Other Releases Available:

Releases Reviewed:

A search for An American Haunting releases may produce some false positives. Looking through the results, the ones below seem to be the ones most worth checking out.

You can get this on Blu (theoretically, anyway - there's a listing for it, but I've yet to see one actually for sale) and 2 DVD versions: the PG13 theatrical release and an extended unrated cut. There's also a DVD 4 pack of ghost movies that offers no clue about which version of this movie it contains.

My personal copy is the “Unrated” DVD version so that is where my first-hand info will come from. I've never even actually seen the theatrical version of the movie.

Video:

2.35 widescreen: The quality is pretty much standard for DVD. While not high-def impressive, it's clean enough to be enjoyable.

Audio:

5.1 Dolby, 2.0: The audio sounds good even if it's not lossless HD.

Packaging:

The case is the typical plastic.

There’s a lot of annoying material to sit through before the movie starts including 3 previews and other junk. I despise previews that play automatically when I put in DVD's I've bought.

The interface has some animation and music. I think it would have been fun to have a recreation of Betsy’s room since that’s where the worst of the haunting events happen. The ghostly note design we get doesn’t really have anything to do with the movie itself. Still, the graphics are more visually appealing than just having a couple of menu choices over a static picture so some minor kudos for a little imagination there.

Extras:

-Deleted Scenes: There are 10 deleted and alternate scenes with a play all option. Actually the carriage crash alternates contain a few different cuts of the crash as one scene so you're really getting more than 10. They’re all pretty short. Some are unimpressive enough to not even deserve inclusion, but some are interesting. A couple of the scenes in these deleted offerings are, as far as I could tell, exactly the same as scenes in the movie. They are said to be “deleted” rather than “alternate” so perhaps these were the moments added to the movie to make it “unrated.”

-Alternate Endings: The four alternate endings contain changes to the 1818 portion of the story and the modern day bookend. Some of them are several minutes long. The most profound addition is an epilogue to the 1818 story including a more concise explanation of exactly what happened.

-Behind the Scenes: There are a couple of behind the scenes bits. The first starts out as a director commentary. Solomon sits down at a mic and begins talking about the movie. He then gets up and has a camera follow him around while he visits different places at which point it transitions from a commentary to a behind the scenes type feature. He talks mostly about the making of a non-studio movie and using the internet for promotion. This segment contains some kid- inappropriate language.

-Sissy Spacek Discussion: Another bit is a discussion between the director and Sissy Spacek. They share a few quips about legends and comments about being on set. It’s short and more of a promo than anything.

-Internet Promos: There is a collection of short internet promos. The section includes a play all. The first is a quick introduction to the true ghostly legend and the associated town. The next looks at some of the theories and possible explanations. Next is an intro to the cast and crew of the movie. Lastly is a short interview with a ghost hunter which is more general with barely a mention of the Bell Witch.

-Previews: Lastly is a string of movie previews.

Other Editions:

The details of the newer Blu release are sketchy. I'll tell you what I've been able to find out. My last search showed all Blu listings to be currently “unavailable” which may explain why the details are so lacking. Video: don't know. Audio: still don't know. I finally saw a hint that the video is widescreen at 1080p and the audio 5.1 DTS HD. There's no mention of any extras nor which version of the movie it contains though if I had to guess I'd say it's the unrated version. That's all I've got for you. Move along.

It looks to me like the PG13 DVD edition is exactly the same as the unrated aside from the run time of the movie. I can't say for sure so don't haunt me if I'm wrong.

A 4-film collection includes Haunting in Connecticut, Soul Survivors, and Riding the Bullet. The cover art matches the unrated DVD cover so I'm going to guess that's what's included. The product listing doesn't specify. It's a 4 disc set which means you're most likely going to get the standard DVD versions of each film with all their extras and such.

Final Thoughts:

I’m extremely disappointed that there isn’t more material about the real legend in the extras. The little bit offered is like dangling a carrot. I got merely a nibble before they yanked it away. There’s a wealth of information on the internet, and the director says they spent days interviewing people about the legend so there should be no lack of material. Especially in the light of the many accusations that the story was changed to be more cinematic I would think the director would use the DVD as an opportunity to say more about his work. Some of the alternate endings are great to have, but otherwise the extras are mostly unimpressive. The strength (or lack thereof) of the movie combined with a few interesting but overall unimpressive DVD offerings make this a better rental than a purchase. Good luck finding a Blu-ray copy.