Donald Sutherland (John Bell)Sissy Spacek (Lucy Bell)Rachel Hurd-Wood (Betsy Bell)James D'Arcy (Richard Powell)Matthew Marsh (James Johnston)Thom Fell (John Bell Jr.)Zoe Thorne (Theny Thorn)Gaye Brown (Kathe Batts)Sam Alexander (Joshua Gardner)Miquel Brown (Chloe)Vernon Dobtcheff (Elder #1)Shauna Shim (Anky)Madalina Stan (Ethereal Girl)Philip Hurd-Wood (Partygoer)Vlad Cruceru (Richard Bell (aged 4))Alin Rosca (Joel Bell (aged 10))Andrei Serban (Joel Bell (aged 6))Isabelle Almgren-Dor (Jane). There have been two other Bell Witch movies, The Bell Witch Haunting (2004) and Bell Witch: The Movie (2005). Edit, The legend concerns the haunting of the Bell family in and about their home and farm near the Red River in Robertson County, Tennessee. | 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. She made good on her promise and "appeared" at the home of John Bell, Jr. whereit is said, she left him withpropheciesof future events, including the Civil War, and World Wars I and II. John Bell is taken to church court and found guilty of theft of a woman's land. A few rational explanations of The Bell Witch phenomena have been offered over the years. James Johnston. With the support of Betsy's school teacher Richard Powell, who tries to find rational explanations for the manifestation; her brother John Bell Jr.; and their friend James Johnston, who unsuccessfully tries to exorcize the entity from the house, the family does their best to protect Betsy in the haunted house. . The lack of firsthand accounts and confirmed records mean that it is impossible to confirm whether this actually took place, is a hoax, or simply an urban legend. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License available at https://creativecommons.org/licens An American Haunting (2006) movie review: Screenwriter, director, and co-producer Courtney Solomon . FR. An American Haunting. John loses his sanity and sees many forms of the Bell Witch. HD. Movie Info. Religion is casually mentioned in An American Haunting, but mostly in a By the power of Jesus Christ, I compel you to leave this house, kind of way. The mother realizes Betsy is trying to warn her that something is amiss between her daughter and her ex-husband. Repeated business setbacks, family problems, and poor health may have made him hungry for a hit. For historical interest, the ha Nobody has seen or located the supposed letters and diaries that recorded the manifestations. Its never acknowledged that the Bell family were also attending regular revival meetings at their local church, where congregants would be possessed by the Holy Spirit and find themselves compelled to fall on all fours, bark, dance wildly, and experience seizures. The Bell Witch of the legends was a chatty Cathy and people came from miles around to listen to her sing and tell jokes. The film was released in 2006 by distributor Freestyle Releasing to generally negative reviews. "An American Haunting" takes the tale of the Bell Witch, spices it up with some amazing actors, and then takes all the cliches and stereotypes from horror movie past and creates quite possibly the most miserable horror experience in years. Instead of retelling the actual event, this movie revolves around it, giving us an entirely different interpretation of the haunting. An American Haunting Reviews, Ratings, Credits, An American Haunting Movie Reviews, Pictures, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=An_American_Haunting&oldid=1131344248, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2016, Rotten Tomatoes template using name parameter, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 3 January 2023, at 18:58. That the witch, at least in the later version, told Betsy not to marry Joshua, left her teacher free to marry his girl-bride. Zoe Thorne . A note at the end of the film claims that there has been over twenty books written on the haunting and the version they present is based on one of the theories. The book is written as one long chapter without any real breaks which makes it very difficult to read without sitting down and reading it in one sitting. Theny Thorn. The letter was written by Richard Powell to his daughter by the Betsy Bell. It's an influential figure in Southern folklore who supposedly haunted a Tennessee family 200 years ago, and she may very well dwell in that space to this day (via The Southern Weekend). I didnt hate this book but I didnt love it. Joel, Richard Williams and, especially, Betsy were subjected to being struck, pinched and having their hair pulled relentlessly by the Bell Witch. In the 1800s, the Bell family household in rural Tennessee was subject to some kind of curse, a haunting if you will, that started slowly with weird noises around the house and then escalated into certain family . Official Sites A chapter in M. V. Ingram's 1894 book,An Authenticated History of the Famous Bell Witch- considered by many to be the best account of the story - is devoted to Jackson's visit: According to some versions of the story, Jackson did indeed encounter The Bell Witch that night: The torment of the Bell house continued for years, culminating in the ghost's ultimate act of vengeance upon the man she claimed had cheated her: she took responsibility for his death. Betsy Bell / Entity Voice. . The legend was an interesting story but could have been told in a more tangible, relatable way. Meh. Film Horreur / Thriller / Mystre ralis en 2005 par Courtney Solomon, avec Donald Sutherland (John Bell), Rachel Hurd-Wood (Betsy Bell / Entity Voice) et Sissy Spacek (Lucy Bell). While the poltergeist's first attack has been divided in the normal version, the scene is put together in the unrated version. The facts of The Bell Witch case share little in common with the mythology created for The Blair Witch Project, except they both attracted a great deal of public interest. Starting with small sounds around the farm, and the sighting of a a strange BLACK WOLF with piercing yellow eyes, the sounds escalated into full brutal contact with the certain family members, causing psychological and physical torment. By Nathan Lee. He is our Southern Ichabod Crane. visual effects artist: Men-from-Mars . The entity seemed to dislike one of Betsy's suitors, Joshua Gardner. Much of the movie's runtime involves characters discussing how Kate Batts is a witch. Lucy, Betsy's mother, has the same revelation because she witnessed the sexual assault, which she and Betsy repressed. Something terrifying happened to the Bell family of Red River, Tennessee, nearly 200 years ago, causing the death of one of its members, the only validated case in U.S. history where a spirit or entity caused the death of a human being. The horror film An American Haunting was based on the novel The Bell Witch: An American Haunting. In 2006, in Red River, Tennessee, a teenager has frequent nightmares. 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. Bell charged her 20% interest. She runs after her ex-husband's car, frantically yelling his name. The mother goes to her desk and picks up a binder full of old letters, with a note from someone who claims to be an ancestor. Edit, Yes. Rachel. He has performed, stage directed and taught music and writing professionally. But the prevailing account is that it was the spirit of Kate Batts, a mean old neighbor of John Bell who believed she was cheated by him in a land purchase. Supposedly, the curse was placed on the family from Kate Batts (Gaye Brown), but there are much darker machinations at play. Lucy Bell. If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Written and directed by Courtney Solomon, whose only other credit is the supernaturally bad Dungeons& Dragons, An American Haunting is set in 1818 in Red River, Tenn. John Bell (Donald Sutherland) is a local bigwig whose shady land deal with a neighbor earns him a curse. Its closely based on The Bell Witch: An American Haunting by Brent Monahan, a 1995 novel that claims to be the true story of the Bell Witch based on newly discovered papers belonging to Richard Powell, Betsy Bells husband. While the children are beaten and harassed in their beds, their father is stricken by seizures, and visiting skeptics are confounded by a hateful, disembodied voice that ridicules their attempts at investigation. She refuses and tells him that he cursed himself. The Bell family was tormented by poltergeist/haunting activity after a local woman named Kate cursed the family patriarch. It materialized out of Betsy's lost innocence after John sexually assaulted her his own daughter. Edit, At the beginning of the movie, it is explained that Bell made a deal with Kate Batts (Gaye Brown) in which he gave her the use of a slave and a loan of $100 in return for the right to use a plot of her land. Powell attempts to prove that this is impossible because spirits don't exist. . Through a variety of pranks, tricks, and with the help of several accomplices, it is theorized that Powell created all of the "effects" of the ghost to scare Gardner away. The classmate is only a few years older than Betsy while Richard is considerably older at almost 20 years her senior. Not only were new scenes added to the unrated version, many of the plot scenes have been reintegrated elsewhere into the film or edited. American Haunting, An. Edit, The two versions differ a lot from each other. I do need to go up to Adams and check out the place and I did enjoy reading about 1820s Tennessee, and about Andrew Jackson's visit. . In short order his house is filled with bumpings, rumblings, and an invisible entity that simulates sex with his daughter, Betsy, before hauling her out of bed by her hair and tossing her around the room. See production, box office & company info, (based upon the novel "The Bell Witch: An American Haunting" by), WatchMojo: Another Top 10 Horror Movies Inspired by True Events. In present day, the mother's daughter says her father has come to take her for their weekend stay. Betsy was the Bell Daughter who was most violently attacked by the witch. Richard Powell. The Bell family tells him they fear that the cause is paranormal. The family desperately searched for the cause of the spirit in . . I have only done minimal research on the Bell Witch or "Old Kate" so I really cannot vouch for the accuracy of this novel. by text overlays at the beginning and the end to make the movie seem much more authentic, the unrated version almost completely abandons this. The movie is actually based on a purportedly true story. She refuses and tells him that he cursed himself. Films Sries Personnes Nouvelles. The film is an international co-production between the United . Format Not Supported! . The ghost said it would reappear 107 years later - in 1935 - but if she did, no one in Adams came forward as a witness to it. I wanted to know the legend behind the Bell Witch. I did not see it coming. This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers. With Donald Sutherland, Sissy Spacek, James D'Arcy, Rachel Hurd-Wood. Ok, if I sit and think about this sort of thing happening to myself, or to someone I know, to actually experience this sort of happening, it Would be terrifying by all accounts. 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 film switches from the 21st century to the 19th, and features a subplot about a recently divorced mother (Susan Almgren) whose daughter (Isabelle Almgren-Dor) is going through something like the same experience as Betsy Bell. Find out where to watch online amongst 45+ services including Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video. That's why the legend has received numerous accounts over the years from books to movies, but none have caught on as well as 2005's "An American Haunting." The film is based on the novel The Bell Witch: An American Haunting by Brent Monahan. John asks Kate Batts to kill him and remove her curse. Some believe that he suffered astroke,since thereafter he had difficulty speaking and swallowing. An American Haunting was panned by critics, holding a 38/100 rating on Metacritic, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". 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 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. Her mother reads an old letter from 1817 written by her ancestor, Lucy Bell. When word of thehauntingreached Nashville, one of its most famous citizens, General Andrew Jackson, decided to gather a party of friends and journey to Adams to investigate. Drama, History, Horror, Mystery, Thriller. Rent $3.99. Betsy is then seen at her father's grave, and she is never haunted again. Browser does not support the . In 1818, the family began to experience disturbances on their property. Gaye Brown . Pretty good ghost story. In the modern storyline, the Bell Witch, now in the form of Betsy Bell's ghost . The movie portrays 19th-century American life anachronistically, as if the Bells were just some funky retro-dressing folks who lived in the O.C., and not members of a gruelingly isolated community whose inhabitants were regarded as little better than pagans caught up in the first waves of the Second Great Awakening. The events in the novel are based on the legend of the Bell Witch. An old photograph that appears to be a wedding portrait of Richard Powell and Betsy is shown on a shelf. Richard Collis . The classmate is only a few years older than Betsy while Richard is considerably older at almost 20 years her senior. Sweeney Todd: Opens March 26 at The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, 205 W 46th Street.Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics) and Hugh Wheeler (book) will be brought back to life by director Thomas Kail. As with many other horror movies, the answer isn't so crystal clear. Kathe Batts. With over 20 books written on the subject, and a town that still lives in fear of the return of the unseen spirit, the story of "An American Haunting" is terrifying. An American Haunting was panned by critics, holding a 38/100 rating on Metacritic, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". The church releases him with the verdict that his loss of honor is sufficient punishment. I'm a believer in ghosts, spirits and whatever else but this book had me saying, really?! actor. An American Haunting. | The first concerns the character of the local schoolmaster, Richard Powell. User Reviews #horrormovie #forbiddenlove #drama #bellwitch #forbiddenlove song #songaboutloveaffair How closely does the movie follow the book? The story then returns to present day, where the young girl's mother has been reading the journal. Betsy Bell / Entity Voice. Alternate Ending: Betsy Kills John Alternate Ending: Betsy's Doll Alternate Ending: Through the Wall Deleted Scenes Lucy Nursed by Entity John Gets Gun, Says Good-bye James and Wife Arrive at Party Betsy Hears Noises in Her Room John Sees Man on the Roof Play All The Internet Promos The Beginning The Mystery The Making Of The Experts Play All Everyone has a secret they keep close to their chest, and it turns out John Bell (Donald Sutherland) has the darkest one of all. Pop culture obsessives writing for the pop culture obsessed. A terrified young girl runs through the forest and into her house to escape from an unseen threat. It was dry, confusing, and did not have any reason to make the reader actually care about the story. Again, those who have both seen the movie and have knowledge about the legend say that the legend has been drastically altered. $28.00 + $4.50 shipping. It is a quick a read. The family desperately searched for the cause of the spirit in the hope of finding a way of defeating it, but the spirit continued its brutal assault. After a dispute of lands judged by the church, her . The movie added the explanation that the spirit entity was a poltergeist created by Betsy herself. Elizabeth Betsy Bell Powell, the youngest daughter of John Bell, Sr., was the focus of what is considered to be the most well-known paranormal occurrence in the United States. Release Dates The usual paranormal/ghost activity at the beginning is not nearly as chilling as the mundane stuff that happens later as the Bell family and the community intereact with the relentless "witch." EN ES PT DE. Betsy is then seen at her father's grave, and the narrator says that Betsy was never haunted from that point forward. The film's made waves since it became available on Hulu, as it tells the story of the Bell family who invoke a curse after a business deal turns sour. Her young teacher, Richard Powell, notices the change in Betsy's behavior. An American Haunting is a 2005 supernatural horror film written and directed by Courtney Solomon and starring Donald Sutherland, Sissy Spacek, James D'Arcy, and Rachel Hurd-Wood. An American Haunting is a horror film directed by Courtney Solomon. Total surprise. Maybe I'm getting older or thoroughly de-sensitized by media, but a good old fashioned ghost story just does't scare anymore. Also, it tells nothing about General Andrew Jackson who visited Bell's family during that time and later became the American President. The cause of its actions could always be felt, but no being could be seen, and no explanation found--only the promise that one day it would kill one of the family members. All rights reserved. This one was sort of hokey, not the spooky tales I grew up with. 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. After a dispute of lands judged by the church, her husband John Bell is cursed by his opponent Kathe Batts . By what name was An American Haunting (2005) officially released in India in English? The attacks grew in strength, with the spirit slapping, pulling, dragging, and beating the Bell's youngest daughter. I gave this 2 stars because the end was rather surprising, but it was still really dry. 2005, 1h 23min - Horror, Thriller. This article contains mentions of sexual assault. 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 General, who had earned his tough reputation in many conflicts with Native Americans, was determined to confront the phenomenon and either expose it as a hoax or send the spirit away. This may rate a 2.5 but I rounded up. Brent Monahan was born in Fukuoka, Kyushu, Japan in 1948, as a World War II occupation baby. Produced by Courtney Solomon, Christopher Milburn, Andre Rouleau. His theory is proven wrong when he witnesses Betsy dangling in the air, as if someone is holding her up by her hair. No chapters, no pauses, just one long soliloquy!!! Probably worth the movie ticket price to see a story framed around true events In present day, the mother's daughter says her father has come to take her for their weekend stay. It was a decent read. In short, this movie is one of many theories about what really happened to the Bell family back in 1817. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "An American Haunting". Consequently, the church court decided that ownership of the land was to be returned to Batts but that the profit drawn from the land by Bell remained with him. This movie was produced, written and directed by Courtney Solomon. Richard Jolley (b 1952) American, Sculpture. Indeed, Gardner was the target of much of the witch's violent taunting, and he eventually did break up with Betsy and left the area. Usually, when I read a book I dislike as much as I ended up disliking this one, I stop reading it. I like reading up on urban legends and American folklore so I was hopeful this would be a fun, creepy read. 5.0 (26,111) 38. 2006. The novel was adapted for the movie by Canadian film producer Courtney Solomon, who also directed the movie. Even then the pictures would have been small hand held daguerreotypes, not big framed enlargements. An American Haunting is a blend of the history and myth surrounding the spirit known as the Bell Witch that terrorized the Bell family of Red River, Tennessee in 1817. Two of his novels have been made into motion pictures. 1.) xosiren liked this . An invisible entity haunts a 19th century family, and family secrets soon begin to surface. . The film is an international co-production between the United Kingdom, Canada . Richard Powell. An.American.Haunting.2005.1080p.BluRay.H264.AAC-RARBG.mp4. The mother realizes Betsy is trying to warn her that something is amiss between her daughter and her ex-husband. Though the haunting of the Bell family apparently ended . I live a stone's throw away from this! Based on a purported real-life case about a Tennessee family at odds with a ghostly presence, this technically accomplished horror drama takes the conventional route while mostly wasting its stars. To the question ' cui bono' for the entire story of the Bell Witch, all signs point to the pedagogue Powell. An American Haunting: The Bell Witch is a long letter of a father to his daughter found in an attic of a house where this "urban legend" in Robertson County, Tennessee supposedly happened in 1871-1821. Genere: Horror, Mistero, Thriller; Durata: 83 min; . The Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tennessee, tells this part of the story: The Bell Witch left the Bell household in 1821, saying that she would return in seven years time. Bell family patriarch John (Donald Sutherland) and his wife Lucy (Sissy Spacek) are . She needed to "remember" that the true cause of her pain is her father's child sexual abuse of her. Fearing that the haunting was caused by a local woman--branded a witch--who had put a curse upon the family as a result of a land dispute, the Bells tried desperately to find ways to get rid of the woman's curse, yet the attacks and disturbances only escalated. 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. James D'Arcy is Richard Powell, the local school teacher who is skeptical of the claims at first . Did Betsy end up marrying Richard Powell? The legend of the Bell Witch centers on the John Bell family of Red River, Tennessee, now Adams, and the spiritual haunting they endured between 1817 and 1821. No one has yet to solve it--or even come close. actor. Edit, Awards The movie utilizes a framing device of a mother noticing strange occurrences with her daughter, similar to what's described in a journal written by Richard Powell (James D'Arcy) describing Betsy's symptoms. If you believe in supernatural phenomenon then this book is right up your alley. What did John Bell do to cause Kate Batts to curse his family? | Richard Jolley was born in Wichita, Kansas, and has maintained a glass studio in Knoxville, Tennessee since 1975. Richard Powell Scott: Eric: Average Stars: Avg: Scott: . John begins to get sick and sees ghosts as well. But towards the end, it makes the homerun. Miquel Brown Chloe. Starring: Josh Groban, Annaleigh Ashford, Jordan Fisher, Gaten Matarazzo, Ruthie Ann Miles, Maria Bilbao, Jamie Jackson, John Rapson, Nicholas Christopher in the musical thriller about the Demon Barber of . AMERICAN HAUNTING The supposed "true story" of the Bell Witch" a young girl is terrorized by a poltergiest. Other than that I only have personal issues with the book and the ending to the story but this is not a reflection on the book or the author. Is "An American Haunting" based on a true story? 1h 23m. The premise of a found epistle to Betsy Bells daughter was a great one. It all started the day that John Bell Sr was out hunting and shot at a creature described as having the body of a dog and the head of a rabbit. Maybe it was because I was so focused on the interactions with the witch that I didn't have the energy to develop theories about how/why it got there. If you are looking for a fictional story to give you shivers, look elsewhere. The letters appear written in 19th-century script. External Reviews I don't want to give anything away, but I did not see the ending coming. Edit, Bell Sr has become ill. As he lay in his bed coughing, Lucy feeds him what looks like cough medicine. In 2010, Canada released bluray as title . Sissy Spacek . After reading it, the daughter's picked up by her father, and it's at this point the mother sees the Bell Witch. But, like the Bell Witch herself, An American Haunting insists on being noticed, grabbing audiences by the hair and throwing them about the room. . It's interesting that this is manuscript written by a neighbor of the Bell family who witnessed the events which had a great deal to do with the writer's future wife, Betsy Bell. All contents 2023 The Slate Group LLC. An American Haunting is a 2005 supernatural horror film written and directed by Courtney Solomon and starring Donald Sutherland, Sissy Spacek, James D'Arcy, and Rachel Hurd-Wood.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. Batts was not happy with the decision and, as Bell left the church, Batts confronted Bell and told him to "treasure your land, health, and happy family while you can, for I swear that dreadful darkness will fall upon youand your precious daughter, too." The offended party, Kate Batts, is infamous in the village due to claims of witchcraft.
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