For a textbook case on how not to market a movie, look no further than The Haunting of Molly Hartley. Sure, Quarantine slapped one of its final frames onto the poster, but at least the film contained some surprises. Not so with The Haunting of Molly Hartley, a film showing its entire agenda, twists and all, to anyone who caught its trailers. Still, in some warped way, it's a prime example of truth in advertising -- for the movie ends up being every bit as shallow and mediocre as it looked in the previews.

Life has not been kind to high schooler Molly Hartley (Haley Bennett). Despite her father's (Jake Weber) attempts to start over after she was nearly killed by her mother, Molly is still going through a pretty rough patch. She's constantly afflicted by intense hallucinations and headaches, which seem to increase and worsen as her 18th birthday approaches. Nevertheless, Molly tries to lead a normal life at her new school, palling up with a snarky classmate (Shannon Woodward) and even carousing with the campus hunk (Chace Crawford). But Molly's terrifying visions persist, forcing her to discover the truth behind a terrible event from the past before demonic forces possess her, body and soul.

The Haunting of Molly Hartley is part of an alarming trend of recent horror films that gear themselves a little too much toward the MTV set. Director Mickey Liddell doesn't seem as much concerned with making a lasting impression in the genre as he is with serving up a supernatural rendition of Laguna Beach. Outside of Molly's crippling visions, she gets involved with standard-issue high school melodrama, including an obligatory catfight with the school's self-appointed queen of mean (AnnaLynne McCord). Because the dearth of horror becomes so bad here, there were times I thought the projectionist accidentally started showing an episode of 90210. Maybe it wasn't for a lack of trying, but the writers' attempts to make some sort of statement about religion and the battle of good versus evil fall on very skeptical ears. 

Some horror movies are inherently bad from the start, but The Haunting of Molly Hartley could've been a decent picture. The story is one part Rosemary's Baby and one part The Omen, but its duties to the teeny-bopper demographic keep getting in the way. Liddell plays things safe when he should be daring, putting most of his efforts into freaking viewers out on a visual sense rather than a thematic one. However, loud noises and jump scares alone do not a good movie make. Aside from the film's lame and derivative frights, the cast doesn't do much to draw viewers into the fray. Bennett is cuter than cute but has a habit of wearing the same dazed expression for most of the movie. Her emotions also turn on a dime, which lead to awkward moments when she's howling in fear one second and lashing out at people the next. With the exception of Shanna Collins as a Bible-thumping classmate, the supporting cast is a generic bunch whose faces and roles all bleed into one another.

Add an ending that's as anticlimactic as the day is long, and you've got yourself a pretty miserable affair with The Haunting of Molly Hartley. Yes, worse ghost  stories have been unleashed on viewers, but this one  is more likely to frighten slumber party participants than hardened horror buffs. 

MY RATING: * 1/2 (out of ****)

(Released by Freestyle Releasing and rated "PG-13" for strong thematic material, violence & terror, strong languae and some teen drinking.)