gpeltz The Victim of the Haunt, aka The Uninvited,(1996) was a made for TV movie. It was directed by Larry 'Shaw, and was written by Karen Clark, She gives us a decidedly feminist take on Poltergeist. Spoilers ahead, read on if you don't care. Even as The Uninvited I had no recollection of this I decided to give it a go,The, "Family moves into a house with a Dark past" genera was formulaic, even back then. The "made for TV" factor, rendered this project toothless. Not that the show ever lacked forward momentum and innuendo It was entertaining as it hit all the clichés, An observation; The rotary dial phone was still common. That was less then twenty years ago. Oh, the changes we've seen, but not in the plot.The young couple here, Patty and Charles, played by Sharon Lawrence and Beau Bridges with their little ones, Jonathan and Molly, played by Alex Linz and Emily Bridges, move into a new home. Daddy is always away at work, but Mom and the kids know that there is something not right with the house. Formula plot point ahead. Patty befriends a psychic reader, What is unusual here is the feminist slant. Since the men are too blind to see whats going on, as well as their intentions may be, they are in the background. It will be a woman's love that overpowers the forces of darkness,Favorite inevitable line, "Oh honey, I should have listened to you!" Six dreary stars out of Ten, the special effects must have seemed epic, not! a homage to Spielberg none the less. 

Gafke Pattie and Charles and their two young children Molly and Jonathan move into a brand new house in suburbia. Soon, little colored lights are flying around and the bath tub is belching up blood. When little Jonathan nearly drowns in the same tub and is levitated above it right before Pattie's eyes, she seeks assistance from a local whackjob psychic woman. Their investigation leads them to a little old lady who informs them that she once lived on the land where the new house now stands, and that there is a family plot on the property. She also informs them that her brother was murdered many years ago by their father, and now it seems as though the wicked ghost has the same intentions for Jonathan. But Charles, concerned for Pattie's mental state, has her admitted to a hospital for psychiatric observation and takes the children home. Pattie now has to find a way to escape from the hospital and save her son before history repeats itself.Yaaawwn. This is a very blatant rip-off of Poltergeist, watered down for television and starring a bunch of people who look like they should be on the Lifetime Afternoon Movie instead. How the hell Beau Bridges ended up in this silly mess is beyond me - he deserves better. The special effects are lame, the dialog is so corny it's painful and any seasoned horror fan is going to be bored stiff by this predictable tale. Skip it.

gtimandan ...but it was called Poltergeist and it really scared the bejeezus out of you and stuck with you for days.You probably understand the story line at this point from the other reviews here, but if not - here's a summation, with plot spoiler: Dad, mom & two kids move out into the burbs... Dad's gone A LOT for work... Mom & son are seeing "things" around the house (lights, movements, bloody water)... Dad doesn't believe her... Mom doesn't try too hard to prove her point... Mom stumbles across a psychic that tries to warn her of the harm coming her way... Dad has mom hauled off... 5 minutes later, dad's digging up gravestones in the back yard in the rain... Mom escapes from the hospital only to save her son in the last possible moment from the baddie while dad exclaims "I should've believed you!". Yawn.This completely undisguised and unnecessary retelling of the Poltergeist story flips and flops like a fish out of water. It's almost painful to watch, but for some reason it is just barely able to hold you for the duration of the movie although it's rarely startling and never frightening.Unfortunately, it's terribly clichéd and predictable from start to finish and it didn't have to be that way. The two main actors (although Beau is missing for long expanses of the movie (probably for reasons of salary)) hold this stinker together, and the supporting cast does a fine job of helping them along the way.For whatever reason, the producer or director tried to insert some amount of levity at completely inappropriate times, and you could only notice this by the musical score becoming suddenly very "Looney Toons"esquire when there was terror afoot (note: I keep putting e s q u e after Looney Toons but it keeps auto-changing it to "esquire" and my corrections don't stick). These failed attempts at wry humor were completely lost, and perhaps I'm the only one that noticed they even tried.Still, the special effects are well done and the music (aside from the unfortunate segues, above) is suitable if not sometimes sparse. If you've got nothing else to do and the couch is having a wicked gravitational pull on you, then watch it but be prepared to be unimpressed overall.

whpratt1 Beau Bridges,(Charles Johnson), tried his best to believe his wife, Pattie Johnson,(Sharon Lawrence), that their brand new house was having strange things happen in the bathroom and closets. Charles Johnson, was a truck driver and had very little time to worry about his wife's problems, having lost a child during her pregnancy. There is a tree in the film, that looks like a pretzel all bend out of shape, and I really think the director's brain was twisted just like it. The actors did their very best to carry this film on their backs, namely: Sharon Lawrence and Beau Bridges; they both must have had plenty of laughs making this film, because in some ways, it was comical and stupid. The name I viewed this film under, was called: "The Victim of the Haunt"! WOW