THE HAUNTING OF MARSTEN MANOR — * 1/2 — Brianne Davis, C. Thomas Howell, Julie Sapp; rated PG (violent imagery, brief gore).
The scariest thing about "The Haunting of Marsten Manor" is that the film features no scares at all.
Despite supernatural themes and a haunted-house setting, this locally produced feature doesn't do much to qualify as a horror movie. It's really more of a mystery drama.
And while you can appreciate the filmmakers' attempts at do something different from R-rated gore fests and routine PG-13 horror movies, "Manor" is pretty dull.
As teased by the title, there's a spooky mansion, which an unhappy young blind woman named Jill (Brianne Davis) has inherited from an estranged relative. Jill drags two friends, Rob (Ken Luckey) and Erika (Christine Woods), along with her to check out the place. And that's a good thing, since the hauntings begin almost immediately.
It turns out there's a pair of specters residing in the manor: a woman (Julie Sapp), who may have some ties to Jill, and an apparently ill-fated Civil War soldier (C. Thomas Howell).
In its favor, "The Haunting of Marsten Manor" is relatively brief, and it does boast some recognizable locations in and around Salt Lake City, including some that are close to Trolley Square.
But the acting is pretty awful. Television actress Davis is painfully stiff as the film's lead, and her faux-blind routine leads to some unintentionally funny moments.
Julie Sapp is a little better as an actress. She also wrote the music score and co-wrote the screenplay with her husband, director David Sapp — and her score isn't as heavy-handed as you might expect.
But she and Howell don't really get enough screen time to counteract Davis' weak performance.
"The Haunting of Marsten Manor" is rated PG for some brief, violent war imagery and other mildly disturbing images, as well as some brief gore. Running time: 80 minutes.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com