A brilliant film that helped define a genre

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

A couple buys the March Carriage House bed and breakfast in New England. The house has a history of a midwife hung as a witch for killing children. Soon Lydia (India Pearl) becomes possessed by the home and inhabitants but never becomes as scary as the DVD cover.Film was rather boring. Nothing new. Made for TV quality.Guide: No f-bombs. Brief sex. Avoids nudity. Bra/panties/ back shots.

The plot is one that has been done before – it is the haunted house scenario where previous misdemeanours still lurk as a stain on the soul of the property. The house here is an old New England home that is now a Bed and Breakfast but used to house an alleged midwife cum witch, child killer.Enter Dan and Jess to buy the place. Dan has to go on a business trip and when he returns his erstwhile loving wife has turned cold and uncaring. He soon finds out that the house has a few secrets and so sets about finding out what happened in the past to cause such occurrences in the now. The perennial question is always, will he find out before it is too late?Well the problem with horror is that fans expect an awful lot of a genre where it has basically been done before. It is hard to get a new twist and, even if you do, it then has to translate as 'horrific' or have some truly scary fright scenes. As we become more inured to slasher and gore fests so we tend to want more 'frights' and actually this scored quite highly there.It actually gave me goose bumps more than once, but it does suffer from lack of characters. We don't get any back story of the couple either or enough time to get some positive feelings for the couple in the 'empathy bank', which means we are not going to care enough when bad stuff happens. The music is good though at atmosphere enhancement but it is started off by being 'spooky' and carried on throughout – we could have done with some variety or the tension starts to become the norm and therefore has less impact. Acting here is fine for a budget film – Michael Reed as Dan being rather good and directors the Rassmussen brothers have made a rather good effort which they say was a labour of love and that comes through. Not the best horror ever but a million blood drenched miles from the worst and for an independent effort there is plenty here to applaud.

As films go, it's not too bad but certainly not as wonderful as previous reviews would have you believe. It's often the case with lower budget films that the acting isn't the best and this is no exception. Although the plot is an interesting one with real potential, it starts out as an interesting concept but just doesn't have the script to carry it off. There were no real 'Scares' or moments that made me jump and I found the films progression quiet formulaic and predictable. I've seen a lot worse, but I've also seen a lot better - It makes a change to see a film in this genre that's free of blood and gore, even though this is a rather average offering at best.

In a nutshell - go this this! I was lucky enough to attend a special premiere screening at Somerville Theatre! It is a contained horror film about a couple that acquire a Salem, MA bed and breakfast and soon find it's haunted. While that might not sound like the most original horror story, it's an interesting take on the haunted house concept. It is a throwback to 80s horror films that slowly build to the scares and gore. In a way it reminded me of Ti West's House of the Devil, not the story, but the pacing and tone. Both had an undercurrent of tension throughout. This is a great example of what one can do on a low-budget and still be scary and creative with limited resources.