an american haunting explained

Red River, Tenn., 1817. Later, Betsy is then seen at her father's grave, and she never haunted again. The film is an international co-production between the United Kingdom, Canada, Romania, and the United States. An American Haunting is based on true story, but the movie itself was based from a novel that has different story (I guess) than the actual event. The entire story centers on the possibility of either ghosts or demons attacking the Bells. When he asks for another drink, John Sr. refuses, saying, “You’re three sheets to the wind already.” In an aside to her husband, Lucy says, “We’ll have to talk to James about his drinking.” There are also a few scenes of social drinking of wine. Betsy's ghost, which was the Bell Witch's form, suddenly appears and cries "Help her!" None. Ghostly voices in the dark. An American Haunting is supposedly based on a true story that was “validated by the State of Tennessee, the only case in U.S. history where a spirit or entity caused the death of a man.” Take that claim with a grain of salt, realizing that it was written by movie marketers. Shortly thereafter, a mysterious black wolf with piercing yellow eyes appears on the Bells’ land. The church finds him guilty of charging her too much interest, but let him go because 'the loss of his good name is punishment enough'. Slamming doors. He says that although he is smitten with Betsy, he cannot 'in all good conscience' marry her just to protect her.John Bell begins to go insane, and goes to the woman whose land he took with his pistol and asks her to kill him. The film is based on the novel The Bell Witch: An American Haunting by Brent Monahan. Her young teacher, Richard Powell, notices the change in her behavior. Johnston arrives at a Christmas party well on his way to getting drunk. He realises that the spirit haunting his house won't allow him to kill himself due to the fact that there is no real spirit. She refuses and tells him that he cursed himself. Her face is pummeled. Will they ever be free of it? (“There was something unholy in that room,” he says.) She is dragged across the floor, and we see her fingernails leaving grooves in the wood. John Sr. goes so far as to offers himself to the entity if it will only spare his daughter. “I’m not so stewed that I cannot find a friend’s door,” he insists. Associated with that is the idea that it has been brought about by an alleged witch’s curse. The Bell family seem to have made a good life for themselves on the frontier. John Bell is taken to church court and found guilty of theft of a woman's land. The hammer clicks, but the gun doesn't fire. In present day, the mother is reading the journal. Johnston rebukes it: “Demon, in the name of Jesus Christ, leave her!” It drops her and seems to leave, only to return the next night and every night thereafter. The Bells’ slaves find one of John Sr.’s shirts and Betsy’s bedclothes in the woods; both have blood on them. The words “hell” and “damn” are both said, but are being used in a theological context. The letters appear to be written in 19th-century script. Donald Sutherland as John Bell; Sissy Spacek as Lucy Bell; Rachel Hurd-Wood as Betsy Bell; Thom Fell as John Bell Jr.; James D'Arcy as Richard Powell; Matthew Marsh as the Rev. John makes a suicide attempt. It appears as though Betsy is raped by the Spirit as the haunting progress. He’s found guilty of usury—charging unfair interest in biblical terms—and of violating church law. James Johnston. The offended woman tells him to enjoy his good health and the health of his family (especially his daughters) while he can. An American Haunting is a 2005 horror film written and directed by Courtney Solomon and starring Donald Sutherland, Sissy Spacek, James D'Arcy, and Rachel Hurd-Wood. That said (and what I’m about to write contains a huge spoiler), Solomon posits the existence of poltergeists, supernatural spirits that reveal their presence by creating disturbances and loud noises. Betsy’s body is flung around the house, dragged across the floor and bludgeoned by an unseen force. Her daughter comes to her and says her father has come to take her for their weekend stay. Lucy, Betsy's mother, has the same revelation because she witnessed the assault. It was “validated” only in the sense that a lot of people have repeated variations of the story over the last 100-plus years. John Bell: You were always a sound sleeper. When the girl answers that she found it in the attic, her mother reminds her that the attic is off-limits and not to go up there again. To know when people like your submissions, answer your questions, reply to you, etc., please. Lucy poisons her husband. [Spoiler Warning] The story’s end intimates that John Sr. has sexually abused Betsy. It flings objects around the room, including tearing a cross off the wall and hurling it at the schoolteacher. Betsy starts hearing noises more and more often, and had terrible nightmares about a little girl in a red dress, and something evil that always comes into her bedroom after everyone else is asleep.At first everyone thinks they're just nightmares, but then the whole family sees Betsy suspended above the bed by unseen hands, and they watch as something seems to slap her across the face. It’s said that John Sr. helped found the local church. The Bells are a close, loving family. The letter's are from a previous occupant of the house, warning the mother that if she is reading the letters, and noticing supernatural happenings, then the unthinkable has come to pass. The movie then switches to the 1800's, in a village that used to stand around the house, and we hear the story of the Bell Witch.John Bell is taken to Church court for having stolen a woman's land. As she sends her daughter off with her father she turns to see the spirit of Bets who is trying to warn her. (He responds by saying, “Damn you to hell!”). Her mother comes to wake her up and finds an old binder of letters from the 1800's, as well as an old porcelain doll. When the camera shot switches it is his right hand that is covered in blood. http://www.metacritic.com/movie/an-american-haunting, http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/american_haunting. A young girl and boy run through the woods dressed in early 19th-century garb, and the story moves into that of the Bell Witch. Men get thrown against the walls when they try to help her. The events in the novel are based on the legend of the Bell Witch. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. The film was previewed at the AFI Film Festival on November 5, 2005 and was released in the UK on April 14, 2006 with follow-up in US theaters on May 5. The Bells call in help from the local pastor, who represents the voice of faith, and the local schoolteacher, who represents the voice of cool, scientific reason. The biggest mistakes in the Harry Potter movies, 25 mistakes you never noticed in great movies, The 20 biggest mistakes in The Wizard of Oz, 40 biggest mistakes in The Big Bang Theory. Determined to convince the family of reality, Richard stays in the Bell home to observe Betsy's behavior. She sends her daughter to her ex-husband, who is waiting outside. Betsy starts to look very sick in class, and her schoolteacher (who has an interest in her) notices. She holds the pistol to his head, cocks it, and hands it back to him, saying 'I didn't curse you, you cursed yourself'.John Bell stumbles into the forest, falls to his knees, holds the gun to his head, and pulls the trigger. Early in the haunting, Johnston sits down with the family and says, “A few chapters from the Bible will solve this house’s problem.” He reads the story of Jesus casting out demons and then leads the family in a prayer: “Demon, in the name of Jesus Christ, be silent and leave this house forever.” At first, it seems the “exorcism” has worked, and the Reverend exclaims, “Hallelujah, God has answered, and your house is silent.”, The entity returns with a vengeance, though, assaulting Betsy violently and levitating her in the air. Thus we know that the daughter is also being molested by her father and the mother chases after the car. On the background of the house we find a photo revealing that the teacher and Betsy did in fact marry. [2] Rotten Tomatoes reports a 13% rating from 69 reviews; the consensus states: "Well, it looks good. Her mother reads an old letter from 1817 written by her ancestor, Lucy Bell. An American Haunting is a fairly conventional Hollywood ghost story, with lots of moments calculated to make you jump in your seat and plenty of things going bump in the night. John Sr. fairly accepts the court’s judgment against him and tries to be gracious to the other party in his loss. The schoolteacher, Mr. Powell, is at first skeptical, but upon witnessing the frightening attacks, he too becomes convinced of demonic activity. (It was also claimed that soon-to-be president Andrew Jackson visited the Bell family but that he and his entourage were chased away by the entity. An American Haunting Explained An American Haunting is a 2005 horror film written and directed by Courtney Solomon and starring Donald Sutherland, Sissy Spacek, James D'Arcy, and Rachel Hurd-Wood. The haunting gets worse, and chairs, books, and people are blown and pulled around by some entity in the house. As her father gathers her thing to hide on the witch lady's property a spirit of Betsy's innocence can be seen leaving her body. Contact me | Privacy policy | Join the mailing list | Links. Factual error: As the film itself notes, the major action starts in spring 1818 and continues for several weeks if not months. She is also suspended by her hair and then dragged up a set of stairs. Starring: Donald Sutherland, James D'Arcy, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Sissy Spacek. The wolf knocks two people off a fleeing horse and attacks them on the ground. An American Haunting was panned by critics, holding a 38/100 rating on Metacritic, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Between the years 1818-1820, the Bell Family of Red River, Tennessee was visited by an unknown presence that haunted the family and eventually ended up causing the death of one its members. John Sr., a moderately prosperous landowner, has a loving wife, beautiful children and good friends. Later as Belle lays in a bed sick Betsy is revealed to poison her father to death as her mother sits by in a chair and watches...since the mother discovered the secret when the teacher stayed the night and they entered Betsy's room. The offended party, Kate Batts, is infamous in the village due to claims of witchcraft. The movie opens in present times with a young girl having a dream about being chased by something unseen through the forest and into her house. However, many of the trees remain leafless and the weather is nothing like the norm in spring and summertime Tennessee. She runs after her ex-husband's car. She falls asleep in school, her attitude towards others changes and she becomes irritable. Design and text © 1996 - 2020 Jon Sandys. John Sr. shoots at a wolf in the woods. As they try to read from the bible to scare it off, the bible is thrown to the ground and the pages … Countering the neighbor’s demands of “a pound of flesh,” the court makes it clear that it favors mercy, saying, “The loss of his good name is punishment enough.”. And Solomon has produced a story free of profanity, one that is respectful toward the Christian beliefs of its characters. As things get progressively worse, Betsy asks a friend, “Do you believe in the Lord?” The friend affirms her faith, but Betsy’s not so sure about her own, saying, “I used to.” In a prayer, John Sr. asks God why He is punishing him. Betsy then stands over her father's grave and says farewell to her innocence.It comes back to the present where the daughter who had the nightmare in the beginning startles her mother who was reading the teachers' notes. But it’s not obsessively bloody. The film was previewed at the AFI Film Festival on November 5, 2005 and was released in the UK on April 14, 2006 with follow-up in US theaters on May 5.

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