The Haunting in Connecticut | |
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Promotional film poster
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Directed by | Peter Cornwell |
Produced by |
Paul Brooks Daniel Farrands Wendy Rhoads Andrew Trapani |
Written by |
Adam Simon Tim Metcalfe |
Starring |
Virginia Madsen Kyle Gallner Martin Donovan Amanda Crew Elias Koteas |
Music by | Robert J. Kral |
Cinematography | Adam Swica |
Edited by | Tom Elkins |
Production
company |
Gold Circle Films
Integrated Films |
Distributed by | Lionsgate |
Release date
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Running time
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92 min. |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $10 million |
Box office | $77,527,732 |
The Haunting in Connecticut is a 2009 American psychological horror film produced by Gold Circle Films and directed by Peter Cornwell. The film is alleged to be about Carmen Snedeker and her family, though Ray Garton, author of In a Dark Place: The Story of a True Haunting (1992), has publicly distanced himself from the accuracy of the events he depicted in the book. The film's story follows the fictional Campbells as they move into a house (a former mortuary) to mitigate the strains of travel on their cancer-stricken son, Matthew. The family soon becomes haunted by violent and traumatic events from supernatural forces occupying the house.
Although it was a moderately successful film at the box office (it grossed $77,527,732.), it received "generally unfavorable reviews" according to Metacritic. In 2010 Gold Circle Films announced the production of two more entries in the franchise, The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia (released 2013) and The Haunting in New York. They noted, however, that neither film would be a direct sequel to Haunting in Connecticut and would instead be self-contained films with unique characters.
In 1987, Sara Campbell (Virginia Madsen) is driving her son Matthew (Kyle Gallner) home from the hospital where he has been undergoing cancer treatments. Sara and her husband Peter (Martin Donovan), a recovering alcoholic, discuss finding a rental house closer to the hospital. On another hospital visit, Sara finds a man putting up a “For Rent” sign in front of a large house. The man is frustrated and offers her the first month free if she will rent it immediately.
The following day, Peter arrives with Matt's brother Billy (Ty Wood) and cousins Wendy (Amanda Crew) and Mary, and they choose rooms. Matt chooses the basement, where there is a mysterious door. After moving in, Matt suffers a series of visions involving an old, bearded man and corpses with symbols carved into their skin. The next day, Peter learns that the house was supposedly a funeral home; the room behind the mysterious door is a mortuary.