The Haunting In Connecticut – On DVD Tuesday, July 14

This Tuesday on DVD the new releases span the range from horror to romance, so no matter what your genre of choice is, you’ve got options. This week we have “The Haunting in Connecticut”, “The Edge of Love”, and the HBO special “Grey Gardens”.

Virginia Madsen

The Haunting In Connecticut

The scariest part about this movie is the fact that it’s based on a true story. When a family moves to upstate Connecticut to be near their son’s cancer clinic, things go terribly wrong in the house they move into. Once a funeral parlor that housed terrible deeds and a spiritual messenger, the horrors descend again when that messenger returns. And it sounds like “The Haunting in Connecticut” has made the art of the scary movie return,

“The Haunting in Connecticut is a relatively effective scary movie despite its overall formulaic nature. The actors, sound effects, and ghoulish makeup compensate when the story takes turns into more familiar territory. Sure, we’ve heard creaks and thumps and wooshes and wails in plenty of other ghost movies, but the filmmakers actually find a way here to make them sound scary again. … [It] isn’t a standout in its genre, but it offers enough creepy moments and scares to entertain the occasional horror fan.”

The Edge of Love

Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller star in this World War 2 love triangle. Caitlin is married to Dylan. Dylan was previously in love with Vera. When Vera and Dylan coincidentally bump into each other, they reconnect. Jealous and rivals at first, Vera and Caitlin become friends. Then Vera marries William, but he gets deployed in the War, leaving Vera to lust after Dylan. So what will happen when William returns? It sounds a bit jumbled, but makes for good drama. Or does it? Some say it tries, but it just falls short,

“It wants to be a big emotional story about love and loss and friendship, yet you leave the cinema feeling nothing in particular. It never strikes a chord because there’s nobody on the screen we can care about.”

Grey Gardens

Based on the lives of the first cousin and aunt of the lovely Jackie Kennedy Onassis, “Grey Gardens” tells the marvelous tale of two women who lived their lives together in one house, once falling into squalor and coming out on the other side with the help of the former first lady. Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange play these eccentric women who inspired a documentary, a musical, and a variety of National Enquirer articles. And it appears to be a success for the most part. The acting is referred to as “compelling” and the characters “entrancing”.