A HAUNTING AT SILVER FALLS (2013)

A Haunting At Silver Falls (2013)
Directed by: Brett Donowho
Written by: Brian Pittman, Cam Cannon, Rachel Long
Starring: Alix Elizabeth Gitter, Erick Avari, James C. Burns, James Cavlo, Steve Bacic, Tadhg Kelly

A HAUNTING AT SILVER FALLS (2013)
Directed by Brett Donowho

After the death of both her parents, teenager Jordan moves in with her mum’s sister and her husband in the small town of Silver Falls. Whilst finding hard to settle into the new living arrangements, Jordan seems to have made friends easily at school, particularly with a boy named Larry. After a teenage meetup in the woods, Jordan finds a ring on the woodland floor and puts it on her finger. Jordan thinks nothing more about the ring until she starts to be haunted by a restless spirit everywhere she goes. With everyone around her doubting her sanity once she begins to rave about seeing ghosts, Jordan must prove shes telling the truth before she becomes the next victim of a series of killings.

A HAUNTING AT SILVER FALLS is a horror thriller focusing on the life of teenage girl, Jordan. From the opening scene of her mother running away from something sinister in the woods before finally being torn away from her hiding spot, the viewer knows that something or someone evil is occupying Silver Falls. It isn’t long before we find out that the small town has played host to many deaths, including several teen suicides. Most people would be concerned with this fact, but the residents of Silver Falls laugh it off as though it’s some old wives’ tale. This reaction doesn’t bode well for Jordan once she begins to have nightmarish ghostly visions, particularly when her boyfriend’s father is a shrink.

The dialogue is a bit wooden at times in A HAUNTING AT SILVER FALLS, particularly in an early scene when Jordan’s aunt asks her “Why can’t you look me in the face”. Even the performances from most of the adults in the movie feel stiff and forced with a less than enthralling plot which struggles to keep the viewer’s attention. Lead star Alix Elizabeth Gitter as Jordon and James Calvo as her boyfriend Larry do a better job and have an endearing chemistry, whilst Erick Avari is charismatic as the strict shrink and father of Larry who thinks his son can do no wrong and is being led astray by Jordan.

The choice to make the ghostly apparitions mimic the appearance of J-horror ghouls in A HAUNTING AT SILVER FALLS is one that’s been exhausted by the Western horror genre to the point where it’s lost all meaning and become more of a joke than a essence which should be feared. Real horror stories are hard to come by these days and this movie fails to create something new or fresh with rehashed ideas. There’s not enough horror to satisfy genre fans, whilst the thriller element of the movie isn’t made to feel important with a lack of tension. When the film’s major plot point is revealed, it’s executed too poorly to care about.

Don’t expect anything scary from A HAUNTING AT SILVER FALLS, for it’s more a whodunnit thriller than a frightening horror but unfortunately a predictable one at that.

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