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Mickey Liddell’s directorial debut The Haunting of Molly Hartley is anything but haunting as it fails to even scare. A cross between Rosemary’s Baby & the Excercist but falls short of scary. This film is like watching a possessed episode of 90210 & loses its flavor faster than a stick of bubble gum. The film centers around a girl trying to find out if she’s the devils spawn or if her mother is just completely out of her mind. Molly (Haley Bennett) is turning 18 very soon, but despite the fact that she has near perfect skin & enrolled in the most prestigious private school in New York her life is anything but perfect. Her mother was recently institutionalized after trying to stop her daughter from eternal damnation with a pair of scissors. Adjusting to a new school & her mother locked up in a mental institution aren’t the only troubles facing Molly. She is being haunted daily with visions of her murderous mother & hearing voices from beyond. Molly is also being outcast at school because of her romance with the popular Joseph Young (Chase Crawford). Fellow outcast, the bible preaching Alexis (Shanna Collins) is trying to convert Molly to Christianity. Her guidance counselor insists that the weird hallucinations are nothing more than effects from her recent trauma. As her visions grow stronger each day, she is forced to consider that her fate was sealed the day she was born. The story is very predictable even for a supernatural plot & the acting is weak. It seems the film is loaded with moments to make the viewer jump in substitute for an interesting plot. The themes are there, a girl dealing with issues of religion & salvation but it lacks anything interesting or new.

Neal Damiano Film Critic

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