A Savannah Haunting

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.

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.

I'm sure there are some that will find this movie entertaining and while it wasn't a complete bore, personally, I've seen much better.

There's nothing new here, surprise, that you haven't seen before. It's amazing that these derivative movies continue to get made. Perhaps it's because there will always be an audience regardless of the lack of originality or the hope that this one will finally be different.

These are not spoilers as most viewers will arrive at the same conclusions or be left asking the same questions. Why always a doll and one that won't go away? Is this doll Annabelle's sister? Were the Warrens too busy to check this house out? Could the realtor be sued for not telling the prospective buyers about the homes haunted past? I mean, who would actually buy a home like that if they knew? And what's with the nude pool scene? That seemed so out of place and it really went nowhere. It left me thinking that the writer didn't have a long enough script so he threw that in there to make up the difference.

Act 3 raises the tension bar some but lacks any closure. It leaves us asking more than one question. Not a very satisfying denouement. I've watched other horror movies several times but this one, won't get a second viewing from me.

"A Savannah Haunting" may be derivative but it's quite an enjoyable slow burn.

Yes the film is quite derivative; it takes tidbits from all the horror films we've seen before. There's some rough acting in parts too though overall it's decent.

One thing that's nice is the setting. The film is actually filmed where they say. A lot of times Hollywood says the actors are in one place and film 5 states away. The haunted house in Savannah is a good choice.

Where this film succeeded is it takes the suspense built in the first 3/4ths of the film and uses it to plunge into a terrifying ending that concludes with gusto.

Worth a watch for sure for any fans of the genre, and one of the scarier films I've seen in a while.

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.