The Haunting of Whaley House (2012)

So much average

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

They showed this on TV in the UK for Halloween. I was intrigued; after all, The Asylum are a studio best known for their rip-offs and their cheesy monster and disaster movies, so what would a straight haunted house film look like from the studio?The answer is, not a lot. THE HAUNTING OF WHALEY HOUSE is as clichéd and predictable as you could imagine, and there's no other storyline than a group of amateur ghost hunters break into a haunted house and spend the night there. Inevitably the house has an evil history and the group are spooked by a sinister ghost, but this so so poorly conceived and poorly achieved that it's a difficult one to watch.Venezuelan writer/director Jose Prendes seems to be a fan of the B-movie horror genre and yet you'd think he could create something a little more original, and less trite, than this outing. The acting is poor, the gore effects are plastered in in a bid to make something stick, and the only character I really liked was the British ghost hunter, played with relish by Howard McNair.

Okay, lemme say this. When I saw this a few years ago, I screamed and hid my face in my cat. I saw this movie again the other day and laughed my pants off at all the cheesy events in the movie. Oh my god, I laughed so hard I fell on top of my cat, who let out this massive squawk at the beginning of the movie after I started it the third time in a row. I have to admit, when I was a little younger I laughed a little at the beginning because hey, it starts out with a guy getting hit by a car. I also watched it with my dad, who laughed the first time we saw it- which was together. My mom and my brother never saw it, because they were in bed at the time. But seriously. It's really funny, yet scary at the same time. Just wow.

I didn't know what to expect when I saw the title, The Haunting of Whaley House. I lived in San Diego for years so I knew right away the house they were showing wasn't the Whaley House. I have also been inside and the area is lit at night because it is in Old Town. There is always a lot going on in that area. It isn't just the Whaley House that is haunted but all around the area so there are a lot of stories and most of the ones they told about the Whaley's were correct. The thing is they didn't even try to make it look like the Whaley House at all. I doubt they could with the low budget. When you step inside you don't enter a drawing room with a staircase you go right up near the front door. So I recognized it was just the ambiance of the house they were trying to portray and its rumored ghost appearances. I thought the acting was fine for a B-movie with a low budget. People have to start somewhere to hone their craft. Some of it has to fall on the director. I enjoyed the movie though and some things were predictable but I didn't mind. Having known many psychics I really liked the one they portrayed in the movie. The end was the kicker for me from the point where the sun comes up to the very end of the movie. It is enjoyable but not a top of the line horror movie. It is campy and makes you jump here and there. If you want raw entertainment and you like the B level of horror movies you will enjoy this one. I agree with another reviewer that the actors have been under rated.

This movie was ridiculously disappointing even for a B grade film. I turned it off 30 minutes through. Acting was shocking which was a shame because the plot had potential. All in all I gave this film a three: 1 point for the promising storyline, 1 point for the gore effects when the chick cut her own head off and 1 point because I saw a cute kitty. This movie lost the other seven through a 1 point loss for terrible acting, another point loss for the crappy makeup (all the girls had cake faces) and lost 5 points because I didn't even watch the whole thing which by the way is a rare occurrence. I will give credit to the appearance of the ghosts. They did come across as somewhat scary but it doesn't make up for the unnecessary swearing at times. The dialogue was cheesy and just bored me. What a shame.