Haunted (1995 film)

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 mothers death, Nanny Tess (Anna Massey) has convinced herself that Mrs. Mariells ghost returns every evening to haunt Edbrook House.

Further complicating the investigation is Christinas 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 sisters 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 sisters 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 parents 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 mansions 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

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.