I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to. When the accompanying blurb tells of a family that moves into a house with a frightening past, fears arise of a certain degree of predictability and series of events that have been used time and time again.In all honesty, 'Haunt' doesn't exactly push the envelope to escape the limitations of the format, but what it does, it does well. The family are fine, intelligent and believable. The story, however, belongs to Evan, the son, and Sam, the girl he finds alone in the woods nearby. Harrison Gilbertson and Liana Liberato are attractive, appealing leads. Their prominence does however ensure other family members appear under-written. The youngest daughter Anita (Ella Harris), for example, shows signs of spectral communication with whatever presence is in the house, but this comes to nothing. Eldest daughter sensible Sarah (Daniella C. Ryan) is largely superfluous.A crystal radio is used to perform a séance. This might be the most effective part of the story. When static-fuzzed voices and noises begin coming through this vintage machinery, the effects are chilling.Other than that, 'Haunt' is a slow-burning, often character-based story that hots up towards the end, providing an unexpected climax.

"So you want to hear a ghost story? Well, every ghost story begins with a house... and a tragedy. And so we begin with mine."The beginning really feels creepy. The rest of the film looks typical. Just another haunted-house topic with a whole range of already used elements from similar films. For the real horror fanatics it's nothing new or surprising. Expect creaking doors, manifesting entities , scary sounds behind every door and in every corner, looming shadows and sudden scares. This film contains them all and therefore looks like a hodgepodge of already used ideas. Except for that impression-making start wherein an original device is proposed : an old-fashioned looking device composed of transistors and radio lamps that can be used to communicate with the deceased. The tormented and desperate person who wants to use it to get in touch with his children, soon will experience the consequences. They are less pleasant than he had expected.The Asher family moves into an old house of which there are rumors that it's haunted. The Morello family who lived there previously, was decimated cruelly. The only survivor was the matriarch Janet Morello (Jacki Weaver) who shows up while the Ashers are moving in, saying that she forgot to take something with her. During her brief visit she talks to Evan (Harrison Gilbertson), the son of the family Asher, telling him that her son died when he was Evan's age and that the attic was his bedroom. The moment Evan meets the rebellious teenage girl Sam (Liana Liberato) during a nighttime walk, a close friendship grows in between them. Before he realizes it, Sam snuggles into his bed at night. After a while they start to experiment with the strange device that they found (the one you saw in the opening scene) in a side room in the attic (actually Sam knew it was there anyway). A dangerous game that opens the door for not so friendly ghosts.Ghost stories with an old, possessed house as a central subject, is an eagerly used topic in the horror genre. Think of "The Conjuring", "The Woman in Black", "The Amityville Horror" or "Poltergeist" and you know what to expect. The old clichés aren't shunned. Every time there's an appearance, lights start to flicker again (in the same way as you saw in "Deliver us from Evil") There's even an entity that looks as if it came straight out of the movie "The Ring". And events from the past are shown in a creepy way in black and white. Unfortunately there are also the ridiculous-looking clichés. Like the fact that the new family happens to have the same composition of family members as the previous unfortunate family. Despite terrifying apparitions and confrontations, everyone just continues as if this is the most normal thing in the world. Even worrying gibberish of the youngest daughter ("If there's really a ghost in Evan's room, l think he should make friends with it.") doesn't bother anyone. And of course at that time the parents leave the entire household behind, so they can visit a few colleagues.Despite the obvious events, apparitions and paranormal states, I was still a bit surprised by the final denouement. Visually and in terms of atmosphere they could have created a really eerie and creepy film. The ghost part isn't so bad because they are surely scary at times. But the storyline is certainly not that exciting. And the performances are pretty one-dimensional. Parents are more absent than present, the older daughter was totally unnecessary and the younger sister lived in her own world. Gilbertson and Liberato formed a sympathetic couple but Gilbertson's naivety is hugely irritating. I enjoy an old-fashioned ghost story once and a while. Such a film that gives you the chills at times. The only chills I got while watching "Haunt", were those of the cold because of an open window in the middle of the night.More reviews here : http://bit.ly/1KIdQMT

Dear Ms Weaver, sack your agent.From her grating narrative at the start - I wanted somebody to punch her in the throat - I had issues with this film.More warnings appeared when it became apparent that the only way the director knew how to produce a scare was with a sudden jump-cut of a figure standing behind someone. Literally, this was their only fright mechanism.Then it drags on like some poor ghost of a butler lugging chains around a deserted mansion - at least you know you could sit down and have a smoke with him and strike up an interesting chat.And I can't detail the end without ticking the spoiler box, but let me say two things:* The TV survived, even though I had an immediate urge to kick it in* Straight after this we watched the Lego Movie... and it TRASHED all over this piece of dreck.The LEGO Movie was better than this.No, it's worth saying a third time-THE LEGO MOVIE WAS A BILLION TIMES BETTER THAN THIS FILM.Don't waste your time watching this cheap lump of vomit, go watch something clever instead like The Conjuring (textbook but perfectly done), The Quiet Ones (strange, slow, but very clever) or the original Japanese version (the correct version) of Ring if you haven't seen it.

Are they sure this script was meant for a horror movie? To me is seemed like a lost soap script. All I saw was some obnoxious kid, being nervous. Becoming (over) emotional of every conversation he has. Licking his lips all the time. (Annoying) etc ..And the whole horror aspect of this movie, well there wasn't any. I have no idea what kind of audience this movie is aimed at. And I must confess that I didn't bother to watch the whole thing, because It was so bland and boring. Its better to avoid this movie, and watch something that has more balls. Poor acting, no suspense, no scares. Why was this movie even made??