The Jonestown Haunting (2020) User Reviews

Misleading and boring waste of time

[hp-07706 · 2/10 · 11 February 2023]

There's nothing supernatural about this movie. It looks so low budget with bad acting that it's like an amateur attempt on YouTube. Even though this movie is boring and doesn't take advantage of the Jonestown story at all, it's not the worst movie I've ever seen. That's why I'll give it 2 out of 5.

At 60% of the movie, it becomes a bit less bad. The idiotic journalist gets a paper note from one of the inhabitants which says "Please help us.". Instead of leaving the place, notify the authorities back at home and allow a huge army and SWAT police to get there to save everyone, this guy goes directly to the cult leader to confront him with the note. This utterly stupid tactic causes his own death, which makes the movie less boring.

The movie has a runtime of approximately 1 hours and 20 minutes but the end credits uses 10 minutes. The movie is a very restricted summary of the real story, but stretched to an entire movie. There are very interesting high quality documentaries out there about Jonestown. Go watch those instead.

A nice movie cover, and that was about it...

[paul_haakonsen · 2/10 · 27 February 2021]

This 2020 movie's low IMDb rating should have been taken seriously. Yeah, I know. But still, I opted to sit down to watch "The Jonestown Haunting", as it is a movie that I hadn't already seen. And it being presented with a rather interesting cover, of course I was interested.

I should have avoided this one, mark my words.

This movie was boring, hands down. And truth be told, it was in fact the movie's cover that was the most interesting part about the entire ordeal. And that cover actually didn't really have much to do with the contents of the movie, so talk about false advertisement.

"The Jonestown Haunting" is about a survivor's repressed memories and dark thoughts of having survived the Jonestown massacre. And yeah, it does sound like it could be interesting, except writers Andrew Jones and Sharron Jones managed to turn 1 hour and 25 minutes into absolutely nothing. Trust me, this movie was so pointless and boring that you could watch the first 15 minutes, then leave and come back for the last 15 minutes, and you would still be up to speed with events in the movie.

The storyline in "The Jonestown Haunting" was just horribly boring, mundane and pointless. I was sorely disappointed with what this movie turned out to be.

As for the acting in the movie, well it wasn't award-winning material, nor was it abysmal performances either. I suppose the acting was adequate enough, taking into consideration the limitations imposed with an inferior script and storyline.

I watched the movie because I wanted to be entertained and watch something interesting. Turns out that "The Jonestown Haunting" was neither of those things. So take heed.

My rating of "The Jonestown Haunting" lands on a two out of ten stars.

LOLOLOL

[gaberaine-04569 · 3/10 · 19 June 2020]

The Wikipedia Article for The Jonestown Massacre is actually far creepier than this movie is. Do yourself a favor and read that instead of watching this. I did give it a few points for some of the historical accuracy that they tried to convey, but it's mostly a waste of time.

False Advertising

[workitmakeitdoitmakesus · 1/10 · 15 June 2020]

The title, tagline, and DVD snippet are complete lies. There is nothing supernatural about this movie. For 80 minutes, you are subjected to a boring drama about a woman trying to get closure about her trauma in Jonestown. Her trauma isn't even related to the actual atrocities of Jonestown; she saw some people get shot while journalists were escorting them out of Guyana and ran away. She didn't even witness the mass suicide. At the very end, the movie reveals that Jonestown was a CIA operation known as MK GUYANA and her therapist from earlier in the movie was an agent assigned to her because she survived. He is swiftly killed and the movie ends with more questions and zero answers.

Again, nothing supernatural exists in this film. Complete mislead, do not waste your time or money on this.

Misleading Title

[alteck-40053 · 1/10 · 21 November 2022]

I could see this as a film school final project, because it has everything that a film requires, but none of it works at the right time. The acting was a bit wooden, although the actor who portrayed Rev. Jim Jones was fairly good. There are no supernatural elements present, save for the inward journey that Sarah takes to make peace with herself and sense out of a horrible tragedy. The roadside preacher could be seen as a literary Virgil, guiding the viewer through the mindset that the People's Temple hope to encompass, but ultimately strayed from. The story was original, in a sense, but at the end, they jumped the shark.

Wow

[reindj · 1/10 · 27 April 2020]

This was definitely...a movie. Unfortunately, one you might remember for a while.

This Film is So-So-Very-Very-BAD!

[grahammwiles · 1/10 · 24 April 2020]

Whew! I went into this film with a slight expectation of maybe being entertained or hopefully have a scare or two. Oh boy was I wrong! This film is absolutely terrible... Why? Answer: Very-very bad acting, filming, music, dialogue, story line, music, sound effects, locations and plot. I am actually shaking my head typing this review, wondering what the heck I was thinking watching this dismal excuse of a so called film. Ag no man! This scores a So-So-Very-Very-BAD! -2000 out of 10!

EEEEEK! You have been warned! GAWD!!!

Please Help Us

[nogodnomasters · 1/10 · 25 June 2020]

Sadie Sarah (Tiffany Ceri ) ran away from The People's Temple and survived Jonestown. Having issues she opts to go back for closure. Plot Spoiler: She meets Gaia. (Shirley Cook Brooks). That's it. Boring dialogue. Paranoid propaganda against the establishment. Bad acting. The sound was cheap. It is not a horror or a haunting. More like a poorly done drama. Andrew Jones, please stop making films.

Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.

Not what was expected

[JoelChamp85 · 3/10 · 27 February 2021]

This film isn't very good, and it's not due to lack of trying. I can see everyone gave it a good shot, but it has no voice or reason to exist. Jim Jones actor did pretty good, the lead did alright. I think the script just wasn't ready and veered into way to much dialogue that felt straight up written and not natural, there's only so much the cast and crew could do with this material. They need to change their poster to something that actually reflects the film.

I find it so hard to believe this cost $1,000,000, you could make ten of these films for that price (which they should have done). This is the perfect case of "don't make a film just because you can, make a film because you have a hard-on for it!"

A waste of time

[martinwoudstra · 1/10 · 26 November 2022]

This movie ranks very high in the worst movies I've ever seen. It screams 'low budget' right from the start. Although the acting is passable, the script could have been written by a high school student. Also it's historically incorrect on so many levels.

Right from the start I noticed that the director only used medium and closeup camera angels, which saves on costs for extra's. It became seriously laughable that the alleged Jonestown site was surrounded by oak trees (there aren't any in Guyana) and was obviously shot somewhere in the US. So they didn't even bothered to film at a South American location, let alone to build a copy of the real main gathering hall.

Then the story rushes through the events taking lots of easy shortcuts and twisting the facts:

-There was no mentioning of congressman Ryan being attact earlier by one of Jones's followers.

-The airplane was ready to leave and not on its way because it has to fuel up first.

-The attack took place by a bunch of Jones's hitman who arrived by truck, not by a sniper armed with a (period incorrect) modern assault rifle.

-Congressman Ryan didn't got shot by a last-minute Jones deflector.

And the list goes on and on.

What the haunting aspect was is beyond me. I saw some reappearances of reverend Jones but it never became clear if that was a haunting or just something in the main character's mind. Also the role of the elderly hippie woman remains unclear.

To sum it up, towards the end I became really annoyed about how cheap and how bad this movie was made and shame on Netflix to have such drivel in your catalog.

unusual take on the Jonestown Massacre

[josiecross · 6/10 · 25 April 2020]

For all of its flaws this movie attempts to take the countlessly told story of Jonestown and add a new spin to it. Told mostly in flashback from the point of view of a survivor it comes off more as a crime documentary rather than a horror movie at times. But it goes to unexpected places with the story which is refreshing considering we've seen it told the same way so many times before.

not the best andrew movie

[LetsReviewThat26 · 4/10 · 20 November 2022]

When there are classics on offer like the robert the doll series or even pumpkin jake. I thought this horror movie about jonestown would be pretty decent, but sadly it lacks anything that could make it a good film. To start with it ends abruptly just when it was actually getting interesting and there are no horror elements on offer with this one at all. The movie is all about this girl called sarah that escapes from the cult and goes back ten years later. The guy playing the paster did pretty good and even sarah was nice, who has been in other andrew films. Overall a bit of a underwelming film thats too short. But the cast did their best and they were atleast enjoyable to watch.

is this movie?...Poor story writing, lots of idiot act..

[hbkhhhor · 1/10 · 25 April 2020]

One of those movies you watch until the end because you're convinced it must get better.... But it doesn't.......This was by far one of the worst movies I have ever seen for a while!Do not bother....

No evil supernaturals

[ezraallen-21790 · 1/10 · 11 August 2022]

The Jonestown Haunting is about a survivor's repressed memories and dark thoughts of having survived the Jonestown massacre. And yet, it does sound like it could be interesting, except it not writers Andrew Jones and Sharron Jones managed to turn 1 hour and 25 minutes into absolutely nothing. Trust me, this movie was so pointless and boring that you could watch the first 15 minutes, then leave and come back for the last 15 minutes, and you would still be up to speed with events in the movie. Like yes we know Jonestown became internationally infamous when, on November 18, 1978, a total of 909 people died at the settlement, at the nearby airstrip in Port Kaituma, and at a Temple-run building in Georgetown, Guyana's capital city. The name of the settlement became synonymous with the incidents at those locations but besides that there no ghosts until the end of the movie the ghosts sure be the main bad guys. It sure be called HAUNTING for a reason Like why are all the ghosts good and fine with the main character going back to the place they died So dumb of the ghosts if was too die and become a ghost I would not want people to go back to the place I died like no thanks this is my place of rest so goodbye they need to make a remake of this movie And make it better than this garbage.

A not particularly scary film inspired by genuinely scary real events

[Tweekums · 4/10 · 29 June 2023]

On the Eighteenth of November 1978 over nine hundred died in Jonestown, Guyana. A remote settlement created by cult leader Jim Jones and his followers. Some committed suicide, others were murdered. This film is centred on fictional survivor Sarah Logan. Ten years after the massacre she is still haunted by the events and is seeing a psychiatrist. When she decides to visit the site, hoping to confront her fears, he advises against it but she goes anyway. Intertwined with this we see flashbacks to events before the massacre including Sarah joining the group and later becoming concerned about how it is being run.

If you are looking for a scary film one might think the events at Jonestown would provide good subject matter... unfortunately this never manages to be scary. The flashback scenes showing events leading up to the massacre are interesting although our protagonist isn't there for the infamous mass-poisoning; she gets away during a shooting. Things start well enough but go off the rails later as it gives voice to conspiracy theories about the events. The acting isn't great but is good enough for a low budget film. At no point does it feel like we are in Guyana; the flora and fauna look and sound distinctly British... not surprising given that it was filmed in Wales. Overall I'd not recommend this to those looking for a horror film; it isn't too boring but I'd rather have watched a more factual reconstruction of the events than this fictionalised version.

Suprisingly good for a low budget indie

[dennislarson · 7/10 · 25 April 2020]

I read a lot of books on Jonestown and this is very accurate to the real life story although it does get a bit out there and drifts into conspiracy territory in the final act. The actor who plays Jim Jones does an awesome job, he really captures the voice and chilling vibe of the real life guy.