A Haunting at Silver Falls teetered between Watch and Don’t Watch throughout my viewing.

Summary

After the murder of twin girls, the town of Silver Falls is plagued with ghost sightings and suicides. The protagonist, Jordan (Alix Elizabeth Gitter), is sent to live in Silver Falls to live with her aunt (Tara Westwood) and uncle (Steve Bacic) after her dad dies, which is after her mom dies.

Entertainment Value

• Alix Elizabeth Gitter (Jordan). Her acting is pretty solid, and the character is willing to take big risks.

• James Cavlo, playing Jordan’s boyfriend. This dude’s character is just plain loveable.

• At one point, Jordan’s aunt and uncle lock her in the bathroom, because they think she’s been stealing, and they want to go out for date night and get high. Jordan is attacked by a ghost while locked up. This scene is more creepy because of the reality of what her family did than what the ghost did.

Where It Went Wrong

• Dropped character. Robbie (Tadhg Kelly) plays the school bad boy who pursues Jordan. Toward the end of the movie, he urges Jordan to come with him to the falls, so he can reveal the truth. Her aunt insinuates that he just wants to get Jordan there to assault her. I wanted to know if his character was good or evil, but I never found out.
• Absent motivations. There’s a twist at the end to reveal the twins’ murderer, but we are never given a motive besides CRAZY.

What to Watch Instead

• Let the Right One In
• The Shining
• Psycho
• Black Swan
• The Awakening
• The Last House on the Left (2009)
• The House at the End of the Street
• The Others
• Sinister
• Secret Window

Verdict: DON’T

What did you think?

Which better surprise killer or explicable haunting movies would you recommend?