The Haunting in Connecticut DVD Review
The Haunting in Connecticut DVD Review
Another wink at horror fans
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While the extended, unrated version of The Haunting in Connecticut really only offers a few more moments of squirm-inducing eyelid-ectomies and such, the DVD is still highly recommended for fans who are also interested in the back story.
Based upon the true account of Carmen Snedeker-Reed (played by the always-excellent Virginia Madsen), The Haunting in Connecticut begins as a harried stay-at-home mom and her alcoholic husband (an irascible Donovan Martin) uproot their entire lives in order to try and save their terminally ill teenager, Matt (Kyle Gallner, sympathetic without being pathetic).
Stricken with an aggressive and deadly form of cancer, Matt must receive regular experimental treatments at a particular facility that just happens to be around the corner from "that house" — you know the one: the big, roomy, dilapidated mini-mansion that's got rent so low they can't say no? If you're a fan of haunted house movies, you'll be glad they didn't — The Haunting in Connecticut spares no boo scares, and it's got all the expected elements cinematic ghost-hunters crave: things that go bump in the night, hallucinations, suspicious shadows, a wisdom-spouting exorcist, and those "skeletons in the closet".
You can read all about the plot, the acting, direction, effectiveness and so on in our theatrical release review of The Haunting in Connecticut. As for the 2-disc DVD, that's a thing unto itself.
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DVD Features:
2-Disc Special Edition DVD: Unrated Version; Standard Definition Theatrical Digital Copy; Audio Commentaries with the Filmmakers and Actors (Director Peter Cornwell, Co-writer Adam Simon, Producer Andrew Trapani and Editor Tom Elkins, then a second track with the director and actors Virginia Madsen and Kyle Gallner); Featurettes: Memento Mori, Post Mortem Photography. Interview with PHD and Psychic Examining The Haunting. Two-Part Documentary on the Actual 1987 Haunting, with Interviews with the Real Life Family and Demonologists; and The Making of the Haunting In Connecticut: Two Dead Boys.
Although its authorship cannot be pinpointed, the folktale poem recited in bits and pieces throughout the film has at least 10 close versions. Here are a couple of them:
One fine day in the middle of the night
Two dead boys got up to fight
Back to back they faced each other
Drew their swords and shot each other
One was blind and the other couldn't see
So they chose a dummy for a referee.
A blind man went to see fair play
A dumb man went to shout "hooray!"
A paralyzed donkey passing by
Kicked the blind man in the eye
Knocked him through a nine inch wall
Into a dry ditch and drowned them all
A deaf policeman heard the noise
And came to arrest the two dead boys
If you don't believe this story's true,
Ask the blind man he saw it too!
OR
I come before you, to stand behind you,
To tell you something I know nothing about.
Admission is free, so pay at the door;
Pull up a chair and sit on the floor:
Early this morning, late last night,
Two dead men rose up to fight.
Back to back they faced each other,
Drew their swords and shot one another.
A stone-deaf sheriff heard the noise,
And came and killed those two dead boys.
The mute psychotic shrieked in fright,
With words of joy at this ghastly sight.
Now if you doubt this lie is true?
Ask the blind man; he saw it, too.
My favorite featurettes was definitely the extended discussions with the family who claim to have experienced these haunting back in the 80s (if you do nothing else, watch part one — some things just may startle you!). It's the first time we see Snedeker-Reed's face (in the documentary she did for television a few years back, she preferred to be shown in silhouette shadow), and we get a lot more details about how the incidents are depicted in the film and what artistic licenses were taken.
Another favorite is Memento Mori, which is essentially an interview with Stanley Burns, the author of the book Sleeping Beauty: Memorial Photography in America. I knew a little bit about this strange, brief phenomenon in history, but I learned so much more from watching this DVD. Absolutely fascinating stuff, and quite interesting to try and put yourself into the mindset of the mourners of a bygone era.
Also available as
A Standard One-Disc DVD: Widescreen and Full Screen Theatrical Version; Theatrical trailer.
A Blu-ray Disc Extra: PG-13 Theatrical Version, with option to view the Unrated Version.
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson