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Molly Hartley (Haley Bennett) and her father, Robert (Jake Weber), move to a new town for a fresh start—and for Rob to be closer to his wife, Jane (Marin Hinkle), who was sent to a mental institution nearby after almost stabbing Molly to death. Molly’s mother claims that the darkness is coming for Molly, and she has to save (kill) her before she turns eighteen.
Molly begins school at Huntington Prep, where she meets three very different friends. Alexis (Shanna Collins) shows Molly around the school and talks about her close personal relationship with Jesus, which puts Molly on edge for reasons that seem to go beyond being uncomfortable with religion. Joseph (Chace Crawford) shows interest in her, but he has a girlfriend. Since Molly’s the new girl, she doesn’t need that kind of trouble, but Joseph’s hard to resist. He’s charming, funny, and persistent, and he seems to care about her. And then there’s Leah (Shannon Marie Woodward). She’s wild but fun—though she has anger issues.
As Molly’s birthday approaches, the whispering voices become stronger, haunting her wherever she goes. She sees her mother everywhere—until the encounters become all too real, and Molly can’t determine what’s real and what’s not. Her new friends, along with her father, are trying to help in different ways, but she feels as if she’s going crazy—just like her mother—and that’s what frightens Molly more than anything.
The Haunting of Molly Hartley is a decent psychological / supernatural thriller. The storyline is strong, the characters are mostly likable (and worth spending a couple of hours with), and there’s just enough suspense to keep you interested. That is, right up until it’s ruined by the totally bogus ending. I actually threw my pillow at
the television screen and said, “You’ve got to be kidding me! What a total letdown!” I couldn’t believe it ended that way. I guess director Mickey Liddell wanted to do something somewhat different—but it just doesn’t work, though I can’t tell you why without giving away the ending. On the other hand, though, the ending is definitely not predictable.
The movie does have its creepy moments. A couple of times, I even jumped in fright before laughing at myself for allowing such cheap horror movie parlor tricks to scare me—but those old tricks seem to get me every time. Still, I have yet to come across a recent horror movie that’s scary enough to give me nightmares—not since 2005’s The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Come on, screenwriters, bring on something that’ll really scare me. I dare you.
All in all, The Haunting of Molly Hartley, isn’t too bad. I didn’t get bored while watching it, and that says a lot. I’ve seen better, but I’ve also seen much worse. So although it has its flaws, it’s still worth at least one watch.
