The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia (2013)
Directed by: Tom Elkins
Written by: David Coggeshall
Starring: Abigail Spencer, Chad Michael Murray, Emily Alyn Lind, Katee Sackhoff
The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia (2013)
(15) Running time: 101 minutes
Director: Tom Elkins
Writer: David Coggeshall
Cast: Abigail Spencer, Chad Michael Murray, Katee Sackhoff, Emily Alyn Lind
Reviewed by: Matt Wavish
The first thing we need to clear up here is that The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia is NOT a sequel, and as you can probably tell from the stupid title, it doesn’t even take place in Connecticut. Someone, somewhere has royally screwed up this film’s title, and removing the Connecticut bit would have been a much smarter move. However, we are just going to have to deal with the silliness, and if you can manage to actually say the film’s title without taking a breath, then well done you!
First complaint out of the way, Ghosts of Georgia is a much better film than its title deserves, and while it delivers cliché after cliché, I couldn’t help but mildly enjoy this for what it was: a simple ghost story. Supposedly based on real events: the Wyrick family have moved in to a new house in the country, and Andy Wyrick (Murray) has managed to get a nice deal on the property. How did he get such a deal? Well, as with all these types of horrors, the house holds a dark secret, something the family soon discover. The house was built over an underground railroad, and the house itself is built where the stationmaster of that railroad was based. Ghosts of tormented souls live in the underground passageways, and now that the Wyrick family have moved in, the ghosts have someone to talk to.
Thankfully for the ghosts, Lisa (Spencer) has the ability to see spirits, something which she tries desperately to shut away. We see her talking to her dead Mother in the early stages of the film, and we also learn that their daughter Heidi (Lind) also has the ‘gift’. Also moving in with the family is Lisa’s sister Joyce, and you know what, she promotes the gift so poor old Andy has a great time surrounded by women who see dead people! On the first day of moving in, Heidi soon see’s a creepy old man called Mr Gordy, and he warns the family of bad times ahead. As ghosts do though, he kindly points the family in the direction of some buried treasure, so turns out the evil looking Mr Gordy is not that evil at all, or is he??? Andy certainly appreciated the extra cash, but Lisa continues taking her meds to block out the ghosts who continue to annoy her. As the film moves forward, the hauntings become increasingly more violent, and more frequent.
The films sets itself up nicely, and doesn’t take long to start delivering the scares. Problem is, these scares don’t really work as we have seen them all before. It almost feels like the makers are simply ticking off horror moments for their own personal fun, because nothing here is new or inventive, and the film actually feels quite lazy in places. Saying that though, the cast do a pretty good job, and even though the film is not exactly scary, it is strangely enjoyable.
While trying not to nod off, come the final third the film really ramps up the pace, and suddenly my senses were awoken to some rather excellent moments. The production is top notch, the special effects really effective and the music and superb sound effects really take over. I was blown away by how much was going on, and how good it all looked. While it was still pretty un-scary, I was really impressed by how well the horror moments were designed, and how powerful the wonderful sounds were. However, the film then completely loses all respect by delivering a final ten minutes of utter shame, and baffling stupidity. It ruins the entire momentum of the finish, which was actually a lot of fun.
So, a ridiculous title and a stupid ending, but there are moments here that should please horror fans of all ages. The newcomers will probably love it, while the more initiated will probably laugh, poke fun, but secretly enjoy some of the later scenes. If in doubt though, Sackoff and Spencer are a lot of fun, and very pleasing on the eye, so that’s a bonus surely?
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