OK, but not great. Started well - the mystery and suspense was gradually increased and the plot promised much. However, the director then started to overdo the scares. The story got more confusing and nonsensical, and simply degenerated into scare-a-minute stuff.I never find Martin Donovan's acting convincing and this movie reinforced that view. Virginia Madsen's performance was good, however. Kyle Gallner did a reasonable job as the haunted kid.

I'm getting convinced that horror cinema has been so exploited that it's getting more difficult to do something new or original. This movie reinforces that thought a little bit because it doesn't bring anything new but still works well enough. The screenplay is based on another case of haunting studied by Ed and Lorraine Warren, as well as other films like "Conjuring" or "Amityville Horror". But as in these films, this script has little reality and immense imagination for dramatic effects (well... truth about the actual case portrayed in this film is still controversial today). Despite this and the abundant use of clichés that we are tired of seeing in other films, it works, causing some scares and, above all, a pleasant feeling of discomfort and tension. The script is easy to describe: in order to be closer to the hospital where their child is treating cancer, a family moves to a new home in Connecticut. However, the house they decide to rent was used in the past as a funeral parlor, and there were also spiritist sessions and black magic.The family drama is very well introduced at the beginning of the film and is being developed in conjunction with the beginning of the strange events in the house, so we never get the feeling that everything was just a pretext to introduce a friendly family in a diabolical house ready to kill them all. In the middle of the movie we feel like we are very close to the end ... and that would probably be true if this movie were like many others, where the whole story is just a pretext for a mind-boggling journey of predictable scares in a weird house. It's not like this here... when we think it's all over, things really start to get interesting. The end of the movie makes use of a plot twist but it's not really shocking or unpredictable. Concerning the actors, I have to say that I hardly know them... Kyle Gallner is a good actor and shows talent, although he is still very young. Elias Koteas was also quite competent.

The Haunting in Connecticut, for all its similarities to classic horror films, neither succeeds nor fails. The year 2000 and subsequent years thereon have one in ten greats. Sadly this movie sits square in the middle. There's nothing new. The terminally ill youngster that's exposed to the supernatural entities that infect the families' new house is unpleasant and a big difference from the usual victims. It does comes with some shockers; a scary spirit or two, a good underlying story, an upset, broken family. The mystery room connected to the basement, where barbaric acts took place, is a horror buff's sadistic delight. Once the ticker's calmed down, the brain takes over, and realises we've been there before. The poorly teenager's link to the undead is gratifying, like The Sixth Sense, but not a route it continues on. It sticks to the frights, dwindling further and further away from its strong opening.

Claiming to be based on true events, The Haunting In Connecticut is the story about a family who move to a new house in Connecticut to be closer to the eldest son's treatment center for cancer patients. The new house seems ideal, but as time goes by the building's dark & sinister history starts to emerge soon followed by haunting images.I usually love these types of supernatural horror movies. Sinister, The Exorcist, and Insidious just to name a few were all fantastic, but unfortunately I was pretty much let down with The Haunting In Connecticut.Story-wise, while not that original, is not too bad. It has a somewhat decent gradual build-up, although the first 50 minutes are a wee bit slow at times, but from then on the pace starts to pick up. There are quite a few creepy moments in the movie as well, which is to be expected obviously, but in all honesty they're nothing special and there's really nothing that will make you throw your popcorn in the air with fright.While The Haunting In Connecticut is a decent film, there are far better movies of this type out there. It's worth a watch, but don't pin your hopes on it being that great.