The Haunting of Molly Hartley

Genre - Horror/Thriller
Year Released - 2008
Running Time - 86 minutes
Rating: PG-13 (minor violence & terror)
Directed by Mickey Liddell (his directorial debut)
Written by John Travis & Rebecca Sonnenshine
Cast Includes:
Haley Bennett (who is also in this year's College, which I have not yet seen)
Jake Weber (from the television show American Gothic - he was also in the 2004 Re-make of Dawn of the Dead)
Marin Hinkle (Jake's mom, from Two and a Half Men - she was also in Quarantine)
Chace Crawford (The Covenant)
Shannon Marie Woodward
Shanna Collins
AnnaLynne McCord (she was in the last season of Nip/Tuck - she was also in the '08 Re-make of Day of the Dead)

Rating: 2 Skulls

Plot Summary:
Troubled by her mother's recent psychotic break, Molly hopes to start fresh at a new school. She befriends fellow senior Joseph and is happy to be a regular kid again. But the horrifying truth about her mother is destined to catch up with her. When Molly turns 18, she'll be held accountable for a supernatural bargain made long ago, one that she cannot escape.

Review:

I was debating what to see this weekend, when I remembered that I had a free movie ticket.

I figured that both Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno and Guy Ritchie's RocknRolla would both be worth paying for. On the other hand, I was not too sure about The Haunting of Molly Hartley. While the trailers looked somewhat intriguing, I figured that I best use my free ticket on this movie, and I am glad that I did, as it would have been a waste of my money!

For starters, the movie starts off, in 1997, with a father trying to kill his daughter, while driving a truck. After the truck spins out of control and crashes through a fence - onto someone's property - it finally stops, only to have a larger truck smash into it. . . Where did this truck come from? As I said, they were on a piece of property - not a highway!

Right away, I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. . .

The movie then jumps to present day, where we meet Molly Hartley - who hears voices and has nightmares, which cause nosebleeds. She then befriends a guy named Joseph, which ticks off his ex-girlfriend [AnnaLynne McCord - who, even though I think she is hot, seems to be playing the same roles, over and over] There are two other friends worth a mention - bad girl, Leigh (Shannon Marie Woodward) and an ultra-zealot Christian, Alexis (Shanna Collins, which I thought was pretty funny, as she is one of the main characters in CBS' Swingtown)

I do not want to bore you with all of the minor details - let me just say (you may not want to read this, if you plan on watching the movie, as it is a slight spoiler!) that we eventually [and I stress eventually] find out that the whole entire premise behind the movie lies in the fact that Molly died at birth, however there just so happened to be a strange woman at the scene of the miscarriage, who promised the parents 18 years with Molly, but after that she would belong to "them". . . This was an okay plot - actually, its the only thing that gave the movie its second skull, it was just delivered poorly. The movie had greater potential is all.

What I really didn't like (here comes the spoiler - don't say that I didn't warn you!) is the fact that there was absolutely no fight at the end! Let's re-cap: You're about to turn 18, at which point, "the darkness" is going to claim you. Okay - that's cool - whatever - let me just live my new life with "the darkness". . . WHAT?!?

[You may continue reading now, if you so desire]

If you do decide to watch this movie, I recommend just waiting for television. It is definitely not worth spending your money on (either in the theatre or as a rental)

Here's the trailer:


Jason