The Haunting Video

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starring: Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson directed by: Robert Wise

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Average Rating: Rating: - "And We Who Walk Here, Walk Alone..." Psychic spinster Eleanor Vance (Julie Harris) is invited to spend a weekend in America's most notorious haunted house, Hill House, to share her feelings and observations in a study being conducted there by parapsychologist Dr. Markway (Richard Johnson). Along for the ride are lesbian psychic Theodora (Claire Bloom) and alcoholic Hill House heir Russ Tamblyn, who are later joined by Markway's unwisely headstrong wife (Lois Maxwell). Eleanor's recent history eerily echoes that of the house's last tenant, and over the group's stay, the house seems to progressively more insistently extend an invitation for Eleanor to become one of its more permanent residents... This movie is flawless. Robert Wise's direction is sure and steady, making the most of light and shadow and sound effects, utilizing them to create an unbearably tense atmosphere of terrifying expectancy. He makes the house itself the central star of the story, filming it from cockeyed angles that make it appear to be voyeuristically watching its occupants, throughout. Nelson Gidding's adaptation of Shirley Jackson's famous novel streamlines it to maximum dramatic effect, and the music score is haunting and downright unsettling. The actors are fabulous, and the action and suspense never flag for a second. Simply the best - don't miss it. Rating: - A Classic Haunted House Movie The key strength of Robert Wise's movie is its ability to keep the idea of a possessed, evil house somewhat down to Earth, somewhat plausible, where eerieness is the goal, not getting audiences to jump out of their seats at the sight of Elm Street slashers or bloody heads floating around. I think the scenes at the beginning of the movie depicting the history of the house are the essence of plausible supernatural creepiness, unlike corny "Poltergeist" or hokey "The Haunting of Hell House." And Wise's work is sophisticated, unlike shock-and-shlock films in the "Halloween" or "Friday the 13th" category. The novel by Shirley Jackson, which "The Haunting" is based on, contained key scenes that were effective and contributed to the eerieness of her story (the rickety spiral staircase, for example). But I thought Robert Wise and his screenwriter were very clever in eliminating scenes that were far too literal-minded (e.g., Theo finding red liquid -- blood? -- splattered all over her clothes and bedroom walls) or that took away from the impenetrable, evil-lurking-inside sense of the mansion (for instance, Nell and Theo encountering apparitions of a family on a picnic out in the garden). The screenplay also eliminated distracting, extraneous characters (e.g., the chauffeur of the doctor's wife) and less creepy plot ideas (2 daughters -- vs Hugh Crain's only child Abigal -- who have legal battles over the mansion, which they both move out of during their lifetime---compared with the story of someone spending her entire spinster life cooped up in the mansion and, most strangely, its nursery.) Also, the idea of the nursery room -- kept locked and unseen until the end -- as the evil heart of the house, with the cold spot directly outside the door, contributes to the movie's eerieness. Technically, Wise's film is well executed -- Citizen Kane-ish -- especially for the genre of ghost/haunted house movies. The sets -- particularly if Wise didn't use the interiors of a real mansion -- are quite realistic and creepy. And I thought Robert Wise using the monologue approach to capture the weak, neurotic nature of the Julie Harris character adds to the film's stressful tone. However, there can be moments bordering on melodrama, such as when the professor, at the foot of the staircase, tells Luke not to be so confident in his disbelief of the supernatural or when Luke gives his little closing line at the end of the film. But, overall, if a truly evil, haunted house could be found and verified, I'd imagine a documentary depicting such a place wouldn't be necessarily far more non-fictional-like and believable than the 1963 movie "The Haunting." Rating: - Still creepy after all these years... I first saw "The Haunting" before I was ten years old. It scared me then and, thirty-odd years later, still sends chills down my spine. It is, has been, and always will be, the classic horror film. I am a fan of Shirley Jackson, too, and having read the novel recently for the first time, I was quite pleased with the movie's interpretation. I recently watched the remake and was sorely disappointed - it was very badly made, the dialogue was sophomoric, there wasn't a single element of suspense you couldn't picture ahead of time, and with the exception of using some of the characters' original names from Ms. Jackson's book, it neither resembled the original story line, nor had the impact of either the book or the original movie. I was totally bored and found it generally to be an entire waste of celluloid. I highly recommend the original movie to anyone who likes good, old fashioned, horror movies, without the computer effects, gore or violence rampant in today's films. You are left at the mercy of your own imagination watching this film - remember, it's what you don't see that can hurt you.

The Haunting Video

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