Seen on: October 31, 2008
The players: Director: Mickey Liddell, Writers: Rebecca Sonnenshine, John Travis, Cast: Haley Bennett, Jake Weber, Chace Crawford, Shanna Collins, Shannon Marie Woodward
Facts of interest: None whatsoever.
The plot: Ever since her mother tried to kill her, Molly Hartley has been hearing voices and seeing weird things. Now she's about to discover a devilish secret her parents have kept from her for years.
Our thoughts: Mickey Liddell’s directorial debut “The Haunting of Molly Hartley” is an ugly mess. And honestly, that’s pretty much all there is to say about it. For the sake of offering you more than two sentences though, let me further explain why this amateurish horror thriller is a massive failure.
Let’s start with the brainless story line first. Haley Bennett stars as Molly Hartley, a troubled teenager who’s been hearing voices and having panic attacks ever since her own mother tried to stab her to death. But now that mom is locked up in a mental facility, Molly and her dad are ready to start over.
For Molly, this means attending a top-notch private school and meeting new friends, some of whom are a little weirder than others. Molly’s primary concern, however, are her constant hallucinations, which are close to driving her mad. With only a couple of days left before her 18th birthday, Molly is about to discover that the truth behind her mother’s insanity is more devilish than she thought.
If reading this makes you sleepy, I completely understand; I myself had plenty of trouble staying awake during the movie. No matter how bad a film is, I always stay until the very end to see what happens, but this time, I was seriously thinking about leaving the theater. Still, I decided to stick around hoping this disaster would somehow improve, but in the end, it only got worse.
In a nutshell, “Molly Hartley” has absolutely nothing going for it. The plot never shifts into second gear and the lame story barely advances, the characters as about as dull as you can imagine, and the numerous attempts by Liddell to scare his audience fail miserably. The film is filled with those cheap shock effects, but not a single one is scary or surprising.
The real problem with this movie is its lack of a decent script. Although we quickly learn there is definitely something wrong with Molly, all we get to see her do for at least an hour is act weird, having creepy dreams and having one panic attack after another. And if she’s not hearing voices, she spends her time listening to her friend’s religious mumbo jumbo or picking fights with her beau’s ex-girlfriend.
The plot does pick up some speed during the final 20 minutes, but the film’s climax is so ridiculous, it almost made me laugh out loud in the empty screening room. The cast is just as unconvincing as the rest of the film, with Bennett delivering a lifeless performance in the lead role. Also starring is Chace Crawford from TV’s “Gossip Girl,” but neither his character nor his acting is really relevant here. A mediocre Jake Weber plays Molly’s dad.
Freaky quote: “You have a great power in front of you." – Jessica Lowndes
The final word: A terrible story, bad acting, annoying music and disappointing tech credits make this stinker one of the worst horror flicks I’ve seen all year. If you do end up wasting money and time on this one, at least you won’t have to worry about it haunting you in your dreams. It will only make you laugh…
Article by Franck Tabouring