-provoking questions. For the full story, you need to read, "The Black Hope Horror" by Robert Curran who must have had "The Amityville Horror " in mind when he conceived the title. Don't get that movie confused with this one; this one may not be as chilling, but it makes much more sense.

A couple move into their dream home, unaware that it and its neighbours have been built over land formerly used as a cemetery. The film is said to have been based on a true story, although how much of it is supposed to be true is not disclosed. The plot is hardly unique - see Spielberg's 'Poltergeist' (1982). Within a short time, they experience various supernatural phenomena: these range from the disturbing - mysterious shadows, the serious illness of the daughter - to the frankly ridiculous - toilets continually flushing and garage doors going out of control. There is little depth to the story: once it has become established that the land had been used as a cemetery, we do not learn anything more. The plot does not seem to develop. The characters are not particularly well drawn or in any way memorable, nor is the atmosphere particularly special. The film could be disturbing to some viewers. There is no sense of catharsis or any kind of positive message from it.