Review - Haunting Sarah

Twins always freak me out . . .

. . . add to that a stubborn, weird looking and angry child (David played by Ryland Thiessan) dying and I am doubly freaked out. Of course, when this child begins to hant (yes, hant – it is the southern variation of haunt in which the victims get handprint shaped bruises on them from where the spirit has gripped onto them) his cousin Sarah (Niamh Wilson) I really become even a little more loopy.

This is a Lifetime movie folks so I didn’t expect much going into it but I found myself oddly intrigued by the introduction of the twins Erica and Heather Rose both played by Kim Raver (the young Rose twins were played by Kaelin and Kelsey Van Achte) as they tested the strength of their bond to each other.

The movie itself was not the greatest and it did try to go into far too many directions in my opinion, but ultimately I felt myself more than mildly entertained. I have to admit also that they fooled me at one point with what I thought would be the ending. Turned out, I was wrong and the movie had a good 15-20 minutes left to play out. Actually the movie fooled me twice because at one point I felt I fully knew what the twist of the film was going to be and in reality, there really wasn’t a “twist” per se.

I do also want to mention the character of Rosie (Alison Sealy-Smith) who seemed to be thrown in there just so we would have someone to explain the whole hanting phenomenon. Even though I got the feeling that was the only reason she was there, I did really enjoy her character.

At any rate, if you happen to catch this one on Lifetime I would definitely recommend watching it. I don’t know if this is available outside the Lifetime network but if it is I would also advise a viewing. Like I said earlier – I was more than mildly entertained.

Directed by
Ralph Hemecker

Writing credits (WGA)
Tony Phelan (teleplay) &
Joan Rater (teleplay)

Lisa Grunwald (novel "New Year's Eve")


Cast (in credits order)
Kim Raver .... Erica Rose/Heather Rose
Alison Sealy-Smith .... Rosie
Rick Roberts .... Edgar Lewis
Niamh Wilson .... Sarah Lewis
Ryland Thiessen .... David Lord
Gordon Tanner .... Richard Lord
Terri Cherniak .... Dr. Rachel Koenig
Ross McMillan .... Psychic
Ernesto Griffith .... ICU doctor
Marina Stephenseon Kerr .... Dr. Samantha Graton
Blake Taylor .... Dr. Christopher Myman
Audrey Dwyer .... Phebe
Harry Nelken .... Hardware clerk
Krysia Andrzejczak .... New teacher
Kristen Sawatzky .... Woman
Kaelin Van Achte .... Little Erica
Kelsey Van Achte .... Little Heather
Kathryn Kuzyk .... Little girl
Sharon Bajer .... Mother of little girl
Sean Skene .... Clueless teenager

rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Andrea Shawcross .... Heather/Erica Double
Chris Brasher .... Student (uncredited)