Solomon disappoints, despite the strong cast, with cheap scares and a late plot twist

An American Haunting (2006) -dir. Courtney Solomon - 2 stars

It seems like Hollywood advertising got the better of us. Again. The first incident was M. Night Shyamalan's 'The Village,' where moviegoers were lured into the cinemas expecting the next best horror movie since 'the Sixth Sense.' What they found instead was a decent drama with tons of abrupt cuts and sound effects that made you jump, not be afraid. The same goes with 'An American Haunting,' where the hype doesn't live up to the offering.

Even though the visual and sound effects are positively creepy, the story itself is better cut out for a drama, rather than a horror film. Solomon gives you enough to make your own nightmare throughout the film, but it's very disappointing to not see it come to life on the big screen. As the film progresses, the screenplay steers towards themes of incest and sexual abuse that somehow relate to or even cause paranormal energy. Even if you buy into the plot twist, it comes so late in the film that it just feels like the writers ran out of scary moments and decided to wrap up the plot. It's unsatisfying at best.

Only the strong cast saves the tired old story from the Hollywood horror flick formula of 'spirits in the old, creaky house.' Solomon is lucky to have Donald Sutherland and Sissy Spacek as part of his cast. They bring an air of truth and believability to an emotionally dead film. Without their performance or mere presence, there would be almost no character development or viewer empathy towards the unfortunate Bell family.

Either Hollywood has not counted how many years have passed since the original Exorcist, or they just have too much money lying around. They keep funding films that try to deviate from the haunting slightly to add a psychological twist to the story, which they hope will separate each of these films from the pack. In the guidance of this new breed of horror films, Solomon's film attempts to become better than just a horror movie, which fails miserably. The only twist comes towards the last ten minutes of the film and is not explored in depth, which is very disappointing given the possibilities the twist could accommodate.

Nonetheless, 'an American Haunting' has inspired me. I have finally made a rule which I will follow fervently. If the scares are always in the editing or post-production stage of a film, I will not consider that film as a horror film. It'll be in the 'Genre Confused Failed Horror Films' section.