While fall may officially be here and October may be just around the corner, Hulu’s streaming library is getting a little less scary. As many of the major streaming platforms begin to stock their content catalogs full of Halloween-perfect titles, Hulu is losing one major horror title this week. On Thursday, Sept. 23, the 2005 horror hit An American Haunting is departing the streaming platform, meaning Hulu subscribers have just hours left to watch it.
Directed by Courtney Solomon, An American Haunting is based on Brent Monahan’s novel The Bell Witch: An American Haunting, which is based on the legend of the Bell Witch. Set in 1818 in Red River, Tennessee, the film follows a family as they begin to experience terrifying disturbances on their property. What first begins as unexplained noises grows into a horrifying haunting. The film stars Donald Sutherland, Sissy Spacek, James D’Arcy and Rachel Hurd-Wood.
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Following its preview at the AFI Film Festival in late 2005, An American Haunting hit theaters in early 2006, though it did not receive much critical praise. In fact, the film currently has just a 14% Tomatometer rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, with Cole Smithey writing for his review site ColeSmithey.com that “frights are few and the moment of horrific revelation is a big letdown.” Meanwhile, Matthew Leyland wrote in his review for the BBC, “unoriginal and unrelenting, this gothic ghost story invests too much time in banging doors and billowing drapes and not enough in its characters.” Despite the less than stellar reviews, the film has still made for a perfect Halloween time viewing thanks to its spooky nature.
Although An American Haunting will no longer be available for streaming on Hulu after Thursday, fans of the film won’t be left completely empty-handed, though viewing the film will cost them a few bucks. Currently, An American Haunting is available to rent ($3.99) or buy ($7.99) on Amazon Prime Video. The film is also available to rent or buy on other platforms, including iTunes and YouTube, at a similar price. It is unclear if An American Haunting will find a home at another big streaming platform following its departure from Hulu.
Unfortunately for Hulu subscribers (if you’re not already one, you can sign up for a subscription here), An American Haunting is just one of several titles set to exit by the end of this month. The streamer began September by saying goodbye to The Iron Lady, Our Family Wedding, Young Adult, and Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life, with dozens of other departures scheduled to take place on or before Thursday, Sept. 30. Some of those titles include Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol, several Anaconda films, Bad Teacher, Big Fish, 1973’s Charlotte’s Web, Contagion, The Grudge, and Ice Age, in addition to many more. The departures will help make room for the upcoming round of October 2021 additions, which include everything from several James Bond films to the MTV series Teen Wolf.
