Rating of
2/4
That Old Familiar Feeling
Chris Kavan - wrote on 04/07/13
The first Haunting in Connecticut was a straight-up haunted house film was some decent effects but a warmed over story. While this film is billed as a sequel - it's more of a stand-alone story with the name attached. In this case, we're not following a haunted house but rather a haunted family - as many of the women can see spirits of the dead.
The women in the film drive the story - Abigail Spencer is the matriarch, Lisa Wyrick, who stills sees vision of her own dead mother while her daughter Heidi (Emily Alyn Lind) is starting to have visions of her own. Her spunky sister Joyce (Katee Sackhoff of Battlestar Galactica fame) also experiences the same phenomena. When the family moves into a new historic Georgia home - they open Pandora's box with the previous owner Mr. Gordy appearing to the young Heidi while other spirits, men and slaves alike tied to the underground railroad - also start to appear. Lisa's husband, Andy (Chad Michael Murray) tries his best to keep things together - but without a direct connection to the supernatural, his help is limited.
What Ghosts of Georgia does well is provide a nice mix of some creepy visuals with the more standard "jump" scares. If you aren't a fan of bugs and maggots - I guarantee certain parts will make you cringe. But despite the inclusion of some nice touches the main problem is that the story just seems a bit on the generic side of things. It's a bit disappointing considering the film is based on the actual events the real Wyrick went through. Granted, things are going to be kicked up a notch, here - but even taking such liberties every thing is just a bit bland for my tastes.
That being said, for fans of ghost type films, this is worth checking out for the performances from Spencer and Lynd (who share a great rapport throughout) and the above-average effects. It may not break the mold for horror films - but it's good for a night's watch.
