Haunted Child Film

[Trinidad Baltzell]

Hauntedhouse movies rely on these tired old tropes because all the movies explore the same theme: a dysfunctional family and how its secrets tear it apart. Despite the terror and gore, and any attempts to put a new spin on things, this disintegration follows predictable patterns.

The result, inevitably, is a victimized child. When a parent is violent or scary, or fails to protect the child from someone who is, children have few tools at their disposal to defend themselves. Often, they will retreat into fantasy or resort to passive-aggressive tactics to manipulate or deflect the parent.

There are as many iterations of the terrorized child as there are spins on this genre. Sometimes the child develops a relationship with a deceptively friendly supernatural being (Carol Anne with the TV People in Poltergeist; Amy with Jody in The Amityville Horror). In other stories, the child is grown, but is harrowed by the secret later in life, when revisiting the family home (The Pact). The saddest, and often scariest, type is when the child has died, almost always at the hands of a parent, and his or her ghost haunts the home, striving to have his or her death set to right (The Others, The Conjuring, The Changeling).

Despite being macabre and terrifying, haunted house movies are also perversely optimistic. In real life, many children suffer at the hands of their parents and the truth never comes out. By watching the metaphorical process of horror and healing, the viewer vicariously experiences relief from a personal angst and achieves the catharsis that is the hallmark of horror movies.

Richard, sweating a case-gone-wrong back at the office, dosing himself with whisky and Xanax, quickly regrets his decision to not commit his child. And Emmy, just starting to learn the text-to-talk phone app that will bridge their gap, has something alarming to tell him.

Both films should have made more of an effort to show the terror as the autistic child experiences it. Because as neither thriller wholly comes off, that shared lapse seems the most obvious way both fall short.

I remember the movie focuses a lot on a mysterious basement door in a house. I want to say the door emitted the sound of an infant crying and maybe the door glowed. The spirit haunting the house wanted to steal the living mother's child. Pretty sure it is implied the spirit is a man who was an abusive father (could be wrong).

I remember a specific scene, which was the climax of the movie. The mother of the child and her little boy (I believe it was a son) are in the basement and there's either wind howling or the basement is flooded, trying to pull the kid out of her grasp. And I specifically remember her yelling something along the lines of:

The Uninvited, also known as Victim of the Haunt, The Haunting of Patricia Johnson, and The House at the End of the Street, is a 1996 made-for-TV film directed by Larry Shaw and starring Sharon Lawrence and Beau Bridges. Inspired by true events, the film was written by Karen Clark.

Inspired by true events. After Patti Johnson gives birth to a still-born child, she and her husband try to forget the tragedy. They move into a new house, but a number of supernatural phenomena that takes place there, lead them to believe that the house is haunted. Patti turns to the town psychic, who confirms her suspicions about ghostly activity. The house is haunted by the spirit of a man who, 75 years earlier, killed his young son and was then shot by his own wife, as well as by the spirit of the murdered son. And now the killer is after Patti's 3-year-old son, Jonathan.

The plot summary above fits your description, and there's a climactic scene where a mother struggles to save her young son from being sucked into a glowing whirlpool in a basement. The ghostly face of an old man appears above the whirlpool, and the mother cries out:

It reminded me a lot to Janin and Dark Water though. The noble sacrifices a mother would do for their child. I might avoid this mother-ghost child theme in the future. It just sad. No point watching a horror movie if you just sit there being sad instead of scare.

An insatiably curious lil' kitten with admittedly odd tastes in film and music, addicted to spicy food and berry wine coolers.... generally playful but with a surprising fierceness when annoyed. But don't worry... she's had all her shots!

The House with a Clock in Its Walls also has living Jack-o-lanterns, zombies, a spooky graveyard, an eeeevil warlock, living furniture, the threat of Doomsday, and other supernatural and magical points of interest as well as everyday adolescent struggles like making friends at a new school, figuring out who you really are, and getting picked last for Sports.

Films where all the classic monsters get together are always a treat, and Hotel Transylvania is especially tasty with its adorable renditions of said monsters, its fast pace, its endearing characters, its lighthearted humor, and its sweet story.

Gizmo, the adorable yet mischievous Mogwai, is back, and this time, the mayhem unfolds in a gleaming New York City high-rise. Gentle Gizmo and the not-so-well-behaved Gremlins run riot, creating a rowdy blend of humor and zany Gremlin antics.

There are so many wonderful black and white horror movies, but it can be difficult to get younger audiences to engage with the medium. Introducing your tween to black and white horror via a horror comedy is a great tactic.

Directed by Tim Burton, this kids horror film revolves around a young boy named Victor Frankenstein who lives in the suburban town of New Holland. Victor is a budding scientist who has a close bond with his pet dog, Sparky.

The 1986 theatrical version the musical based on the 1960 original film, Little Shop of Horrors is one of the absolute best horror movie musicals in existence and younger audiences have loved it since it came out, and still do. (Though it may make younger children afraid to go to the dentist. Speaking from experience!).

In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy gathered together a group of friends and faced off against the Wicked Witch. In Return to Oz, Dorothy gathers together a group of friends and faces off against the Nome King and Princess Mombi. Happy endings all around! To me, the only significant difference is the lack of singing.

House on Haunted Hill (1959) is a classic horror film directed by William Castle. The plot revolves around an eccentric millionaire named Frederick Loren, played by Vincent Price, who offers $10,000 to anyone who can spend the night in a supposedly haunted mansion. Loren invites a diverse group of guests to the house, each with their own motives for being there.

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The Haunting is a 1999 American supernatural horror film directed by Jan de Bont, and starring Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Owen Wilson, and Lili Taylor, with Marian Seldes, Bruce Dern, Todd Field, and Virginia Madsen appearing in supporting roles. Its plot follows a group of people who gather at a sprawling estate in western Massachusetts for an apparent volunteer study on insomnia, only to find themselves plagued by paranormal events connected to the home's grim history. Based on the 1959 novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, it is the second feature film adaptation of the source material after Robert Wise's 1963 film adaptation of the same name.

Development for The Haunting originally began as a collaboration between filmmaker Steven Spielberg and writer Stephen King, who together began writing a new adaptation of Jackson's novel, largely inspired by Wise's 1963 film version. After creative differences, the project was aborted, with King retooling his screenplay to form the 2002 miniseries Rose Red. Spielberg meanwhile commissioned a new screenplay for the project, written by David Self, to be produced under Spielberg's studio, DreamWorks Pictures. Filming of The Haunting began in the fall of 1998, with some location shoots occurring in England at Harlaxton Manor and Belvoir Castle, though the majority of the film was shot in specially-crafted sets in Los Angeles by esteemed Argentine production designer Eugenio Zanetti.

The Haunting premiered theatrically in North America in July 1999. The film received mostly negative reviews from critics but was a financial success, grossing $180.2 million worldwide against a production budget of $80 million.

Eleanor "Nell" Vance, an insomniac, has cared for her disabled mother for 11 years, sharing a Boston apartment with her. After her mother dies, Nell's sister Jane and her husband Lou inherit the residence and eject Nell to prepare for a sale. As she faces homelessness, Nell accepts an invitation to participate in an insomnia study by Dr. David Marrow at Hill House, a secluded manor house in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts. At the house, she meets Mr. and Mrs. Dudley, the eccentric caretakers. Two other participants arrive: goofy Luke Sanderson and glamorous Theodora ("Theo"), along with Dr. Marrow and his two research assistants. Unbeknownst to the participants, Dr. Marrow's true purpose is to study the psychological response to fear, intending to expose his subjects to terror.

During their first night, Dr. Marrow relates the story of Hill House: Its original owner, Hugh Crain, a 19th-century textile tycoon, constructed the rambling home for his wife Renee, hoping to populate it with a large family. Unfortunately, all of Crain's children were stillborns, and Renee, devastated by the multiple losses, killed herself, while Crain became a recluse. Marrow's assistant is wounded in a freak accident and the research assistants leave for the hospital. Supernatural events begin happening, and Nell sees ghosts of children. A large portrait of Hugh Crain is vandalized with the words "Welcome Home Eleanor" written in blood. Theo and Luke accuse Nell, claiming she is seeking attention.

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