The Haunting [Blu-ray]

If you love horror movies, this is one to buy. It is MUCH MUCH MUCH better than the re-make. Its very scary and dark for its time. Its a true classic.

This is the 1963 film. Its close to the 1959 Shirley Jackson novel, and FAR, FAR better than the 1999 remake (ugh!) Classic horror film, tastefully done, and the suspense builds throughout.

Ive owned every format of this movie. The Blu-Ray version is by far the best version yet. The picture is crystal clear. I dont know how they can get such clear details out of a movie that was made in 1963, but they did. This is a haunted house movie that leaves the ghosts up to your imagination to know there is something there. No monsters, or ghosts jump out at you. Robert Wise did an outstanding job of directing this classic, no nonsense, haunted house movie. Grab some popcorn, turn out the lights, and enjoy a great movie.

The Haunting is much better than the blood fests Hollywood churns out today. Though black and white, with no naked coeds and no gore, I got goosebumps almost as much as the characters did. The story centers around Eleanor, a mousy young lady who spent over a decade caring for her sick mother, while Eleanors sister married and had a family, a car, and a normal life. We first meet Eleanor begging her condescending sister to borrow the car. The viewer instantly feels sympathy for Eleanor, as she longs to escape her home and take a vacation. Unfortunately, the vacation on which she wants to go is a terrible, sick house: Hill House. Mr. Markway is a passionate, eloquent, classy researcher of the paranormal. He has wanted to rent Hill House for a research expedition. His wife does not share his belief of the supernatural, in fact shes dead against him pursuing this field. Obviously, Eleanor falls right away for this kind gentleman, and . . . we see another side to her. But I wont give away too much. Just see it and love it.

All time favorite movie. Really plays a mind game

Hell hath no greater fury than this film slighted; the almost unanimous raves are sufficient to compel viewers with the slightest pretension for intelligence to fawn in servile prostration to its supposed greatness, apparently. Granted, The Haunting might have been scary in its time, but to a jaded modern audience it is nothing more than a test of stoic resistance to irritation--truly a pathetic loss considering what a great film it could have been had the execution been a bit more finessed. The technical aspects surely could be excused, but it is the directorial decision that is on trial here. With a whiny protagonist impossible to commiserate, annoyingly repetitious voice-over, contrived and stilted dialogues (did people really talk like that then?) The Haunting is interesting only for its attempt to occasion a refreshing change in the horror genre. As a piece of cinema it is a relative success; as a timeless movie for entertainment, it is an unnecessary failure.

Perfect!

Typically I find paranormal movies boring, but The Haunting (1963) is one exception. That evil, damned Hill House looks cool as hell, intricately detailed, and massive--a true monstrosity. Too bad The Haunting wasnt in color because theres so much to see in that estate, e.g. decorations and paintings, fantastic designs on walls and furniture, and the purple room mentioned by Dr. John Markway, eloquently played by Richard Johnson. The cast was great overall. Claire Bloom was gorgeous, and I loved the darkness enmeshed in her character, Theo, especially her words. And Julie Harris was feisty and fiery as usual--always enjoy her performances. Harris perfectly played Nell who was as crazy as a loon as Theo said. The tormenting voices in her head echoed as if they resided in a deep, empty cave full of gloom and nightmares. Nutty Nell just took whatever the hell she wanted: the car that fully wasnt hers, at one point she declared Hill House belonged to her, and she nearly took another womans husband, Dr. Markway. This film seemed rather racy for 1963. For example, Theo compared Nell and Dr. Markway to Isolde and Tristan--characters from a medieval tale of adultery. And just prior to that scene, lustful Luke (played by Russ Tamblyn) read about the cursed consequences of lust. Indeed, a few of Lukes lines contained lewd innuendos. Also, did it seem to anyone else that Theo made subtle sexual advances/comments toward Nell on a couple occasions? Pretty good was The Haunting. Its rather convincing in making one want to believe the paranormal is real. Although, I think the supernatural exists, ghost stories are hard to swallow. One of the creepiest experiences Ive had happened one night in a hotel. I was lying in bed in silence, darkness, but couldnt fall asleep. As I laid there, a guitar progression began to play in my mind. It was beautiful like nothing ever heard, and it was as if the music was euphoniously playing backward. The music stopped and I still couldnt sleep, so I decided to watch TV. Upon turning it on, the same song I had just heard in my mind was playing in a movie. I was freaked to say the least, and I turned off the TV shortly after the shock. To this day, I dont know what movie it was, but Bill Murray was in it. The copy of The Haunting that I own was released by Warner Brothers in 2009, has good audio/video quality, subtitles, a couple extras, and three other movies in the DVD set: House of Wax (1953), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941), and--my favorite--Freaks (1932)--all good quality.

This is one of the true classics of not only spook-cinema but cinema in general... only those who demand multiple mutilations murders and will be disappointed . But the original 1963 B&W version of The Haunting, directed by legendary filmmaker Robert Wise (West Side Story, The Sound of Music, The Day the Earth Stood Still and the editor for Orson Welles Citizen Kane) and based on Shirley Jacksons novel The Haunting of Hill House, remains the touchstone psychological ghost flick in all of filmdom. Relying on hovering atmosphere, top-notch performances, fine black-and-white cinematography, eerie score, an effective use of sound, and a strange, almost sacred sense of doom, The Haunting achieves its chills the old fashioned way: it EARNS them... Without gore or overt physicality, the film tells its tale as much thru the shadows in the tormented mind of damaged neurotic Julie Harris as those within the gothic structure she and her three cohorts (Claire Bloom, Russ Tamblyn, Richard Johnson) briefly inhabit... And the movie has the only thing a film can ever have to be really scary: its profound sadness. The hopeless (but probably inevitable) 1999 remake has little in common with Shirley Jacksons book; theres nothing haunting about it. (Spielberg claimed the 63 original was one of his favorite films--- odd then that he would act as a producer [not director, mind you] of this inept and insulting re-do). Also, dont confuse the classic the Haunting (1963) with the the campy House on Haunted Hill(1958), or the kinky Legend of Hell House (1973), or the Haunting of Hell House (1999) as well as the above mentioned 99 Haunting remake.

Love this movie. Just right for a scary movie. Old once are better because is more believable than the gory once they have today.