Haunted (2017) by Eros D'Antona

Director: Eros D'Antona

Year: 2017

Country: Italy

Alternate Titles: Demonic; Evil's Hand; American Poltergeist 7

Genre: Haunted House

Plot:

Forced to stay at his sister’s house, a struggling writer looking to get some writing done is inundated with a series of bizarre supernatural afflictions while staying there, and learns the house is home to a deadly spirit that has targeted him and must find a way to get out alive.

Review:

This was an overall solid if somewhat problematic genre effort. What works best for this one is the generally favorable approach to the haunting scenes, which are kept frequent enough that there’s something to be said for how they’re handled here. The scenes are generally interesting enough that they come off quite well, from the spirit materializing out of thin air when he least expects it or at the most inopportune time for him to enjoy his time alone or the company of his girlfriend, leading to a solid series of scenes featuring the spirit haunting the house. Some of these are generic and expected, while others come across far better, with the best scenes featuring the naked spirit in the shower slitting her wrists every time she shows up, but the fact that they’re so frequent and manage to bring about a genuine sense of his psychological spiral and unraveling as the amount of time he spends there and the wholly realistic sense that these affect him in this manner is a real thing that gives this some likable qualities.

Outside of this, the film doesn’t have much going for it. The whole idea of the film is immensely cliched and obvious from the start, making little of what’s going on all that unique or original beyond when the storyline beats take place, so the film tends to unfold at a fast pace but highlights a slew of generally expected and routine setpieces. It also fails to explain the reason why he stays in the house as long as he does, with the experiences featured here being handled with such frequency and intensity that there’s a confusing rationale for him still being there. This can cause the film to be a rather sluggish and dull experience, with it trotting out plenty of cliches on top of excruciatingly stupid and unfunny comedy, with scenes involving his friend coming to visit him, who turns out to be an immensely moronic figure that has little sense of being alive, so his scenes are just painful to get through. With the cheap presentation to everything that undermines everything even further, featuring a series of obvious CGI for the ghostly figure dismembering itself, no real effects work, and a one-location setting, these all bring this one down

Overview: **/5

A generically inoffensive haunted house effort, there’s enough going on here to be of some interest while still being let down by enough flaws to be this kind of genre effort overall. Those with an appreciation for this style of fare or who have a tolerance for this approach will have the most to like here, while most others out there should heed caution.

This review is part of our ongoing series of reviews for Italian Horror Month, every November on the site: