The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia
Starring Abigail Spencer, Chad Michael Murray, Emily Alyn Lind, Katee Sackhoff
Directed by Tom Elkins
In the mid 90s, Lisa (Abigail Spencer) and Andy (Chad Michal Murray) Wyrek move to a secluded Georgia home with their young daughter Heidi (Emily Alyn Lind) and Lisa's sister Joyce (Katee Sackhoff). Almost immediately, Heidi starts having visions of a man named Mr. Gordy (Grant James), and Lisa is quick to dismiss him as a childhood imagination, because she's too afraid of the truth: Heidi, like Lisa, Joyce, and their mother before them, can interact with the dead. Lisa has been suppressing this gift with medication, while Joyce embraces it and encourages Heidi to embrace it as well.
Soon after Mr. Gordy arrives, he warns Heidi that other people are coming, and the family discovers that their house was the home of a Station Master during the Underground Railroad, and several spirits of the slaves kept there keep haunting the family, along with a very menacing dark spirit. It's up to the family to find out what the spirits want before the dark spirit destroys them forever.
Don't let the silly title fool you. As my friend Jim said, "it's like the ghosts of Connecticut took a vacation to Georgia." Nothing is farther from the truth, as the two movies have absolutely nothing in common, except both were based off of a fantastic Discovery Channel series called "A Haunting." This is an independent movie, apart from the Connecticut story, and I found it to actually be better than "The Haunting in Connecticut."
The actors did extremely well with their roles, especially the young Emily Alyn Lind, who played the main character Heidi. It's very difficult directing children, but she was light years beyond her age, showing innocence yet an adult quality that showcased her great acting talent, and hopefully she becomes a big star as the years go on, instead of falling into the trap of other child stars.
The story was gripping with the focus on the Underground Railroad and the spirits involved. Sure, there were some cheap jump scares, but the entire atmosphere throughout the film was dreary and even in the daylight it seemed to be a dangerous place. It kept the pace up and there wasn't a lot of downtime, with spirits appearing at least every ten minutes.
I prefer the real true story to the story in the film, but they had to add something to make it more appealing to the masses. In the real story, Mr. Gordy did appear to Heidi, and she did see a dark spirit, but the Underground Railroad ghost story was added for the film. Unlike "Connecticut," this added story didn't feel forced or added on, and that's what I liked most about this film, and at the end they paid homage to the real family by including them in the film, which shows they had a hand in the making of the film, so it stayed as true to the true story as it could.
If you're looking for a good ghost story, I recommend this film. Take a trip down south with the ghosts, and stay clear of Connecticut.
Rating: B+
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