90 minutes I've lost with An American Haunting

Pleased to have a new book contract in prospect I went to the cinema last night on spec. Arriving at 18.00 there wasn't a vast amount on so after a distinctly mediocre chicken sandwich courtesy of Burger King (how do they get away with it?) I elected to see An American Haunting. IMDB contributors give it 6.8, which is around about the bottom of what's likely to be tolerable, and some moron describes it as the 'Scariest movie since The Exorcist' in his 9/10 review. Well, I guess if you find porn movies erotic you'll find this scary, because from the moment the curtain goes up we have action. Bump, bump, scream; scrape, scrape, scream; etc. ad molto nauseam. Donald Sutherland heads the excellent cast, and after we have circled round all the haunting stingers for the umpteenth time we discover -- MAJOR SPOILER COMING UP -- that he is abusing his daughter and so in some disconnected way, all the spirit's awful visitations are down to him. And I suppose the modern family that very briefly bookends the early ninetenth-century haunting is having the same problem (mother and father are separated). Or are they? do I care?

But what a waste of time. 90 minutes that I could have spent rearranging the ornaments on my mantlepiece, ironing, or looking out the window. Why can't film makers understand that if you go full tilt at the beginning you can't generate a climax? If they can't get their heads around it in constructing a narrative, think of it in terms of love making -- you know, foreplay, etc.

The cinema at the Liffey Valley Centre (just outside the city of Dublin) is no longer called Ster Century but Vue. In other respects it's business as usual. The speakers now distort so badly on certain material that the experience is painful, and about 30 minutes into the film a group of tweenies entered (this is a 15+ film, so they were illegally there) and witnessed disturbing scenes of abuse and very graphic blood associated with it. They responded by giggling, talking loudly, playing with their mobile phones, and repeatedly heading off to the shop to stock up on food. I hope their lives are blighted forever. I don't think their delightful behaviour made much impact on my response to this pointless film though.