An American Haunting
An American Haunting Image
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Metascore
38 out of 100

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 18 Critics What's this?

User Score
4.8 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 40 Ratings

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0 out of 10
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  • Starring: Donald Sutherland, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Sissy Spacek
  • Summary: An American Haunting is based on true events documented by the State of Tennessee. Between the years 1818-1820, the Bell Family of Red River, Tennessee was visited by an unknown, unseen presence that terrorized the family. To date, it is the only recorded case in American history where a spirit of entity has caused the death of a human being. (After Dark Films)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 18
  3. Negative: 5 out of 18
  1. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Sheri Linden
    70
    Solomon crafts a quality horror piece from strong performances and effects. The chief disappointment of An American Haunting is that it doesn't exploit more opportunities for the sublime subtlety of performances by Sissy Spacek and, especially, Donald Sutherland.
  2. Variety
    Reviewed by: John Anderson
    60
    A well-made, good-looking movie it is, but between the non-stop tumult and the sense of deliberateness about its period authenticity, An American Haunting produces a lot of screaming, crying and cruelty, but not much drama.
  3. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    50
    Throughout the film, doors slam, windows shatter and poor, battered Betsy wakes up screaming with tiresome regularity; even Sutherland appears bored by it all.
  4. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Kyle Smith
    38
    Its images came from a dusty box in the horror-movie attic, and the attic is where the entire picture will be in a month.

See all 18 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 20
  3. Negative: 11 out of 20
  1. mattyabrams
    9
    unusually creepy, this film gives some high-profile J-horror remakes a run for their money, it is scary, the cast is rather fitting, and it has a relatively solid plot.… Expand
  2. JoshS.
    6
    First of all, I think all the people who have made comments should be paid to be film critics, why can't everyone just watch a movie and not pick out its defects? Sure, its not close to being one of the best films of its genre, but eh, watch it alone and in the dark late at night and it will have its effect, especially if you head into it not knowing anything about the actual documented case.… Expand
  3. timc
    3
    Yeah, this was pretty bad. However, it is watchable, with a good plot twist that shall not be divulged here. The movie would have made a 5 rating had they simply excised (exorcise?) completely the 2006 "modern day" footage from the plot. Useless and worse, it makes the movie feel like a TV special from the 80's. The ending (set in modern day) is possibly the weakest element in the movie... and that's saying a lot. One big logic complaint. Is everyone so retarded that they leave Betsy alone in her room at midnight night after night after night???… Expand
  4. jimmytancredi
    3
    It was good to spend time and take a few scares, but the ending is too predictable... It seems they wanted to give a rational explanation of the events but were kind of on the fence, almost as if they hadn't explained right (not in order to leave doubt in the air, but in the explanation poorly performed). Perhaps it would have been better if they had chosen to leave between the haunt be really a curse, or let the phenomena being the reflection of the trauma of the girl explained naturally. The mixture of these two options, in my opinion, left the rather weak script.… Expand

See all 20 User Reviews

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