Haunted

***SPOILERS*** A bit confusing in the end "Haunted" still is as good a haunted movie that's to come out of Hollywood since the all-time haunted house horror classic film "The Haunting" back in 1963.

In "Haunted" we have Chicago Uiversity psychology professor, and famed debunker of the paranormal, Dr. David Ash,Aidan Quinn, travel England back in 1928 to investigate the Mariell Mansion that's reported to be haunted by an evil spirit by one of its occupants Nanny Webb, Anna Massey. David soon falls in love with the lady of the house Christian Mariell, Kate Beckinsale, who meets him at the train station and drives him to the mansion.

At the spacious mansion David is introduced to Christina's two brothers the overly serious Robert, Anthony Andrews, and joker and in house comedian Simon, Alex Lowe, who together with Christina spend almost all their time doing nothing but partying around and skinny-dipping in the in the outdoor lake. Even though the astute David sees nothing supernatural in Nanny Webb's observations he does see that the Mariell children are somehow totally indifferent to her as if she doesn't even exist at all. As for Nanny Webb she's terrified of them even more then the ghost of Mrs. Mariell that she claims to be haunting the Mansion!

***SPOILER ALERT*** David himself becomes convinced in Nanny Webb's statements of supernatural occurrences at the Mariell Mansion not by seeing the late Mrs. Mariell but in seeing his own long deceased twin sister Juliet, Victoria Shalet. Juliet is trying to get David to leave the premises before something very awful and terrible happens to him. Something that's been planned in advance to happen to David by the Mariell children who are not what they at first seem to be!

Nanny Webb has carried this terrible secret about what really happened to the late Mrs. Mariell since back on that cold February day in 1923. It was the circumstances of Mrs. Mariell's tragic death and what she did after that that has driven Nanny Webb to the brink of madness. A madness that was soon to engulf David Ash in a web of incest murder and arson that will change his opinions about haunted houses ghosts and the supernatural forever!

I first saw this a couple of years ago, when it was released on video, and since then i must have watched about two or three times more. Surprisingly for a mistery movie, this doesn´t loose it´s appeal even when we are watching it for the second time. Even when we already know how it´s going to end.

The first time we see it, it´s great and we spend the whole movie trying to guess what is going to happen next, even if the ending might be a bit easy to guess from a certain point in the movie, if we pay atention to some details.

Anyway, this is an excelent movie, the atmosphere is perfect. Very intriguing and misterious, but at the same time set in very normal locations. Normaly ghost movies are associated to lots of scenes in the dark, but this movie is a very bright movie with most of its story set in very iluminated places, contrary to the classic ghost storytelling. But at the same time even during normal scenes whe can feel that there is something wrong in the air, and this is what makes this movie so atmospheric. It realy feels like the whole movie is haunted. We can watch it again, and again and keep finding new small details, that we missed the first time.

But what ghost story would be without scares and chills. Well there are a couple of scary moments in here also and some very good chilling sequences. Most of them is actualy in our minds, because ther aren´t many special effects in, but that´s the way a good ghost story should be presented. The atmosphere in this is so good, that if the few flashy special effects that are present were removed, it wouldn´t make a diference. But fear not, this is not a Spielberg effects film, the atmosphere is what counts here. And it has loads of it.

Overall this is at least a very diferent ghost story, and originaly presented. Don´t skip this movie if you like ghost stories.

Excelent.

I think the summary about says it all. It has twists and turns and has you guessing all the way through it. And in the end, you find out you were possibly fooled all the time. It was scary at times and I would rate it as an excellent film of this genre. I must admit, that I am a real fan of this type of film.

A couple of years old this now but still worth a mention. Originally A very spooky James Herbert book the film doesn't quite hit the mark in the same way but it's still worth a look especially if you haven't read the book. Dashing surrogate Yank Psychologist Quinn returns to native England in the thirties with two aims: to pursue an academic career and the expose all who make others believe in a spirit world. He investigates the case of a mad old woman, whose house is supposedly haunted by her daughter and husband. Her three adult grandchildren are also in tow, including the alluring Christina (Kate Beckinsdale) - alluring enough to tempt at least one of her brothers and the new visitor. However, the ghosts of his own past - either real or imagined - start him doubting his own ability to rationally explore what is going on. Personally Kate Beckinsdale saves the film for me as it's very difficult to judge it in it's own right if you have already read the book and constantly find yourself noticing huge differences. To bring it down to a more basic level, for me Kate Beckinsdale puts her more famous English namesake far into the shade as a top example of what English actresses have to offer.

This movie must not have gotten much attention when it was released because I had never even heard of it when I happened to catch it on a cable movie channel. As somebody who likes spooky (but not conventional horror/ gross-out) films, I found it to be a real sleeper.

The story is about a psychologist who specializes in debunking the supernatural and his becoming a house-guest in an old mansion that one resident claims is haunted. For a while, the plot remains pretty conventional, with a lot of strange and unexplained events that may or may not be practical jokes, dreams, psychological delusions, or a real ghost. But before it is over, there are several twists that I did not expect and had not seen before. Give yourself a treat. This one has been largely overlooked.