A Haunting in Salem

Many of the reviews I have seen of this film have been insulting to the looks of the main character: Bill Oberst, Jr. is playing a sheriff, not a beauty contestant; Besides, he plays the lead quite well, but he is not helped by a horrible, hackneyed screenplay that paints by numbers a haunted-house film that could easily have been a Lifetime made-for-TV movie. At least ten minutes of this folly comprised people walking up and down stairs. If we're going to judge a movie based on good looks, I give this one two (**) stars for Jenna Stone's feet.

A haunting in Salem is anything but original. Full of your standard horror tropes and clichés you'll have seen every bit of it before but done a whole hell of a lot better.

Telling the story of a Sheriff and his family moving into a house with a dark past connected to witches (It is Salem after all) You'll see every scene coming a mile off and despite the budget very little of it even looks remotely good.

The Good:

Courtney Abbiati

The Bad:

Clichéd everything

Things I learnt from this movie:

A throw from a 3 story window will merely wind you

And he moved into a haunted house!!! And apparently the House wants to kill him and his family as it has done for generations. Really somewhat of a snoozefest was what this was. I would not recommend. 3/10

Anytime you have a story set in Salem, you naturally expect witches, fire and dark magic. In A Haunting in Salem, you get the witch, dark events and a bit of burning. From the movie's DVD cover, it says this story was taken from actual events, so was real life as scary as fiction? The plot centered on the new sheriff of Salem and his family, who've moved into a sweet, Victorian home. It's excessively large, even for four people, but it'd been the dwelling of every sheriff who'd presided over the town for years. While unpacking, everyone experienced strange and unexplainable occurrences, but soon, the entire family is in mortal danger. Sadly, there' s not a soul around who can help with truth, let alone answers. The story presents a cycle; the very beginning shows you what happened to the previous family, then the new sheriff, complete with mental issues, came along. What you aren't given is a reason for it all. Was it revenge? Had the previous sheriffs carried a blood connection, allowing the townspeople to invite them, as a sort of sacrifice? It ended, gifting wonder as to why it even happened. The cinematography, concerning the town and surrounding views were spectacular! Even the house was lovely, but there really wasn't much as far as storyline. With little scare, A Haunting in Salem entertained, but disappointed. Cheers!

A Haunting in Salem Written by H. Perry Horton Directed by Shane Van Dyke Produced by The Asylum Stars Bill Oberst, Jr., Courtney Abbiati, Jenna Stone and Nicholas Harsin

I really honestly don't know what to say. Do I start with the special effects? Or do I go on with the whole written story. Both were terrible, as well as choosing the sheriff who completely resembles DOBY from Harry Potter. I found this to be more of a comedy than horror! I am not saying looks are everything but I believe in casting people that are somewhat attractive on screen, sorry to say DOBY was not. I will say the previews were great, which of course got me to watch. Good editing on that part. I can say that the house was beautiful. The only other problem i have is that the movie cover on this site resembles nothing about what this movie is really like. I hope to see a better horror next time.