fredag 12 augusti 2022

Daniels Summer B Movie Madness: Haunted ( Ghosts, 2013 )

Every summer i love to walk along the countryside. I pick all the beautiful flowers i can find, and i also look for old houses. If i see a really old house, and especially an older couple, i just walk inside hoping i will be invited for coffee. I found out that you can´t really walk into a house like that, so i have been thrown out quite many times. I don´t know if i said the wrong thing or if i was not dressed properly, or it could be that they have simply run out of coffee. Either way, it is still a nice walk among the trees. Old houses may have old secrets hidden within their walls, such as tragedies that no one have known about, or perhaps you accidently go through something unexpected. I have seen a lot of horror films where old houses are connected, so just a while ago i randomly picked a horror film i have not seen so far called The Intruders, released in 2015. This film is directed by Adam Massey, and tells the story of Rose Halshford ( Miranda Cosgrove ), who moves into an old house with her father Jerry Halshford ( Donald Logue ). In this old house, it seems that Rose is experiencing some strange events in this house. As she begin to investigate the past of this old house, the real truth begins to unfold. The Intruders is more of a psychological thriller than a horror film, even though the film is labeled a horror film. There are a few horror elements, but overall i felt that this film was actually alright. Lead actress Miranda Cosgrove did a good job with her character, and the psychological tension in this film worked for the most part. Director Adam Massey deliver a film that reminds me of thrillers of the 90´s that actually feel effective, wich is something you don´t see everyday in this genre. Worth picking up on DVD. I decided to look around this summer for horror films i have not seen, and decided to pick the British found footage horror film Haunted, released in 2013. Not knowing much about the plot, i did notice that this is a paranormal horror film. Is this a film that turned out to be better than i expected, or is Haunted just as bad as Antonio Sabato Jr´s recent patriotic films that no one remembers?

A TV crew of Paranormal investigators travel together to find out if there really are any ghosts out there. Almost none of the team members really believe in ghosts, but maybe they are about to change their minds?

I have seen episodes of Paranormal TV shows like Ghost Hunters ( that you can find on Amazon and Discovery + ), just to see their investigations. I will be honest and say that i don´t really believe in everything a TV show like this tries to show, so going into a found footage film that tries to capture the feelings of encountering ghosts in a paranormal TV show, is kind of similar to Ghost Hunters. In the case of the film Haunted ( known as Ghosts on DVD in the UK ), this is specifically made for fans of found footage horror films, or fans of TV series like Ghost Hunters. So how is this film if you compare it to other found footage horror films? To be honest, not that different. And i suppose if you are a big fan of this genre, you might actually enjoy this film for what it is trying to do. But i have to be honest and say, this film does not really feel like a horror film. It may try and look like a paranormal TV show investigation and the idea itself is not bad, but the final result is that this film feels too predictable and quite frankly, not much happens in this film. Considering the low budget this film has, i understand you have to work with what is available. The cast is filled with British actors i have never heard of before, and i can at least say that they are not the biggest problem of this film. The biggest problem with Haunted, is that for trying to be a paranormal TV show, this may be one of the most boring ones you might encounter. The few scenes that are supposed to be scary, i guarantee you will not feel affected by the events these investigators go through. Directors Steven M. Smith, Zane Casablanca and Svenja Quazzani have directed different segments of this film, and if they only would have worked more effective on each segment, this film might have been interesting. I like the ideas behind the story of Haunted, unfortunately it does not really do much to scare the audience that it was made for. There are four sequels to this film, and who knows, they might be more effective than this first film. Haunted is not the worst haunting movie i have ever seen, but i definetely feel that this should have been a lot better, considering that this film did have an interesting plot.

Rating: DD

If you want to check out Haunted on DVD, I suggest that you pick up the UK release called Ghosts, on the following link:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ghosts-DVD-Jon-Paul-Gates/dp/B01AKEGU90/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=3UYY6O6DUP958&keywords=steven+m+smith+dvd&qid=1660341646&sprefix=steven+m+smith+dvd%2Caps%2C172&sr=8-3

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