A Savannah Haunting

Well, the cover for this 2021 horror movie wasn't really screaming - pardon the pun - of overly impressive horror movie. Yet, I still opted to sit down and watch it here late in 2022, as I happened to stumble upon it. Now, I hadn't heard about the movie when I sat down to watch it, so I didn't know what I was in for, aside from it being a horror movie.

I will say that writer and director William Mark McCullough was definitely on to something here, because there was potential in the storyline. However, the narrative was just too slow paced and the movie didn't have enough of exciting things happening to keep it interesting. And that made for a somewhat tedious viewing experience.

The acting performances in "A Savannah Haunting" were good, so it really was a shame that the actors and actresses didn't have a more compelling and exciting script to bring to life on the screen.

Visually then this movie was adequate. It is a movie that makes use of simplistic effects to layer the movie with scares. It works out well enough, but the special effects and practical effects could only do so much to lift up the monotonous and mundane pacing and subpar script.

"A Savannah Haunting" definitely had potential to be a good and proper horror movie, but sadly it was butchered by the pacing and the lack of excitement.

My rating of "A Savannah Haunting" lands on a very generous four out of ten stars.

There was some potential here for sure and it was lightly entertaining, but know that there is almost zero originality in this one. It felt like an amalgamation of every horror trope and cliché that you've ever seen being used as building blocks to create a generally mediocre film.

Now, while that sounds harsh, this wasn't totally unsuccessful. It held my attention enough and I was intrigued by said potential. I think two things that largely held it back were it's run time and the acting.

This one definitely dragged and I think with some editing and shortening providing for a more concise run, it would've been more successful. Also, the acting was generally unsuccessful and unconvincing. The stilted performances all around were distracting and pulled you out of the story. I think if you are able to look past these two major variables there is potential to be had.

This was mostly sitting at a 4 for me but I think it was recovered a bit largely due to the third act. It ended up becoming a bit more interesting and a bit more spooky. 4.5 rounding up to a 5 and I would only recommend if you have patience and a love for truly indi cinema.

I attempted to watch this train wreck of a film or video I should say. Filmed in the hallmark channel style. I was disappointed and disturbed by the horrific acting, odd camera placement and shoehorned "relationship?", child *olestation scene perpetuated by a trespasser. These unrealistic, questionable situations made for a difficult watch. I is so sad how current 'filmmakers' lack basic storytelling skills. Every story seems to evolve into an opportunity to parade their personal political views. The african american angle was truly awful. The film comes off as nothing more than someone's effort to co-op any and everything 'popular', with millennials, into a mediocre story that fails to inspire anything but disgust and revulsion. So many unanswered questions, so few original ideas. I guess the film was a commercial for people to visit that little southern town? There certainly seems to be a disconnect between what the original vision was? And what someone else wanted to the film to be. The script could have used some more work it seems. And the underage filth could have been left on the cutting room floor. I can't imagine what a film like this could do for the talent involved. I wouldn't think much. A straight to video production at its best.

Complete joke, This movie was unbearable to watch but I stuck it out to the end to see what happened but NOTHING MADE SENSE. Do not trust these reviews!! They are clearly fake The acting was horrible.

The storyline was pathetic There was nothing scary about this movie whatsoever I actually found myself laughing at how horrible it was hahah I'm a massive horror fan and I will give anything a chance as there's so many hidden gems but THIS WAS NOT!! One of them.

I saw one review compare it to amityville and I wanted to throw my head through a wall.

If I could I would give this movie 0/10 do not waste your time.

Plot

A family loses their young daughter in a tragic drowning and moves to Savannah, only to be haunted by her presence in their new home.

Cast

Not familiar with anyone involved but the writer is the director who is a character in the movie and also the person who has allegedly experienced all these paranormal instances.

Verdict

I'm not generally a guy who appreciates ghost themed movies, the reason? They tend to be the most trope laden cliched sub genre of all, and also a one used by those with minimal budgets as they don't require much on screen. A chair falls over by itself, a book falls of a shelf, mysterious noises, it's all very cheap.

Furthermore they often get pretentious and play the "Based on real events" card and I just can't take it seriously. Spoiler alert, no that thing didn't happen grow up. A Savannah Haunting doesn't just play that card, it plays the whole deck an doubles down by being made by the guy it happened to, in the house it supposedly happened and they spouted rhetoric about a haunting on set during production and staff members threatening to leave because of them. Yeah, right.

A Savannah Haunting trips, face plants into every imaginable generic horror trope get's up and goes butt over head back over again with some dreadful quality, mediocre performances and a finale that you will see coming from three continents over.

Rants

I'm going to break this to you gently, rip that bandaid off in one single smooth motion. There are no such things as ghosts, no spectres, no poltergeists, no phantoms, no things that go bump in the night. In the nicest way possible, grow up.

The Good

Considering the budget it wasn't the worst looking

The Bad

Cliche and trope ridden Couldn't be less original Hit and miss cast Very predictable Based on "Real" events in a supernatural movie is just silly.