REVIEW: The Haunted

"You better pray for me tonight, hon. Because that's the only thing that's gonna keep me from killin' somebody"

In order to fully comprehend my love for Robert Mandel's fantastically scary TV movie "The Haunted", let me give you some backstory.

I was always a horror lover. I have fond memories of the crooked video store near my apartment building, and the kind gent who hooked me up with R rated horrors, and I subsequently tormented friends with screenings of Faces Of Death, Last House On the Left, Evil Dead, etc. Saturday mornings always belonged to The Hilarious House Of Frightenstein.

Upon turning 10, Fox Night At The Movies (back when fox was channel 28) was advertising their upcoming screening of a ghost film, emphasizing that it was a TRUE story, and my young brain exploded. I mean, sure, Sightings was big on TV at the time, but this felt like an event. Paranormal super bowl, if you'd like.

My best friend proposed to watch it during airing in his family's unfinished basement. On a concrete floor. In the dark. 

Needless to say, we made it halfway through the movie, before running upstairs, scared out of our minds. The film proceeded to give me the most horrible nightmares for months afterward. To this day, my friend outright refuses to rewatch it, and I get it. I have since rewatched it many times, and introduced it to many adults who have never heard of this lost Ed and Lorraine Warren pre-pre-Conjuring epic.

The film centers on the Smurl family, Jack and Janet, their 4 daughters, and Jack's parents. Following their home being destroyed in a hurricane, they procure a duplex for a fesh start.

The genius of this movie is the mellow PG setting. Mandel clearly took this as a challenge to see how creative he could get within the boundaries of network television at the time.

Upon renovating the home, the Smurls start to experience mild annoyances, items going missing, stains appearing on the walls, etc. Things soon take a very dark turn, and after getting the holy brush-off from the church, the family eventually finds solace in Ed and Lorraine Warren. 

One of the film's strengths is in the feeling of desperation amongst Jack and Janet. Sally Kirkland gives a tour de force performance as Janet, and beloved character actor Jeffrey DeMunn shines as Jack. The 2 together elevate the TV movie of the week dialogue and sell the scares. Kirkland's performance is one of my all time favorites in the genre. Her gradual descent into emotionally shattered is so raw and perfect.

The film introduces the demonic threat fairly early on. With each incident, the tension is topped. What starts with confusion, missing items, and disembodied voices, turns to night time attacks, violent attacks on the children, and the ever-presemt threat of the demon following the family anywhere they go.

And then there's the demonic rape scene.

How on earth Mandel got away with this scene bewilders. Jack, in a state of denial of the goings-on, and refusing to move, settles down with a beer and a ballgame. Next thing he knows, he's being rogered by an entity transforming between a sneering young woman, and a towering hag. This scene is terrifying, and would definitely be a top 10 list for me.

Mandel seems to relish in keeping the vibe on a strong level of realism. The duplex is a 70s quaint locale, and the dialogue, while hammy at times, never goes too extravagant. The paranormal activity follows suit. I would much prefer the creepy black mass used for the demon, than an overt cgi'd monstrosity present in most new projects. 

The biggest feather in the film's cap is generating genuine fear from innocuous objects and settings. Voices in the dark, screaming, dripping bathtubs, and invisible touching all create a terrifying cage in which the family finds themselves trapped. The community outside of the home further compound the family's isolation via accusations of being frauds.

The topic of validity amongst supposed true paranormal accounts is ever-present, but if you surrender to the story at face value, you're in for a wild ghastly ride.

HORR SCORE = the film boasts some pretty risqué paranormal content. The scares are pretty subtle and on the regular. There are several scenes of genuine terror.

GORE SCORE = Somewhere between a stubbed toe, and a cat snatching the back of its ear.