Rating: 
Summary: 77 minutes I'll never get back
Review: To call this one of the worst movies I've ever seen is an insult to the worst movies I've ever seen. With a "plot" obviously lifted from a certain witch project you'd think at least you'd be mildly scared. WRONG. Not only does this "real" documentary contain every horror house cliche known to man it presents them without one bit of style or suspense. Bad acting, obviously scripted and contrived situations, plot inconsitencies large enough to drive 1,000 trucks through and the cleanest abandoned haunted house you or I will ever come across do not make for a good movie. I'll play by the rules and not give any spoilers-but any child can see that props were obvious plants. Even if you hated "Blair Witch" seeing it again is better than seeing this once. Not scary. Not funny. Not worth a look. Oh, BTW, I believe in ghosts and haunted houses-only not ineptly portrayed shams.
Rating: 
Summary: Very funny! Very Scary! Very Silly!
Review: Welcome to St. Francisville where four cute 20 somethings enter a haunted house for a night of scares and laughs. It isn't to be taken too seriuosly and doesn't always seem as real as the movie makers might want you to think it is. But it is frightning at times and funny the rest. Four stars from me!
Rating: 
Summary: Not great, but not terrible
Review: Well, I'm not sure this movie deserves to be lampooned. It certainly isn't terrible. The background and intro to the house is pretty shallow. In fact, the initial time spent inside the house seems almost casual and silly at times.Things finally start to get rolling after the group visits the attic. When the group splits up, the movie is at its best; just being creepy enough to stay within the "this isn't a movie but real" mold. There are the usual cliches and the acting can be described as amateurish, but at least it fits in with the premise that these are supposed to be normal people. I honestly felt like this movie tried, it's a far better attempt at a film than the cookie cutter action flicks or romantic comedies that Hollywood seems to think we never get enough of.
Rating: 
Summary: Ridiculously hokey . . .
Review: When I rented this DVD, I found myself laughing more than screaming. Of course, I wasn't really expecting anything more than a "Blair Witch" rip-off, which is what it was. I think what made the movie particularly funny was the fact that it tried to pass the events off as real, even though it was obviously set up. Well, first of all, the characters, four twenty-somethings, were overly annoying. You have your typical blonde "Britney Spears"-type girl who screams and cries unnecessarily at everything, and the so-called "psychic" girl who wants to surround everything in a Bright White Light. Really, she reminded me of Molly Shannon's character on "Saturday Night Live"'s Goth Talk, which made it all the more hilarious. And the two guys were typical you-have-an-opinion-you-must-be-on-your-period jerks. I was almost rooting for the ghosts to put this foursome out of their misery. The other thing that made this film unbelieveable was the fact that they sent four idiots to do a serious investigation. Every time a simple draft or noise occurred, they jumped at shadows. Seriously--you feed a group of young, idiotic people with ghost stories and put them in a supposedly haunted house all night to look for ghosts, and they're going to see something. It's called group hysteria, which is a real thing. Maybe if they hadn't tried to pass off the film as real it might have worked better for me. As I said before, it was obviously set up. I mean, first of all, that chandelier falls the first time they turn on a light switch--and half the time, they walk around the rooms with flashlights, mysteriously forgetting about a little thing called electricity. I mean, the whole movie is just so cheesey that it's ridiculous. The ending is particularly hokey, but I'm not going to give it away in case you decide to watch it. I think the only real interesting part is the story about that society matron in New Orleans, and about what she did to her servants. That was a genuinely creepy story. The rest of the movie, however, is pretty much a joke. Cheap laughs at best.
Rating:
Summary: Ridiculously hokey . . .
Review: When I rented this DVD, I found myself laughing more than screaming. Of course, I wasn't really expecting anything more than a "Blair Witch" rip-off, which is what it was. I think what made the movie particularly funny was the fact that it tried to pass the events off as real, even though it was obviously set up. Well, first of all, the characters, four twenty-somethings, were overly annoying. You have your typical blonde "Britney Spears"-type girl who screams and cries unnecessarily at everything, and the so-called "psychic" girl who wants to surround everything in a Bright White Light. Really, she reminded me of Molly Shannon's character on "Saturday Night Live"'s Goth Talk, which made it all the more hilarious. And the two guys were typical you-have-an-opinion-you-must-be-on-your-period jerks. I was almost rooting for the ghosts to put this foursome out of their misery. The other thing that made this film unbelieveable was the fact that they sent four idiots to do a serious investigation. Every time a simple draft or noise occurred, they jumped at shadows. Seriously--you feed a group of young, idiotic people with ghost stories and put them in a supposedly haunted house all night to look for ghosts, and they're going to see something. It's called group hysteria, which is a real thing. Maybe if they hadn't tried to pass off the film as real it might have worked better for me. As I said before, it was obviously set up. I mean, first of all, that chandelier falls the first time they turn on a light switch--and half the time, they walk around the rooms with flashlights, mysteriously forgetting about a little thing called electricity. I mean, the whole movie is just so cheesey that it's ridiculous. The ending is particularly hokey, but I'm not going to give it away in case you decide to watch it. I think the only real interesting part is the story about that society matron in New Orleans, and about what she did to her servants. That was a genuinely creepy story. The rest of the movie, however, is pretty much a joke. Cheap laughs at best.
Rating: 
Summary: Real, Fake? NOT THE POINT!
Review: Whether this movie is real or fake, isn't really the point. These are called: "Reviews." Here is mine. This movie was, just, . . .funny. It had it's MOMENT, though. It had a freaky ending. The charachter, Ryan. Well, 2 words. . ."BAD acting!" The 'effects' were cheesy, at best. I still have to give this movie the highest rating, though. Hey, i'm a Troma fan! Whatcha expect. Anyway, I recommend this movie to anyone looking for a laugh. I also recommend this to anyone that scares easily (VERY easily.) I recommend this to skeptics as well as the gullible. It's pretty entertaining. And, isn't that what a movie is supposed to do? Entertain?
Rating:
Summary: To: viewer from nevada january 9, 2001
Review: you are a major d-u-m-b-a-s-s. you wouldn`t know a good movie if you were in it. and its not a comedy.
Rating:
Summary: A lumbering pseudo documentary
Review: You have to love a good ghost story to enjoy "The St. Francisville Experiment," a rehash of the immensely popular "Blair Witch Project" which came out the year before in 1999. Both films are pseudo documentaries filmed by annoying youngsters who set out to crack the mystery of ominous old legends. In both cases, the kids start their respective expeditions confident and self-assured, hand-held cameras jerking about while they spout wisecracks at the nearest shadows. Eventually, the kids end up terrified, surrounded by supernatural forces they could never have imagined.
I consider "The Blair Witch Project" to be a modern-day horror classic, well acted and perfectly executed. It frightened me, and I enjoyed the fact that the monsters could never quite be seen. The filmmakers caught lightning in a bottle, and when they released its fiercely mediocre sequel a couple of years later, it was apparent the magic was gone.
There is some magic in "The St. Francisville Experiment," but it is still inferior to "The Blair Witch Project" in almost every way. The acting is forced, the locale at a supposed haunted house in Louisiana is only slightly eerie, and the conclusion is never believable. And yet there's a scene, when a ghostly specter makes an appearance, that will definitely give you the creeps. It's all fun, and perhaps the young at heart will get a kick out of this carnival ride.
Four kids, including a filmmaker, historian, psychic and the obligatory "team leader," decide to spend the night in a haunted house. Prior to the big bash, the history of the house is documented. Somehow, and none too convincingly, they connect the house's history with the infamous New Orleans' legend of Madame LaLaurie. An 1830s Creole socialite who lived in the French Quarter, her house supposedly burned down and discovered within was a torture chamber where she conducted hideous experiments on slaves. She fled New Orleans in the middle of the night and, according to this film, eventually holed up in the secluded St. Francisville home.
The Madame LaLaurie legend, the Grand Guignol of New Orleans ghost stories, has never been convincingly proven, though it has been recited for over 100 years. I actually enjoyed the fact that "The St. Francisville Experiment" attempted to connect its story with this most famous of urban legends. The tale is as creepy as the set-up for "The Blair Witch Project," and unlike the latter film, the legend is at least partially based on fact.
The kids arrive in the middle of the night, enter the house and begin exploring its interior. The house is certainly authentic, but it's apparent that at least someone arrives on a regular basis to dust and clean its interior. But never mind. Closets are explored, a seance is conducted and a chair flies across the attic - and it all works for the most part. My problem at this point is the growing fear of the actors. Their hyperventilating terror is never convincing and it is abundantly clear they are mimicking the very good performances from "The Blair Witch Project." Additional secrets are discovered, including hidden chambers, but I realized I could have just as well bought a ticket to a Halloween funhouse for the same scares.
The beauty of "The Blair Witch Project" was that during its frantic running time, there was never a moment of doubt. Certainly the documentary was fabricated, but it was always convincing. I was never convinced by "The St. Francisville Experiment." Had the filmmakers spent a bit more time with their idea, they could have struck a nerve. There is always something unsettling about an old abandoned house, similar to what was seen during the final moments of "The Blair Witch Project." But the house used in this film, even with its hidden chambers and old furniture, looks like a display at the local museum.
It took a great amount of skill and imagination to pull off "The Blair Witch Project." There were so many missteps that could have been taken. None were. "The St. Francisville Experiment" lumbers around and makes these very mistakes. We see chains falling, chairs flying and ghosts hovering within mirrors. I liked the ghost, but the film leaves little to the imagination, and thus its authenticity is compromised. For a low budget flick such as this, that is a mistake.
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