Movie: A Haunting In Connecticut (2009)

The Campbell family thinks that their world is nearly falling apart when their teenage son is diagnosed with cancer. What with the emotional impact, the financial strain, the attendant sorrow and strain on the marriage, and the fact that Dad is a recovering alcoholic, they can't imagine things can get any worse.

To facilitate the cancer-stricken Campbell's treatment, the family rents a second home closer to the cancer hospital where he receives his radiation and/or chemotherapy. The house is suspiciously cheap. This is your first clue something is up - sorta like hearing anybody on the Scooby Doo cartoon say, "Let's split up! Shaggy and Scoob, you go THAT way, and we'll go THIS way!"

The house not only once was a mortuary, but was owned by a mortician who loved to conduct both seances and experiments with the dead which he thought would intensify the effectiveness of his paranormal work.

And by the time the Campbells arrive, let's just say things have gotten out of hand.

I confess to being jaded by horror flicks. I remember the first Jason Vorhees movie and saw the first Freddie Krueger movie in theaters. I grew up watching late-night horror movie marathons on Friday nights when I was a kid in rural North Carolina, and continued with watching Joe Bob Briggs' Monster Vision as an adult. I've seen it all, and when it comes to horror movies, done it all. I used to put in a copy of The Exorcist to watch as I was going to sleep. It calmed me.



Having said that, The Haunting in Connecticut weirded me out. It is pretty rare for that to happen, and I think the last time it happened was when I saw An American Haunting.

For some reason, it seems that first, PG and PG-13 rated movies tend to be a bit scarier than do R rated movies; probably because most of the Rs get their ratings for blood and gore, and I personally don't find slasher movies all that frightening. In order to obtain the same scare, the PG rated movies simply have to have more suspense and better writing than do the R rated movies, and I think that theory is borne out by The Haunting in Connecticut.

Exquisitely well-written, as I left the theater I had the impression I had been inside for only 15 minutes, not the 100+ minutes listed for the movie by Lionsgate. Admittedly, the film had a couple of themes that should have been lame (the whole concept of ectoplasm, the Eastern European priest who spent more time talking about ghosts than Jesus), but somehow it all came off as, if not believeable, at least entertaining. Riveting, even. And I have to say that the positive portrayal of the priest, and religion generally, was refreshing even if religion was not the central tenet of the film.

But the movie was nerve-wracking enough that it sparked a conversation between me and my wife afterwards about what exactly does the Bible teach about ghosts. So we sat down and began to turn pages.

The primary passage that has any significance as to the "ghostly" is the Old Testament passage I Samuel 28:3-21. In this passage, King Saul, informed that he has been rejected because of his disobedience in I Samuel 15:17-28, particularly v. 26, is now preparing for war against the Philistines (I Sam. 28:1). Samuel the Prophet was dead, David had (necessarily) abandoned Saul, and God was not on speaking terms with Saul because of his rebellion (I Sam. 28:5-6). Saul had repeatedly consulted the Urim and Thummim to find out how he should prepare for battle against the amassing Philistine forces with no results (I Sam. 28:6). Earlier in his career, Saul had run all of the psychics, wizards, witches, and mediums out of the land of Israel (I Sam. 28:3). But in a decision revelatory of his true character, Saul decided that in a pinch, hearing from Satan was preferable to hearing nothing at all and demanded that a medium be found so that he could consult with the dead (I Sam. 28:7).

Upon arrival and a few initial niceties, the medium asked whom Saul would like for her to conjure up. He replied, "Samuel the Prophet" (I Sam. 28:8-11). When Samuel actually arrives, the response of the medium is quite instructive, as she...

"...cried out with a loud voice. And the woman said to Saul, 'Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!' The king said to her, 'Do not be afraid. What do you see?' And the woman said to Saul, 'I see a god coming up out of the earth.' He said to her, 'What is his appearance?' And she said, 'An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped in a robe.' And Saul knew that it was Samuel..." (I Sam. 28:11-14, ESV).

In his study Bible on this passage, Charles Ryrie states:

"The medium shrieked with fear when Samuel actually appeared, rather than some spirit that would impersonate him. On this occasion God miraculously permitted the actual spirit of Samuel to speak and announce Saul's imminent death (I Sam. 28:19). The medium's cry of astonishment shows that this appearance was not the result of her usual tricks."

A couple of points need to be made about this passage to this point:

1) The "medium" was able to discern between a real ghost, or departed spirit if you will (Samuel as he came up before her), and what she was accustomed to dealing with. She was very surprised when an actual spirit of a dead man appeared before her. This leads to the obvious question, what had she been doing for the entirety of her "mediumship" prior to this point?

2) Ryrie seems to exhaust the reality of her "mediumship" in his note - either she was a fraud, who had been representing that she was involved with "ghosts," which representation she knew to be a lie, or she was in contact with other spirits (demons) that were somehow familiar to her, but were only impersonating the spirits of the dead. When the spirit that appeared was not "familiar," she understood a qualitative difference between what she normally saw and what she was seeing now.

The story continues in I Samuel 28:15-19:

"Then Samuel said to Saul, 'Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?' Saul answered, 'I am in great distress, for the Philistines are warring against me, and God has turned away from me and answers me no more, neither by prophets nor by dreams. Therefore, I have summoned you to tell me what I shall do.' And Samuel said, 'Why then do you ask me, since the LORD has turned away from you and become your enemy? The LORD has done to you as he spoke by me, for the LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand.... Because you did not obey the voice of the LORD.... Moreover, the LORD will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me...."

Note what happens here:

1) Samuel himself finds it disturbing - literally - that he has been brought before Saul. He is not "haunting" anything, he is not in some intermediate state.

2) Saul requests a specific piece of knowledge: What should I do? Samuel replies with no advice as to what he should do, he merely responds with the same message that he had given Saul during his life: God has rejected you because of your disobedience.

Apparently, "ghosts" are not at the beck and call of man, and are under no compulsion, nor perhaps any inclination, to answer man's questions.

In the New Testament, in the Hall of Fame of Faith of chapter 11, the writer of Hebrews lists numerous departed heroes who, though dead, are examples of Christian faith. Abel, Moses, Abraham, Joseph, David, and Samuel all are listed. And in the transition between this "Hall of Fame" and the practical application of our faith, the writer says,

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and the sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us" (Hebrews 12:1).

The imagery is that of an athletic competition in a coliseum. Certain people are on the track running a race. Others, a great multitude, are seated in the stands watching the race, separated from the competition but nevertheless cheering and closely observing those who are running.

Those departed spirits who are in heaven are certainly witnesses to what is going on here on earth, but they are no longer participants. Those same personages, Abel, Joseph, Moses, and all (for we are "surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses" as are recounted in Hebrews 11) are witnesses - spectators, no longer participants. And those departed spirits who are not in heaven do not seem cognizant of those who are still in the race: the lost rich man in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus says that he has five brothers, not that he sees his five brothers (Luke 16:28, cf. Luke 16:19-31).

So the common conception of "ghosts" as tormented spirits who cannot be released from this realm, or the spirits of dead humans somehow attached to some earthly place or person because of some trauma or evil, finds no Biblical evidence whatsoever. What we have come to appreciate as the common ghost story is either simply myth, or the intervention of some spirit that is not that of a human (Zech. 3:1).

Reportings of "ghosts," if the Bible is to be considered authoritative, actually points to a malignant, non-human presence that cannot be trusted and should not be sought out. Either that, or complete fraud on the part of so-called "mediums."

The movie, The Haunting in Connecticut, is great fun, well-written, and, as my wife said, a festival of goose pimples. While probably too intense for kids, I recommend the movie as both great entertainment and as a teachable moment to discuss Biblical principles with the older members of your family.

On a scale of five stars, I give the movie five stars.