The Haunting
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Movie Reviews of The Haunting
Movie Review: Five stars for film, two stars for Warner Bros. DVD treatment
Summary: 5 Stars
By far - the best haunted house story (or any film for that matter) ever filmed. I concur with every five star review that I have read on Amazon and do not need to restate the obvious.
But I have a bone to pick with Warner Bros.
The Haunting is considered masterpiece almost unanimously by all the top critic's. Meticulously made and directed by one of the greatest American directors Robert Wise. Yet this DVD version has been given only grade C treatment. The film used for this DVD does not appear to be from a pristine negative bit rather from an OK piece of film stock. It is a bit too grainy and washed out and there are occasional speckles and lines. But my biggest complaint is the lack of dynamics in the sound. The textures of sound, ambient noises, wind, creaks, music, voices, murmurs, "bowling ball" are of the utmost importance in creating the scarey atmosphere. But the sound on this DVD is so flat that it is to the point of sounding canned. I could not begin to get decent sound from this DVD even with a high quality equalizer. The film is much more frightening when the sound is right.
I sincerely hope that some company who cares - maybe Criterion? - will pick up this film and give it the DVD treatment it truly deserves - an ultra clear picture and a clean dynamic surround sound. I for one will gladly re-purchase.
Movie Review: Great Book - Great Haunted House Movie
Summary: 5 Stars
I wanted to watch a move based on The Haunting of Hill House after I read the book by Shirley Jackson and found this classic version. I thought the movie was creepy and very true to the book with just a few changes that I noticed. When Eleanor (Julie Harris) talks to herself, the words are Shirley Jackson's from the book. I thought that this version of the movie was a great rendition of the book and that's what I wanted to find. Sometimes with subtle horror, Hollywood turn it up a notch, but they didn't mess up this story and it's creepy and scary without the blood and guts and Hollywood glorification.
Things that go bump in the night is the main theme in his haunted house movie, that and delicate mental states, and haunted houses. My favorite character was still Mrs. Dudley that issues warning after warning upon meeting the strangers that come to stay in the house, but her words are unheeded in the dark, in the night, no one will come.
All in all, if you want to watch a good movie version of The Haunting of Hill House, this one is great and you'll enjoy it a lot if you've read the book and want to see it transferred on the screen. The acting is great, the story is like the book and it's all very scary and highly entertaining. I'll have to see if I can find any other versions beside the Liam Neeson one and compare them. Enjoy!
Movie Review: I go home before it gets 5 Stars
Based on the excellent novel, "The Haunting Of Hill House", by Shirley Jackson (which in my most humble opinion is even better than both film versions and is also much more detailed), this is the definitive ghost story. It is most definitely one to be viewed with the lights on and even more preferably, with someone else to hold on to!! Although the remake is not at all as bad as many critics have made it out to be and it does manage to come up with a few new interesting ideas, it still pales in comparison to it's masterful predecessor.Who can ever forget Mrs. Dudley and her creepy and sinister little smile as she tells Eleanor that there won't be anyone for her to call on for help "In the night, in the dark.........!!" The original film has more than stood the test of time against all comers. It is supremely scary, even though you never see any ghosts, blood or gore. Even though there is no bad language, (...). The character of Theo is a lesbian, but the subject is handled quite tastefully and is never blatantly discussed or exploited.
Although the original version was filmed in black-and-white and doesn't have modern day, state-of-the-art special effects, it does have the power to chill and to make you wonder if after you turn off the lights and lie in bed, if you are really alone in that dark Review: What you don't see...
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the tricks they used in the original "Alien" was that you barely saw the alien on camera, just a glimpse of a tail or part of the head. You are always anticipating the creature and thus are always a bit on edge. This same idea is employed in "The Haunting" to an even greater degree. You never see the ghosts at all in this movie, so your imagination makes them more terrible than anything special effects could produce. The original "Thirteen Ghosts" is a good example of showing too much in the way of bad special effects--the end result being cheesy not scary. Getting back to "The Haunting", the direction of Robert Wise is very effective in setting the mood, but what really sells it is the performance of Julie Harris. All the actors are fine here, particularly the Claire Bloom's enigmatic take on her role, but Julie Harris as Eleanor is one of the great combinations of actor and role in cinema history. Just as Robert Shaw becomes Quint in "Jaws", Harris inhabits her part seemlessly. Her fear and confusion are so tangible that the viewer cannot help but be chilled. If you watch the haunting waiting for something to jump out and yell "boo", there's very little of that here. The fear is all in Eleanor's mind--whether the ghosts are real or not--they are very real to her and to us as well.
Movie Review: The Haunting will haunt you - forever.
Summary: 5 Stars
Do you dream in color or are your nightmares in black & white? The Haunting is filmed in a stark black & white and this only adds much ambience to the disturbing nightmare quality of this classic ghost story.
Hill House is the creepy mansion in which the action takes place. It's the focus of an experiment by a paranormal researcher who gathers three supernaturally sensitive people - one a mind reader, one with strong overall ESP abilities and Eleanor, a tortured, backwards woman whose talent lies in her attraction to Poltergeists - or mischievous spirits. It's Eleanor whose at the center of the tale and at times, she's more haunted in other ways and for other things than from the house itself.
In 1999, Steven Spielberg produced a splashy remake of sorts filmed in color with cutting edge special FX and while diverting, if overblown, it doesn't begin to scratch the surface of the dread, psychological complexity and sheer eeriness which the original provides. The DVD has excellent supplemental material including a director's commentary with Robert Wise along with much of the cast and the screenwriter.
Experience one of the first, the finest and still one of the most satisfying ghostly thrillers in cinema. Treat yourself to this film.