Haunted (1995 film)

Haunted
Film poster
Directed by	Lewis Gilbert
Produced by	Lewis Gilbert Anthony Andrews Ralph Kamp
Written by	Lewis Gilbert Bob Kellett Timothy Prager
Starring	Aidan Quinn Kate Beckinsale Anthony Andrews John Gielgud Anna Massey
Music by	Debbie Wiseman
Cinematography	Tony Pierce-Roberts
Edited by	John Jympson
Production company	American Zoetrope
Distributed by	October Films
Release dates	1995
Running time	108 min.
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Haunted is a 1995 horror film, by veteran director Lewis Gilbert and starring Aidan Quinn, Kate Beckinsale, Anthony Andrews and John Gielgud. It is based on a novel of the same name by James Herbert. The film was produced by Andrews and Gilbert.

Plot

David Ash (Aidan Quinn), an American professor, has entered into the field of parapsychology and has spent a majority of his life disproving the existence of ghosts. He was motivated by the untimely death of his twin sister, Juliet, for which he blames himself. In 1928, he receives an invitation from the Mariell family to investigate the alleged hauntings at their home, Edbrook House. At the train station, he is met and is immediately smitten by the beautiful Christina Mariell (Kate Beckinsale), who informs him that she and her brothers actually hired him to try to calm the fears of their ageing nanny. Christina believes that due to her declining mental health since their mother's death, Nanny Tess (Anna Massey) has convinced herself that Mrs. Mariell's ghost returns every evening to haunt Edbrook House.

Further complicating the investigation is Christina's continuous flirtation with David, a distraction he gladly welcomes. However, older brother Robert (Anthony Andrews) is adamantly against their friendship, and is revealed as having an incestuous relationship with Christina. When David decides to finally leave Edbrook, he asks Christina to come away with him. Although she refuses, they engage in a passionate kiss and end up in bed together. In the morning when David wakes, the wind is gusting through the house, which is now cloaked in black drapes and littered with fallen leaves. He searches for Christina but instead sees his twin sister's ghost, who leads David to a cemetery. Juliet calls his attention to a specific tombstone which states that Robert, Christina and Simon Mariell all died in a fire at Edbrook in 1923.

A very confused David seeks out Dr. Doyle once more, only to be told by his sister's ghost that Doyle also had died many years ago. He leaves with Christina, who crashes her car into a tree, causing it to explode. David escapes, returns to the house, and confronts Nanny Tess. She confirms that the Mariell siblings are indeed dead and that their ghosts will do anything to keep Nanny Tess and David from leaving. Nanny Tess also reveals that the siblings' mother, Mrs. Mariell, drowned herself after discovering drunken Simon and Robert in their parent's bed with Christina. The siblings appear and force Nanny Tess to confess to their murder (she had locked the siblings in a bedroom and then set fire to the house).

Robert reveals that, with David as the new victim of their torments, they no longer need Nanny Tess. They kill Nanny Tess, and Christina asks David to die for them. He tries to escape, but is blocked by the three siblings and Dr. Doyle. They set the mansion ablaze, but he escapes to the upstairs bedroom. While Robert, Simon and Christina cackle mockingly within the flames at his imminent death, Juliet suddenly appears and walks through the flames, takes David by the hand and rescues him from the inferno. As they walk away from the mansion's ruins, Juliet absolves him of his guilt over her death and departs to the afterlife.

After the harrowing experience, David returns home and is greeted by his assistant, Kate, as he steps off the train. A few steps behind the unsuspecting couple, Christina steps out of the shadows and follows them through the fog as they leave the platform.

Cast

• Aidan Quinn as Professor David Ash
• Peter England as Young David Ash
• Kate Beckinsale as Christina Mariell
• Anthony Andrews as Robert Mariell
• John Gielgud as Dr. Doyle
• Anna Massey as Nanny Tess Webb
• Alex Lowe as Simon Mariell
• Victoria Shalet as Juliet Ash

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics receiving an 80% fresh rating of five critics on Rotten Tomatoes and 6.3 out of 10 on IMDB.

See also

• List of ghost films

External links

• Haunted at IMDb
• Haunted at AllMovie