Save your money for something good and enjoyable

not as good as all the hype

Masterful Movie

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

For those who have very negative reviews on this movie, to each their own. I am from Tennessee and have known this story all my life. Since none of us have lived from 1817-1821, we can't actually make any concrete statements as to how things were back in that time period.They were burning ordinary (normal) people, before then, for being witches. Therefore, I'm pretty sure the unusual bumps in the night and weird occurrences were pretty strange for them to experience. They were actually terrified of the "UNKNOWN", as most people even today are.I don't believe this movie was made to be as some call it, "A Hollywood Horror Flick" (fictional). This was a good way to try and make people understand what this family went through at a day and age when "Horror Flicks" were not the rage! I have experienced things in life that would probably make some people run for the hills. But I being open-minded to all things in life (even non-scientific) clearly understand what this film was trying to convey.Please think about what you put in your review, before you sound "CLUELESS"!!!!!

BELL WITCH HAUNTING (aka THE HAUNT) is an American horror movie supposedly based on real events that took place during the period 1817 to 1821.This is not to be confused with BELL WITCH: THE MOVIE, a movie starring Betsy Palmer based on the same events. However, I can say that I wish I had seen this other movie instead of the one I saw! I enjoyed Betsy Palmer's chilling performance in Friday THE 13TH. As such, I believe that even on a bad day, she'd pull off a better performance than anyone involved in the travesty known as THE HAUNT.With regard to my heading, this movie is not painful to watch because the content is disturbing. It is painful to watch because it is just downright boring.Reading the positive reviews for this movie, I could only identify three possibilities. The first possibility - these authors were involved in the production in some way. The second possibility - the authors whilst not directly involved were paid to write positive reviews after production was completed. The final possibility - none of these authors has seen a sufficient number of horror movies and therefore is inexperienced with the concepts that successful attempts utilise.The setting for the plot is Robertson County, Tennessee. James Johnston receives a visit from two journalists eager to hear the story of the Bell Witch. The story is told as a series of flashbacks. A series of supernatural events begin happening at the home of John Bell and his family. It soon transpires that a vengeful spirit is behind it all.On the surface the plot appears to be a standard poltergeist affair, albeit one based on real events.Where execution of the brilliant concept is concerned however, just about everything that could go wrong does go wrong. And then some!First, the acting. The acting is almost uniformly terrible right across the board. This factor does the most damage to the production, undermining any possible credibility of belief or interest on the part of the viewer. The voice of the vengeful spirit sounds more like a teenage girl experiencing teenage angst rather than a powerful demonic force expressing malevolent intent. I almost laughed when I heard some of her lines. Unfortunately, this voice began to become very annoying very quickly! I may not have been alive in the 1800s, but I find it incredibly hard to believe that any young woman alive at that time would speak in the way that this "ghost" does!Second, the direction. The direction is haphazard and very uneven. Some scenes show promise but potential is squandered by the clearly inexperienced director. Nothing is done with the camera, with sound or with lighting to add intensity to the scenes intended to be scary. The atmosphere is equally flat. A vengeful spirit is supposedly behind supernatural occurrences. Yet the effects are so incredibly inept that no one who has seen a proper horror movie would buy into them. I'll give one example. In one scene, the spirit attacks someone. See the scene for yourself. It's almost funny - almost.Third, the script. Whilst it may be the case that the events shown are faithful to accounts of real occurrences, it cannot be denied that most scenes are incredibly flat and boring. Scenes as short as two minutes feel much longer thanks to the poor dialogue - dialogue that fails to add depth to the characters or story. This movie is far too reliant on conversations to advance the story. Whilst this style was also the case with British movies from the British horror heyday of the 1960s and 1970s, it cannot be denied that the dialogue exchanges were always interesting to watch in these more professional earlier works. Peter Cushing for example could read a telephone directory and still hold attention of the viewers. The same cannot be said of the actors in THE HAUNT.Finally, the humour. The ill-guided attempts at humour in this movie are excruciating. An obese boy is the butt of many jokes. One particularly awful scene sees the said boy going to the outside toilet. This scene should never have been included - but it is and complete with sound effects in case you fail to understand what he is doing!The only positive points about the movie are the location and the costumes. The decision to shoot the picture near the original location helped add some authenticity. The costumes were also well chosen.Overall, THE HAUNT is an appalling movie. It is not even in the "so bad it's good" league. It is instead just boring. I advise everyone to save their money and avoid this movie like the plague. Don't even bother seeing it for free!I have never seen the other movie about the Bell Witch. But it really couldn't be any worse than THE HAUNT. Could it? I'll give this other movie a chance if I can track it down.In the meantime, I would advise everyone on here to check out some proper horror movies about ghosts and haunting. THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE, THE CHANGELING, RINGU, THE GRUDGE (Japanese original) and ONE MISSED CALL (Japanese original) are good places to start.

This is a story that should have been captured in film a long time ago. Thank you for having the insight to do so. You have done an excellent job of staying true to the story and allowing us to bring it to or T.V. I was wondering if it would ever be made into a film and you have done it with excellence. This is truly one of the best stories ever told and I cherish the fact that I can now view it and share it with others. I grew up in neighboring Cheatham county and recall having the book and hearing the tales as a young boy and later on in years. I actually visited the farm and cave and had the opportunity to sit with Mr. Eden as he told me tales that sent goosebumps all over me. Thank you so much for your hard work and commitment to the excellence of this movie. I'm 51 yrs. of age now and you have brought those goosebumps back once again. Thank you!!!!!

Are you kidding me? This is quite possibly the worst, amateur movie I've ever seen. The casting was horrible, the acting was worse than horrible and I'm sorry, the guy at the picnic speed loading his plate full of food was somewhere near pointless and the demonic turd and chamber pot chasing Drew around was nothing more than comical. When I herd about the Bell Witch, I wanted to believe. I read some literature on it and thought it sounded like it was possible a plausible story. But this movie just destroyed that. Ric White (Director, Writer, Lead Actor, etc) takes himself a bit too seriously and I think he gives himself a little more credit than he deserves....Do yourself a favor....skip this one.