If you're a regular reader of DVDSleuth.com, then you know that I watch a lot of horror movies, even more than are reported on here at the site. And I was watching tons of scary films long before the website was started. And for those thousands of movies, only a small percentage of them were truly interesting and impressive. The problem is that horror movies love to latch onto trends and they can seem interchangeable. As much as we claim to crave original ideas, copycat movies continue to spawn like enemies in a video game. Therefore, when a movie comes along that has anything remarkable to say, one must sit up and take notice. Haunter may not be 100% original, but it is so skillfully made and engaging that it instantly captivates the audience.

Lisa (Abigail Breslin) awakes every morning to the same thing. It's what appears to be a normal day in 1985. Her little brother, Robbie (Peter DaCunha), plays with his walkie-talkies and his Atari Pac-Man game. Between making meals, her Mom (Michelle Nolden), buts Lisa about doing the laundry, while her Dad (Peter Outerbridge) works on the car. After dinner, the family watches Murder She Wrote. Lisa can't go outside do a thick fog which obscures the yard. Lisa knows that she's living the same day over and over again, but the rest of her family is oblivious to this and they keep going through the motions. Then, suddenly, things begin to change. Lisa begins to hear voices calling her name, and she learns about the previous owner of her house. A dark force has entered her home and it is out to get her family. How can she convince them that they are in danger?

Haunter also brought back a lot of memories from the 80s on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of IFC Films. The film has been letterboxed at 1.85:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 30 Mbps. The image is sharp and clear, showing no grain or obvious defects from the source material. However, when Lisa ventures into the fog, her light creates very obvious blooming patterns which can't be ignored. That aside, the colors look good and the image is never overly dark. The level of detail is good and the way in which several shots are constructed show off the transfer's depth. The Disc carries a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 2.3 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The sounds in the film offer many opportunities for this track to shine, as the various noises coming from around the house are nicely distributed to the front and rear channels. The surround speakers bring us individual sounds at times and the subwoofer booms during the "shock" scenes. This track really adds to the overall experience of the film.

The Haunter Blu-ray Disc contains only a few extras. "Behind the Scenes" (21 minutes) features interviews with Natali and King, as well as much of the cast. We get an overview of the characters and story, as well as a discussion of the look of the film and the production. We get some on-set footage here, but the piece is made up mostly of the interviews and clips from the movie. "The Complete Storyboards by Vincenzo Natali" (55 minutes) is a unique feature in that it shows us all of the storyboards for the film, some of which are different from the finished product. The extras are rounded out by the "Teaser Poster" for the film and a TRAILER.