I watched The Haunting in Connecticut last week, and unfortunately the film reminded me how Hollywood ruins a good ghost story.

Set in the mid-eighties, the movie follows the alleged experiences of the Campbells, a family that buys a home in Connecticut in an effort to be nearer the facility treating their son, Matt, for cancer. Tired of hauling the ailing teen long trips to the hospital, mom finds a deal on a local house that seems too good to be true.

And of course it is, and the building has a dark history, and this is fine, because otherwise, there would be no story. It’s also fine — in principle — that the film says it is “based on a true story”.

What isn’t fine is what it does to that story.
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