BELL WITCH: THE MOVIE
by Shane Marr
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Canada
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DVD details
Actor: Betsy Palmer; John David Hart; Cody Newton; Hope BanksDirector: Shane Marr
Producer: Shane Marr
Writer: Shane Marr and Jay Guffy
DVD: Region Code 0
Format: NTSC
Running Time: 98 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-03-27
Studio: Cinemarr
DVD Reviews of BELL WITCH: THE MOVIE
DVD Review: Everything is Wrong
Summary: 2 Stars
I recently visited the Bell Witch Cave in Adams, Tennessee. The only other movie I've seen related to this was the horrible An American Haunting, which basically turned it into a tale of incest. They had this movie for sale at the Cave for $30, which seemed a bit much, so when I got home I checked Amazon and got it much, much cheaper.
It was STILL a waste of money! (And thank goodness I didn't get bilked for 30 bucks!) Everything about this movie is wrong, wrong, wrong.
First of all, they got none of the "facts" of the story right. The dates are wrong, the characters are the wrong ages, the timeline is off and they invented all sorts of add-ons to the story that were never reported by any of the accepted tellers of the tale. For example, John Bell was 67 years old when the hauntings began. His wife as 20 years younger than he was. They had eight children. In the movie, John looks hardly 40, has a nice contemporary haircut, and his wife looks older than he does. They have three children and condense several years of story into less than one. They tip-toe around the supposed dispute between Kate Batts and Bell, making it have something to do with a dispute over the purchase of some land. It was really over the interest charged for the purchase of a slave. (There are no black people in this movie at all!)
Next, it was shot in high-definition video (Sony 24P), but instead of taking advantage of this camera's incredible cinematic range, they lit it like most amateurs videographers light video. Everything is flat, bright and over-exposed. And even though a year goes by, it's always autumn - I guess because orange and brown leaves look cool in high-def.
The acting is is horrid. I think this is primarily the fault of the direct/screenwriter, because the words he put into their mouths are stilted and he lets them get away with saying them awkwardly. Most of the roles are totally mis-cast and the performances are completely over-the-top. Imagine community theater where everyone is playing to the last row. It's not quite THAT good.
And lastly, in many ways this whole movie is just an excuse for a soundtrack full of annoying bluegrass music. (The director also produced the music.) It's not period - it's very contemporary - and scenes go on and on and on so that the whole song can play to its end. They push the CD in the previews before the film starts and actually go so far as to say "it has been compared to O Brother". I can only assume it was compared by the director in order to try and convince people to buy it. Yeah, it's sort of the same style, but that's about it.
There is one fright in the entire movie. A scary image appears in a window during a lightning flash. You hear a loud nose. That's it! The rest of the time you are supposed to be afraid of some strange green light - and it doesn't work.
This is rank amateur work and you will be disappointed.
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