It is not the most original genre film ever, lifting ideas from, among others, The Others and The Shining, but this is still a nifty, well-shot, and at times very frightening film by gifted director Vincenzo Natali (Cube, Splice), and it deserves an audience despite its low-profile release. There is at least one neat twist, and it comes at the very start: when we are introduced to youthful heroine Lisa (played by a capable and sympathetic Abigail Breslin), she is conscious of the fact she and her family are caught in a macabre time paradox, one which might be described as a spectral answer to Groundhog Day. Diving headfirst into this type of mind-bending otherworldly arena rather than treating it a second or third-act revelation is unusual and refreshing and sets the stage for a supernatural murder mystery defined by a dense, fog enshrouded atmosphere and well-placed clues. Other than a slightly too sentimental final scene, Haunter is a creepily satisfying October treat and will particularly please audiences fond of old-fashioned ghost stories.

B+

I always had a special place in my heart for the ghost Pokémon.

B+

This is basically The Others meets Groundhog Day. A murdered girl has to relive the day before her 16th birthday over and over and over and she is the only one in her family that realizes that something isn't right. Abigail Breslin is very good as the film's heroine and Stephen McHattie is an appropriately creepy villain, but the real star here is director Vincenzo Natali, who continues to be one of the most underappreciated genre director in the business at the moment. He takes well-known elements and creates a terrific atmosphere of dread and mystery out of them. The film barely offers anything new, but it is extremely engaging from start to finish and doesn't take the audience for fools. I still hold out hope for Natali to break out big time one day.