Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.0

The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia Blu-ray Movie Review

Evidently these ghosts were using Apple Maps.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 9, 2013

Well, folks, we have a new winner in the silliest sequel name of all time. The Haunting in Connecticut raked in relatively decent dough in its theatrical exhibition despite having been greeted with less than universal critical acclaim, making follow up films all but inevitable. But whoever came up with The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia really deserves some sort of prize for inventing the downright stupidest title in recent memory. This unabashedly shameless attempt to cash in on a semi-successful title that is nevertheless refuted by its very subtitle really shows in microcosm how brainless the “creative” staff behind this franchise really is. It immediately made me want to create exciting new sequels myself, entries like The Exorcist 2: The Sound of Music or Citizen Kane 2: Psycho. But, wait, there’s even more hilarity for those of you so inclined to laugh at little things like the difference between a definite and an indefinite article. Right off the bat as the film starts, we’re offered the portentous imprimatur “Based on the true story”. Not a true story, mind you, the true story, as if it’s a tale known far and wide and recounted in hushed tones by scholars of great repute. You’ll be forgiven if you haven’t in fact ever heard of the Wyrick family, a southern clan whose women have a supposed genetic proclivity toward seeing spirits. Seeing dead people of course gets a trio of Wyrick women in all sorts of trouble down home in Georgia, though in one of the film’s few semi-innovative machinations, it turns out not all of the doppelgangers are actually malevolent.

Shall we count just how many hoary horror film clichés are exploited in just the opening few seconds of The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia? Labored breathing washing over the soundtrack. Check. Quick cuts to sinister looking entities that appear out of nowhere. Check. A view of an ostensibly mundane item—in this case a swing—that is somehow filled with ominous portent. Check. Rapid changes in perspective and film stock, elements obviously meant to leave the viewer discombobulated and ill at ease. Check and double check. And then we get the “actual” story starting up, which in this case is even more dunderheadedness on display for at least a couple of reasons. Once the film gets into its main story, the focus of the film is resolutely on little girl Heidi Wyrick (Emily Alyn Lind), but the opening scene is given over to Heidi’s distraught mother Lisa (Abigail Spencer) who is busy heavily drugging herself (with the prescribed kind of psychotropic meds) in order to dispel the disturbing images of ghosts wafting through the corners of her bedroom and calling out her name. The film then quickly cuts to Lisa and Heidi arriving at their new home, a rustic cabin in the backwoods of Georgia replete with an abandoned RV on site. As Scooby Doo might say, Rah- roh.

One might think that a family that is obviously undergoing some sort of psychological strain might not want to move to a location with no one around for miles where their only shelter is a dilapidated shack, but of course that wouldn’t serve the “logic” of films like The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia. It doesn’t take long for little Heidi to start interacting with spectral entities, including a nattily dressed old man named Mr. Gordy (Grant James). This only serves to send Lisa even further over the edge, something that isn’t ameliorated by the arrival of her sister Joyce (Katee Sackhoff) who in a little heart to heart with Heidi reveals that the Wyrick women are “gifted”. Mr. Gordy turns out to be the least of Heidi’s problems, however, as a slew of more disturbing entities are soon stumbling around in the dark expanses on the Wyrick grounds, and (as unbelievable as it sounds) a connection to the old Underground Railroad is divulged. That sets the film out on its long and overly convoluted (and contrived) second act, where Lisa's increasing mental instability is contrasted with the uptick in poltergeist activity as Heidi seemingly becomes the "new, iimproved" conduit to the astral realm in the Wyrick family, leading to lots of things that go bump in the night.

The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia is a such a resolutely formulaic affair it’s hard to even take it seriously enough to warrant any kind of substantive analysis. This is a film which crafts its few scares out of rote recitations of horror tropes like quick cuts accompanied by jarring LFE effects which provoke an almost automatic startle response in the viewer but which will leave many feeling kind of used afterwards. There’s little attempt at any significant character development here, and even worse, the film is fractured between the devolving dysfunction of the Wyrick women and the completely absurd plot involving long ago runaway slaves. It’s hard to say what the most depressing element of The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia is, but my vote is for the kind of sad cameo by the legendary Cicely Tyson, an actress of rare elegance who now seems consigned to roles like this and her occasional guest turns in those other “horror” films by Tyler Perry.

The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Whatever the dramatic failing of the film (which are legion), from a purely visual standpoint it's quite a winning enterprise which looks very good in this high definition presentation. Though director Tom Elkins and cinematographer Yaron Levy indulge in the seemingly de rigeur color grading, as well as post processing that at times completely desaturates the image (especially when Heidi is experiencing her "visions" of the beyond), rather surprisingly fine detail is not compromised very much if at all. When colors are presented in their more or less normal ambience, things pop really well. Contrast is quite strong (though it, too, has been artificially pushed in several key scenes), resulting in better than average shadow detail in the film's many dark moments. There are some occasional niggling stability issues as the camera pans through dense foliage and the like, but they're transitory and not of any major concern.

The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia features a nicely done, if awfully cliché ridden, lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix. Immersion is excellent, though it tends to utilize sonic tropes like sudden blasts of LFE accompanying quick cuts to up the anxiety level. Some of the most effective moments are actually quieter sequences, as when Heidi starts exploring the Georgia woods around her parents' new home. Fidelity is excellent, with dialogue, effects and score cleanly presented, and dynamic range is fairly wide as well.

The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Director Tom Elkins, Writer David Coogeshall and Co-Producer Brad Kessell. Elkins, Crogeshall and Kessell are affable enough, but they seem to have next to no awareness of the patently ridiculous film they've made. That in turn may provide a few unintentional laughs for the discriminating listener.


• Seeing Ghosts: The True Story of the Wyricks (1080p; 10:18) is actually more interesting than it has any right to be, though I couldn't help but think I was being radically punked as I watched it.


• Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary with Director Tom Elkins (1080p; 17:47) actually includes a lot of alternate versions of scenes. It's a little funny to hear Elkins say that most of these were changed due to test scores from early audiences. I would have loved to have seen those comment cards.


• Outtakes (1080p; 3:59)


• The Haunting in Connecticut Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:27)


• The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:08)

The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It would be easy to take a cheap shot at The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia and say it's directionless. What's quite apparent is that the "minds" behind this franchise needs some sort of filmic GPS unit stat. This Blu-ray does offer great looking video and nicely immersive audio, for those who care.