ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Skyler Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

calvinnme This documentary is one of the scariest haunting stories of which I've heard, and is probably the best episode in Discovery's haunting series. I will warn you that there are spoilers ahead.The premise of the story that the Snedeker family needs to move closer to where the oldest son, Stephen, is being treated for cancer. The family thinks they have found the answer to their prayers when they find a large home that has just been remodeled that is being leased for a very reasonable price. However, they soon learn the reason for the bargain. The house is a former funeral home. However, with the expense of the son's cancer treatment weighing heavily on the family budget, the Snedekers are unable to afford breaking their lease and moving to yet another house. Demons soon invade their domicile - or they invade the demons' domicile, depending on how you look at it - until the supernatural detectives, the Warrens, are called in and with the help of an exorcism, restore peace to the household.Just as much as fright, though, I felt a great deal of anger at the Snedekers as parents. For one thing, Mr. Snedeker seems to believe that the size of his electricity bill is more important than the mental health of a child recovering from cancer since he removes all of the light bulbs from the basement bedroom so that Stephen can no longer sleep with the lights on. Then he forces the boy to continue sleeping in this bedroom in spite of his tales of horror of being tormented by apparitions coming from the former embalming room adjacent to his basement bedroom. He does this in spite of the fact that he and his wife have both personally been the victims of attacks and witnesses of various manifestations of the house's spirits. Afterwards, in despair, the boy just gives in to the demons' collective will, manifesting in more and more bizarre behavior until he finally attacks a visiting cousin. How Mrs. Snedeker could have invited this young niece into her home in the first place just because she wanted the companionship and help around the house, having witnessed firsthand the mayhem that the house's demons can cause, as well as her son's deteriorating mental state, is a wonder to me.I have read an interview with the author of a book on this haunting, which tracks this documentary closely, and he paints both the Warrens and the Snedekers in a very unflattering light in that interview. He basically says that he does not really believe the Snedekers' stories, since even the Warrens themselves told the author that they think that all of their clients are crazy including the Snedekers. Plus, apparently there was considerable drug and alcohol abuse going on in the Snedeker household and the family members would never tell the same story twice. The author only went through with writing his book because he was already legally obligated to do so.However, even if the account told in this documentary is total fiction, it is well told and frightening fiction and I highly recommend it. It is much better than the movie which suffers from a real lack of imagination given the subject matter.

muvcritic "Mom, I just heard a voice down in the basement, calling for Paul." -- Bobby Parker (Tyler Reid)It's questionable when even a historical movie claims to be a "true story," although I'll maintain that a fair recreation of D-Day, for example, does just as much to convey historical context as does reading some historian's second-hand description in a book. The difference is, of course, I'm firmly convinced that D-Day actually happened. I am less convinced of any supernatural nonsense.You've seen it all before. Just like The Amityville Horror and any of its sequels, remakes or imitators, a nice American family moves into a quaint (aren't they always) old house which, not more than 10 minutes later, somebody must suspect is haunted. Usually, it's built over an ancient Native American burial ground; in this case, the house was once a mortuary. The only major difference, if it is, is that in this picture, the family is already preoccupied with morbidity as the oldest son, Kyle (Matt Campbell), is dying from cancer. Not only is Kyle waiting to check out, but so is the film's token exorcist, Father Popescu (Elias Koteas), probably the meekest, whiniest exorcist in movie history. It's not like Max Von Sydow commanding "The power of Christ compels you!"; it's more like, "Hey, if it wouldn't be too much trouble..."I won't indict the technical crew's reliable work, especially production designer Alicia Keywan, who performed similar work in 2007's The Messengers, and the obligatory manifestations every five minutes are all staged creepily enough to make at least half the audience jump in their seats. I wasn't jumping as much as I was squirming because it all seemed so...familiar, despite the novelty of having Academy Award-nominated actress Virginia Madsen as the harried mom.At least director Peter Cornwell does what he can to maintain some plausibility. My objection to these things is not the fact that I just flat-out don't believe in the supernatural. I don't believe in space wizards with laser swords, either, but I can, briefly, if a movie requires me to accept that as its premise. However, my ability willingly to suspend disbelief flags when presented with the scenario of little kids playing hide and seek with their babysitting aunt and hiding in the darkest corner of the house where an animated corpse materializes. The next scene is fairly normal, which it wouldn't be. My kids would be so hysterical that such an event would have to be addressed for some scenes afterwards, although it's just as likely that, if it were my kids, it would be the demons screaming in terror. Later, the teenage aunt, after a similar encounter with demoniac forces, reaches the apparently obligatory cinematic decision, "Well, time to take a shower." Obviously, these people don't watch enough movies.Or maybe I watch too many. Maybe I shouldn't watch these things because I feel like I've seen it all before. Bet you have, too.

harry smart I saw this episode on discovery channel last night. Just before I was going to sleep, a very bad decision. Switching from one channel to another, I was thinking maybe discovery channel will air a supernatural show and voila, there it was. Watching it was absolutely terrifying, I could not change the channel, because I had to see the ending. Actually, from the moment the mother was mopping the floor, I was hooked. But definitely worth the while. Although I did not sleep well, the terror kept haunting me (so to speak).I think it will stay with me for sometime, and it's good to read the comments of other viewers. Unlike some of you I don't like horror movies or suspension thrillers (it scares me so much, it's not pleasant anymore), unless I know in advance there worth watching, like the 'Sixt Sense' and 'Unbreakable'. Also very impressive, but at least there were based on fiction. 'Unbreakable' also gave a feeling about what true evil looks like. Something I never hope to experience personally!In short, a very impressive documentary, I reward it with a 9.

Gafke I made the serious mistake of watching this feature length documentary shortly before going to bed. I did not sleep at all that night.This is the allegedly true story of the Parker family, whose eldest son is terribly ill and requires frequent hospital visits. In order to be closer to the hospital where he receives treatment, the entire Parker family move into a new home which is a shorter drive from the facilities. It is also conveniently located quite close to a cemetery. The house itself is a large, impressively grandiose estate, but when Mr. and Mrs. Parker head downstairs just after purchasing the home, they discover a basement room filled with an odd assortment of surgical tools and a large freezer. To their horror, the couple realize they are standing in a disused embalming room. The house was once a funeral home.Having sunk their life savings into the purchase of their new home, The Parkers have no choice but to go ahead and move in. They decide to conceal the history of the house from their children, but odd things soon begin to occur. A kitchen floor stubbornly refuses to be cleansed of a vicious pool of blood. The sickly teenage boy, Paul, begins hearing voices, and all of the children see phantoms and shadows moving throughout the house. Paul's temper begins to fray and he grows increasingly violent. Not even removing him from the house seems to help, which his parents do after he attacks his own cousin. Instead, the forces inside of the house shift their focus, and the demonic displays of physical violence and destruction reach explosively frightening levels. By the time a team of parapsychologists arrive to investigate, it is almost too late. This is a very eerie documentary, and incredibly well made. The mood throughout is suffocatingly dreary and filled with unrelenting dread. The performances are all quite good and somehow, genuine fear is infused into every frame. Whether it's the discovery of the embalming equipment in the basement, or a face-to-face encounter with a black-eyed demon in the darkness, this documentary will leave you with a sinking feeling of horror in the pit of your stomach and an overwhelming urge to glance around your immediate surroundings during the commercials, just to make sure there is nothing lurking in the shadowy corners.I really had not intended to stay up and watch the entire program, but it hooked me easily and kept me watching late into the night, despite the fact that I had to get up early for work the next day. I didn't sleep that night anyway, and kept my bedside light on all night long. That's how unsettling I found this program to be, and I don't scare easily.If you like ghost stories, historical accounts of haunted houses, and having the holy old crap scared out of you, watch this show the next time it's run on TV. It's one of the best shows of its kind I have ever seen. Be sure to catch its companion piece: A Haunting in Georgia, as well.