A Haunting in Connecticut (2009)

“A Haunting in Connecticut” is one of those “based on a true story” haunted house flicks that takes 5 percent of a barely credible story and runs with it. Ghosts. Bodies every where. A serial killer. Blood seeping up from the floors. Yet, this film works. Even with the clichés such as the ill, but wise beyond measure priest (Elias Koteas). Maybe it’s the film’s focus on a family (led by Virginia Madsen) dealing with a son with cancer, and how the script plays with the idea that if the boy cops to strange visions – say, a dead guy – then he could be taken off the meds that may save his life. Director Peter Cornwell goes 111 on the creepy-crawly-nasty scenes, leaving nothing to chance that one might think this is a hallucination. For a low-budget horror, it’s entertaining as hell, with great makeup and effects. B