The Haunting (2009 film)

The plot follows the plight of Francesca, a pediatrician coping with the sudden death of her baby who moves to a countryside manor with her husband Pedro to seek solace and recovery from her trauma.[1][2] Once there, she starts to experience disturbing supernatural phenomena instead. The supernatural mystery is connected to the existence of a B-side of "secret" NO-DO newsreels commissioned by the Francoist regime (and hidden by the Catholic Church) recording every miraculous development in Spain and which ended up stumbling upon some dark gods.[3][4][2]

An Eqlipse Producciones Cinematográficas production,[2] the film had the financial support from Canarias Cultura en Red and the collaboration of TVE, ICAA, Cabildo de Gran Canaria and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival.[5]

The film was presented in March 2009 at Las Palmas Film Festival.[6] It was theatrically released in Spain on 12 June 2009.[4]

The review in Fotogramas rated the film 3 out of 5 stars, deeming it to be an "appreciable" new wrinkle to the cinema of Arrebato, Buñuel's catholic anti-clericalism and Don Coscarelli's plot twists, also highlighting the performance by Torrent.[1]

The review in El Mundo rated the film 2 out of 5 stars, writing about a film full of flaws, generally attributable to the screenplay and, above all, to the budget shortcomings, otherwise featuring an "uneven but very entertaining story" and positively highlighting the insertion of a chapter with historical plausibility within a traditional horror story.[7]

Jordi Costa of El País considered that even if there are some predictable twists and a few missteps and the film suffers from budgetary constraints, "this story of martyrs and monstrous gods" "deserves to find its audience".[3]

• List of Spanish films of 2009