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The Haunting of Pennhurst

Play trailer The Haunting of Pennhurst 2026 1h 21m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 7 Reviews Popcornmeter 0 Ratings
For over seventy years, Pennhurst State School & Hospital was called a place of care. What happened inside killed over half its population. It closed in 1987, leaving behind unmarked graves and an unresolved history. Today, on those same grounds, disabled performers -- many living with similar experiences that once sent people to Pennhurst -- put on their makeup, pull on their costumes, and prepare to scare people for a living. Through grit, compassion, and buckets of blood, the eclectic performers of the Pennhurst Asylum haunted attraction are wrestling with a space that is at once a lucrative business and a gravesite. Blending haunting archival footage, first-hand accounts, and an immersive verité approach, directing trio Nathan R. Stenberg, Mike Attie, and Katarina Poljak have crafted something far more powerful than either a horror film or a traditional documentary. THE HAUNTING OF PENNHURST is a horror story in its own right -- one about care gone catastrophically wrong -- that carries the visceral, cathartic charge of the genre.

Critics Reviews

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Christopher Llewellyn Reed Hammer to Nail Jun 9
You’ll have a blast while also discovering the truth about something that will hopefully never happen again. Go to Full Review Sara Clements Next Best Picture Jun 9
8/10
What lingers most, and what elevates "The Haunting of Pennhurst" into one of the best horror documentaries in recent memory, is its insistence that this history is not comfortable in the past. Go to Full Review Carla Hay Culture Mix Jun 9
The title of this impactful documentary has a double meaning. It's not just about a haunted house attraction in Spring City, Pennsylvania. It’s about being haunted by inhuman abuses in social care services. Go to Full Review Norman Gidney HorrorBuzz Jun 7
7/10
A documentary that confronts the darkness in order to find the light in humanity. Go to Full Review Mike McGranaghan Aisle Seat Jun 6
A provocative, essential documentary. Go to Full Review Kat Hughes THN Jun 6
3/5
A loosely formed documentary with a deeply impassioned and emotive core, The Haunting of Pennhurst has a very timely story to tell, and we should all be sure to pay attention. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Cast & Crew

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Nathan R. Stenberg

Director

Mike Attie

Director

Katarina Poljak

Director

Nathan R. Stenberg

Screenwriter

Mike Attie

Screenwriter

Katarina Poljak

Screenwriter
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The Haunting of Pennhurst

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Movie Info

Synopsis For over seventy years, Pennhurst State School & Hospital was called a place of care. What happened inside killed over half its population. It closed in 1987, leaving behind unmarked graves and an unresolved history. Today, on those same grounds, disabled performers -- many living with similar experiences that once sent people to Pennhurst -- put on their makeup, pull on their costumes, and prepare to scare people for a living. Through grit, compassion, and buckets of blood, the eclectic performers of the Pennhurst Asylum haunted attraction are wrestling with a space that is at once a lucrative business and a gravesite. Blending haunting archival footage, first-hand accounts, and an immersive verité approach, directing trio Nathan R. Stenberg, Mike Attie, and Katarina Poljak have crafted something far more powerful than either a horror film or a traditional documentary. THE HAUNTING OF PENNHURST is a horror story in its own right -- one about care gone catastrophically wrong -- that carries the visceral, cathartic charge of the genre.
Director
Nathan R. Stenberg, Mike Attie, Katarina Poljak
Producer
Nathan R. Stenberg, Mike Attie, Katarina Poljak, Daniel J. Chalfen
Screenwriter
Nathan R. Stenberg, Mike Attie, Katarina Poljak
Production Co
School Project Films, Naked Edge Films
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Runtime
1h 21m