Starring Janel Parrish, Domenic Sherwood, and Cassandra Potenza
***SPOILER ALERT***
After Brian (Sherwood) proposes to Jana (Parrish) in an asylum for the criminally insane, the ghost-hunting couple decides to wed in a spooky mansion, the Keystone. However, Angelique (Potenza), the ghost who haunts the mansion, thinks Brian is actually Malcolm, the British Revolutionary War hero who was her betrothed. Immediately, Angelique tries to halt the wedding. Only Jana and Brian can see her, leading them to believe it’s their duty to help her cross over. After a failed attempt by Earl (Dean De Jaeger), a fraudulent spiritualist, to help Angelique, Brian and Jana realize that only reuniting Angelique with Malcolm will enable her to move on. And it’s the only way Angelique will allow Jana and Brian to marry. They embark on a search for Malcolm, but even after they find him, it takes one of his possessions to bring him and his lost love together. And Jana and Brian find that their focus on their quest is tearing them apart.
PROS
The film was directed by Jeff Beesley, credited with two movies that have become my favorites, Made for Each Other (2023) and Just One Kiss (2022). For this reason alone, I was eager to see this movie.
The storyline (somewhat). It’s impossible not to compare this movie to the Hallmark hit 3 Bed, 2 Bath, 1 Ghost (2023), which also featured a ghost who needed the help of the living to move on from an old mansion, and who ultimately reunited with her sweetheart. It’s a fairly standard ghost story narrative. A few aspects of the plot of Haunted Wedding were fun and imaginative. A twist here was that Brian and Malcolm (both played by Sherwood) looked identical, confusing feisty Angelique at first, and it turned out the two men were blood relations. I also found it amusing that Malcolm was stuck haunting a bar. And the joyful double wedding that ended the movie was a whimsical touch, though I could have done without the Captain & Tenille song.
A quiet moment. The film was busy and often noisy, but in a quiet moment, Jana and Angelique realized they had common ground; both had experienced heartbreak, and Jana confessed to Angelique that her previous fiancé had ditched her the day they were to marry. The two women forged a deeper connection here, which was welcome.
CONS
Unfortunately, this movie didn’t come close to the quality of 3 Bed, 2 Bath, 1 Ghost. It lacked both the heart and the humor of the earlier film, and despite some appealing aspects of the plot, it mostly failed in the execution and too often felt hurried and disjointed. It was corny but not funny and would have benefited from more subtle performances.
The acting. None of the acting was brilliant, and mostly the relationships were shallow. Though Brian and Jana were much alike—both weirdly obsessive ghost hunters—as portrayed by Parrish and Sherwood, they lacked a strong romantic connection.
Exaggerated characters abounded in this movie, making me feel it was intended for kids. Given these broad characters and all the hocus-pocus haunted house atmospherics, I would have adored this film when I was twelve. The most over-the-top character was Earl, the spiritualist who couldn’t even see/sense Angelique when she was standing right beside him. Later, in an effort to reunite the ghostly couple, Earl brought a ghost house replica to Malcolm and suggested he make his spirit small enough to enter it. After smoke emanated from the little house, it blew up. What was likely a good scene on paper wasn’t nearly as funny as it should have been, which I put down to the acting. Potenza as Angelique was also extreme. She freaked out at Jana and Brian for their failure to bring Malcolm to her, flung food around during a tasting, and destroyed the wedding cake. It would have helped if Angelique had possessed a little charm.
Though overacting was the norm in Haunted Wedding, there were times when the performances were curiously stiff, such as in the historical flashbacks that showed Angelique and Malcolm getting acquainted. The conversation in which they expressed their admiration and deeper feelings for one another was especially stilted.
The nonsensical. Knowing that Earl was a fraud, Brian nonetheless sought his help, as he thought that he and Jana alone weren’t capable of solving the Angelique problem. Earl failed in his initial task of contacting Angelique’s spirit. Inexplicably, Brian brought him back to work with Malcolm, resulting in another failure. Why would Brian again seek help from someone who’d already proven himself so incompetent?
As well, there was the peculiar scene in which Jana and Brian’s parents arrived at the Keystone before the wedding. For reasons unknown, the couple tried desperately to prevent their parents from entering the mansion and took them on a bumpy hayride to distract them. This behavior just seemed neurotic.
My grade for Haunted Wedding: D
Caroline Kaiser is a professional book editor who specializes in fiction and memoirs, and she’s been guiding writers toward publication since 2007. Caroline is also the author of two ghostly mystery novels, Virginia’s Ghost and The Spirits of South Drive. Before she embarked on an editing and writing career, she spent many years working in a Toronto auction house as an antiques appraiser. Apart from curling up on the couch and drinking tea as she watches Hallmark movies, Caroline enjoys baking and exploring London, Ontario, the picturesque city she now calls home. Her website is www.carolinekaisereditor.com.
