An American Haunting -- 2005 -- UR (PG-13)

I watched the DVD Unrated version of this film.

This one opened with a bang in a girl running like hell through a wooded area and into her house where she is momentarily terrorized and awakens from a dream. From here, we dip into the past via a diary read by the mother of the house and learn about the Bell family and slowly but surely find them being terrorized by some kind of demonic spirit. The attacks worsen and the daughter hallucinates more and more and the only clue we get for some time is "She once was happy."

It's difficult to go much further into this plot without spoiling the shocking revelation of the third act and how it relates to the exterior modern story. I was wondering about this exterior story for the duration of the flashback, but once all came out, it all fell into place perfectly and shockingly.

The characters could have been better but they were pretty decently rounded. We hit a few slow spots and the movie threatened to throw you off track in multiple places, but quickly pulled you back into where the story is stifling many complaits I was getting as it moved forward. I wondered at one point why they don't leave the house, and while it seemed to take too long to reach this point, they did attempt and answer that question.

I did feel in many places the character seemed to be taking the incredible events far too calmly. At one point, two girls were in a room being terrorized, and neither of them cried out for help for quite some time.

This film focused on the creepy more than the pace, and for awhile, it got a little sluggish and I wanted it to move a little quicker since nothing happened for long moments, not even a threat.

So in the end, we get another that ranks as not bad, but just not spectacular. Maybe I'm getting jaded.