Haunter: A Review
Directed By: Vincenzo Natali
Written By:Brian King
Genre:HORROR
Rated: Not Available
Time: 97 min
Starring: Abigail Breslin, Stephen McHattie, Peter Outerbridge, Michelle Nolden, David Hewlett
Plot: In this reverse ghost story, teenager Lisa Johnson (Breslin) and her family died in 1986 under sinister circumstances but remain trapped in their house, unable to move on. Over a period of six "days," Lisa must reach out from beyond the grave to help her present-day, living counterpart, Olivia, avoid the same fate Lisa and her family suffered.
Comments: I enjoyed both Cube and Splice, two of the films Director Vincenzo Natali has done in the past. Netflix recommended the film and between the Director and the star (Abigail Breslin) I was intrigued. I can say I agree that it’s a bit of The Others crossed with Groundhog Day (as one apt reviewer put it). Except this would be utter Hell. Especially when you know the trick of it and everyone else is oblivious or at least unwilling to admit it out loud. It’s a fun spin on the ghost story where our heroine knows she is dead. Lisa has done the same thing for who knows how long: wake up to her brother on a walkie-talkie, do her chores, eat the same dinner, watch the family tune in for some Murder She Wrote and then repeat. When she knows that something is wrong and questions that is when her banal little version of Hell gets much much worse. Our ghost feels like she is being haunted not only by the world of the living, but by something darker. All Lisa wants is the cycle to stop. There has to be more to the afterlife than this. So she keeps searching for answers.
Enter Stephen McHattie as a creepy repairman, who warns Breslin not to try and contact the living or wake her family from their ghostly ignorance. There can be things much worse than reliving the same day. While not an amazing film chock full of scares, I did have to appreciate the new take on things. There are a few scares and McHattie just exudes evil, but overall it’s an understated film. But I was entertained me for a couple of hours and that has to say something.
Rent/Cinema?Available on Netflix, it was a nice little change and I was entertained for a couple of hours.
3/4 popcorns
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