A Haunting In Cawdor | Film Review

“I’m almost done.”

This is what Vivian Miller (Shelby Young) has got to be thinking on her bus ride from jail to a work release program to spend the last days of her sentence. The ride ends at The Cawdor Barn Theater. It’s a summer stock theater that has worked out a deal with the state to ease troubled youths back into society. No fences. No guards. But so far away from everything that it’s practically pointless to escape.

The program is run by Dr. Lawrence O’Neil (Cary Elwes), who has been knocked down from being an established Broadway director, to now choreographing parolees.  During a small amount of free time from the theater/boot camp/halfway house routines, Vivian unleashes a ghostly presence with some forgiveness issues and finds herself firmly in its supernatural sights. With the help of her new friend,and local, Roddy (Michael Welch), Vivian valiantly attempts to break through this cursed shroud that covers the stage.

Casting is solid all around and led by Cary Elwes, whose performance here was eerily reminiscent of his role in ‘The Crush’. Shelby Young is strong as Vivian Miller, although it felt as if the character could have been deeper, as even with having a history with a psychiatrist, it didn’t seem she was traumatized as heavily as it was explained.

The use of the legendary Barn Theatre School in Battle Creek, Michigan is definitely a highlight here. Simply stated, it was great to see a place that has had illustrious alumni such as Dana Delany and Jennifer Garner grace their stage. The location plus actual superstitions revolving around the ‘Macbeth’ play added some interesting sensations along the backdrop of the late-summer country setting.

Overall, while entertaining, the events in ‘A Haunting In Cawdor’ were easily telegraphed, therefore the eeriness suffered as a result. The enjoyment in a film like this stems from the unexpected or surprising turns, something that was unfortunately lacking here. This is also probably why whenever I thought to pause and take care of something, I couldn’t help but think, “I’m almost done.”