The Haunting [Blu-ray]

I just received the new Blu Ray of The Haunting. I decided I would view it on Halloween as my nod to this great holiday. Now, I can tell you the wait for this Blu Ray edition was well worth the wait. It is pristine black and white and a fine transfer of this film. In my opinion, I feel anyone who loves this film will be more than happy with this high definiition wide screen editon. The clarity and sharpness of the images truly enhance the wonderfully detailed sets for this film. So, if you like I, already owned it on DVD but want it in the best format, this is a definite replacement and worth the cost. Now you may read my original post which was a review of the film itself. This is a review of the movie The Haunting, released in 1963 and directed by Robert Wise. I plan to buy the Blu-Ray when it is released and I will do a follow-up on the quality of the transfer but now to this outstanding and much overlooked movie. Of all the horror films or movies about the supernatural phenomenon, The Haunting may very well be the very best of this genre. I first saw it not in the movie theatre but when it was shown on ABCs Sunday Night Movie.....on a 24 inch black and white television about 1965 or so. It was not in widescreen and was in pan and scan but that did not keep its impact from happening. Even with commercials the story was compelling. There were moments that thrilled me deeply and chilled me to the very marrow of my bones....and I was a college student at the time...either about 19 or 20. With that said....Robert Wise (who had just directed West Side Story and was about to direct The Sound of Music and The Sand Pebbles) created one of the finest and most beautifully filmed horrors I have ever seen or felt. I agree with others who have said it stayed with them for days/nights afterwards....and just thinking about it now still gives me the creeps. Based on The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson....this is a must read book....as well as a must see film. The narration by Julie Harris, the invitation to special people to spend the weekend at the mansion, the cold spot in the house.....the nursery....the sounds of the house......as well as the walls of a house that did not have proper angles....and the black and white photography gave the film a mood and mystery that I have not seen matched in todays films. Only four other films have even come close to registering the same feelings of dread and fear in me....and they were The Innocents (Deborah Kerr), The Others (Nicole Kidman),Ghost Story, and my second most favorite in this genre, The Changling with George C. Scott. The things I like in all of these films is the fact that you are not always shown the face of the horror.....but the horror in the face of the actor/actors in the scene. When I finally did get to see the widescreen version of The Haunting it only confirmed what I had already known and felt with my first very limited viewing on television. This was THE film to measure all horror films by....this was the masterpiece of horror! Julie Harris is nothing short of superb in this film....as well as Claire Bloom, Russ Tamblyn, and the rest of the cast. This film confirms the directoral skills of Robert Wise and shows his versitility as a director. I cannot wait to own The Haunting on Blu Ray, I can only hope they give it the best transfer possible so young audiences today can witness what fine films were made in the 1960s and give those of us who love this movie the chance to see it again the way it was meant to be seen.

Its an old movie, still black and white, but Ive seen a lot of scary movies, and in my opinion, if you like old movies, this one is a keeper! They never show you much but leave the scare to your imagination. I always remembered this movie as creepy. Couldnt wait to add it to my collection.

No movie has ever scared me as much as this one. Some reviewers have said that it wasnt scary for them. I would suggest that they watch this movie late at night in an empty house. For me this is the perfect haunted house movie based on the perfect haunted house book. Most of the praise I would shower on this movie has been stated in other reviews. One point worth mentioning has to do with Stephen King. I believe that he dedicated The Shining, or made some reference or acknowledgement in the beginning of that novel, to Hill House, probably referring to the Shirley Jackson novel this movie is based on, rather than the movie. However I saw King discuss this movie in an interview and he curiously seemed to think that there was no ghost in the house and the apparent evil in the house had a rational explanation. He said that some of the paranormal bumping in the night occurred when Professor Marquays wife got lost in the hall. Im not sure he understood this movie. Furthermore he seemed to deprecate movies where the evil remains hidden in the shadows. However I just saw the movie 1408 about a haunted hotel room, based on a King short story, and you see all kinds of ghosts and blood and violence and the chills are almost cartoonish and fall far short of the chills in this masterpiece. One final note, if you like The Haunting check out the 1980 George C. Scott movie The Changeling, another almost perfect haunted house movie that seems to be making a come back in popular culture.

This is one of the scariest movies I have watched. Take the time and watch this movie. I watch it every year

Its not unusual for Hollywood to take a literary piece and try to adapt it to film. What IS unusual is for it to be done so well. Its been a long time since I read Shirley Jacksons original tale, so I cant really say how faithfull this movie is to it. What I CAN say, though, is that haunted house movies just dont get any better than this. And its all done without any overt violence, without blood and gore, and without lots of special effects. Instead, this flick relies on subtlety and stimulation of the viewers imagination. Make no mistake, though, this movie is plenty scary. Written messages mysteriously appear on walls. A cold spot hovers near the old nursery door. Loud pounding sounds go up and down hallways in the night, focusing on the bedroom door of the main female characters, Nell and Theo, and accompanied by a deliberately rattled doornob. These are only a sampling of what this house has to offer. Mrs. Dudley, the housekeeper, always leaves before sunset. Nobody will come any closer than town in the night, when its dark, as Mrs. Dudley repeatedly informs everyone. This is a great haunted house movie. Its all done in black-and-white, but that lends it a certain stark quality that adds to the overall atmosphere. The acting is first-rate. If you havent seen The Haunting, by all means give it a look. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes a good ghost story.

Still one of the scariest movies I know.

I was horror and suspense regularly and this is my go-to movie. Absolutely frightening with very little special effects. This is the one and only case I know of where the movie is better than the book (no offense to Ms Jackson)

This shows how horror movies can be great without resorting to blood and gore.

Just watched it, again, and totally agree with my young self: This cult classic is a boring piece of tripe. The cinematography is well done, the house is very cool. Too bad the characters are annoying, saying and thinking foolish thoughts that cracked me up. Terrible movie!

After an overdose of Horror films with the likes of Michael, Jason and Freddy going on killing rampages beyond reason, a cerebral, psychological thriller like The Haunting is a welcome change of pace. The Haunting takes us back to the basics of what a scary movie really is. In this day and age, can we be scared by a moody, atmospheric, black and white haunted house story without blood or gore, but where things definitely do go bump in the night? In the hands of master director Robert Wise, yes we can. Scientific Dr. Markway (Richard Johnson) is especially anxious to rent Hill House for a few nights to see if it really is haunted or not. Hill House, he says, was born bad, with a bizarre history of accidental deaths, suicide, and insanity. Joining him in this experiment are Eleanor (Julie Harris) and Theo (Claire Bloom), two ladies with diametrically different backgrounds and personalities whose lives have been touched in different ways by the abnormal or supernatural. Theo is a chic lesbian with the gift of ESP. Eleanor, deeply sensitive, repressed and depressed, is the exact opposite. For balance, there is skeptical Luke (Russ Tamblyn), who stands to inherit Hill House someday, and thinks that supernatural happenings are absolute nonsense. Director Robert Wise effectively makes Hill House itself a character in the story, often photographing it from high, odd, or distorted angles. Hill House, you see, has a history of purposefully misdirecting its inhabitants. Interestingly, Screenwriter Nelson Gidding says, in the audio commentary track, that after he finished his first script draft, he decided nothing supernatural is going on in Hill House. He thought it was all in Eleanors mind, who, he says, is having a nervous breakdown. Gidding went so far as to discuss this idea with author Shirley Jackson. Fortunately, Wise did not exactly film it as Gidding saw it. But Wise was wise enough to leave everything fairly open to individual interpretation. I think several things are going on at Hill House. There are supernatural, evil entities or forces at work, and poor Eleanor is also having a nervous breakdown. The unexpected arrival of Dr. Markways wife further upsets the already shaky balance at Hill House. Hill House likes to have its way, and this House is not happy. Each character experiences something scary, but the House has the most dramatic effect on Eleanor. She is obviously the central protagonist, and the audience is drawn into the story by Julie Harriss fragile yet strongly compelling performance. Eleanor had a dramatic effect on Julie Harris as well. She was going all Method Acting here. Harris admitted to being terribly depressed during filming. The other cast members, especially Claire Bloom, comment that Harris disassociated from them. Once filming was finished, however, Harris arrived at Blooms house with gifts, as an apology. It must have all been for the sake of character and art. Towards the end of the movie, Eleanor says she can feel herself disappearing into Hill House, bit by bit.