The Haunting [Blu-ray]

One of my favorite ghost stories.

One sick house. Full of odd angles, dead end passageways, secret doors, and murky mirrors. The house takes over the minds of the people within it, touching them with insanity and finally death. A classic horror film directed by Robert Wise, starring Julie Harris as Eleanor, a repressed spinster fresh from 11 years of caring for her invalid mother, finally free, battling feelings of inferiority, angst, and a desire to belong and to be accepted. Claire Bloom is Theodora, a worldly wise woman of witty rejoinders and well-fitting fashions who develops a rather too friendly relationship with Eleanor. Dr. Markway, the psychic researcher who brought these ladies together for his experiment, is played by Richard Johnson with a balanced mix of suave pragmatism, thorough knowledge of his topic, and male magnetism. Enter Russ Tamblyn as Luke, a haughty college kid with arrested development and a disbelief of the supernatural, who stands to inherit Hill House and sizes it up for lucrative gains only. The house casts the four into psychological turmoil. All react differently to the nightly ghostly happenings. The nightly ghostly happenings occur differently for each of them. Can they trust their eyes and ears? Is the house alive with a force that ends only when death offers release ... or, perhaps a crossing to the other side, then directly back to Hill House in the end? These phantom occurrences are all the more terrifying as they remain noises or shadowy movements in the background. Your imagination fills in the rest, so whats not seen becomes far more horrific than any full blown special effect. Based on the novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, this film is ideal for anyone who wishes to lose themselves in some top notch paranormal frisson.

I have loved this movie since it first came out a long time ago, but I couldnt find it anywhere so I bought it. Much better than the newer versions. All in black and white with a lot of artistic camera angles, very scary.

When I was little this scared the bee gees out of me. I had to own it.

Having been informed that `The Haunting of 1963 vintage is the scariest film ever made, I handed over a princely sum of money. I wasnt overly impressed. Here are my reasons. I have no problems whatsoever with the four main actors who give of their best. That being said, Russ Tamblyns character of Luke does little to advance the narrative (even his wisecracks are perfunctory). He could have been removed from the screenplay with little detriment. While I can appreciate logically why Robert Wise allocates so much time to the background of Julie Harris character of Eleanor, its still a drag on proceedings. Markaway evidently chose his squad on the basis of their psychic powers. If so, theyre rarely evidenced in the narrative. So Theo feels cold on occasions: big deal. There is little sense that a crack-team has been transported to the house with the intention of base-lining its spectral activity. For much of the daytime, they sit around and drink tea. The arrival of Dr Markways wife is both corny and superfluous. In the very least, she should have cracked the poos that the good professor has shacked up with two buxom wenches. When shes finally located after her disappearance, it looks like a make-up artist has applied some powder to her cheeks and nothing more: such is the depth of her trauma. Eliminate her. Spend more time exploring the house. So Hugh Crain commissioned a statue of himself and his family that resembles the Farnese Bull in Naples? Please. A portrait or two on the wall would have been more idiomatic - without the rotating eyes !!!!! It was a nice touch to have one of the ghosts hold Eleanors hand in the dark - but it was telegraphed thrice beforehand and little was made of it afterwards. Indubitably, the Hauntings claim to fame resides in the scene where the quartet are terrorised by the presence on the other side of the door - and unlike so many Hollywood horrors, its genuinely dark at the time. It will freeze your blood. Strange to say, this is the second occurrence of such an encounter: Eleanor and Theo have already been similarly terrorised in the latters bedroom. Are the spooks of Hill House that constrained in their armoury? The prior occurrence is a spoiler. So who is the ghost? Hugh Crains statue is mocked by Theo and Eleanor (sadly, not on aesthetic grounds). Is he the lead-footed leviathan, bent on retribution, who wanders around at night? We are never told. Subtlety is one thing - nothingness is another. So Hill House was born evil. That implies it is a living entity. All well and good, but mere lip-service is paid to the concept. For instance, Eleanor repeatedly stares at the tower. There should have been a response in kind. Moreover, its interior is too well kept for such a vast edifice with a solitary maid on the payroll. More of the fixtures should have been veiled by sheets or been decrepit. The staircase in the study was never going to topple over. The entire scene is laboured. Eleanors death ride brings to mind the Snails Grand Prix. Terrifying and convincing it aint. Dont purchase this movie. Sure, its more intense than the 1999 remake - that aint hard given how woeful the latter is. My twelve year old son sat through it without blinking an eye or high-tailing it to the fridge (on the pretence of hunger). YouTube contains the great scene in its entirety. Ignore the hype: make do with that.

Best horror movie ever!!!

good purchase

This movie is the ultimate in ghost movies! There is no gore or special effects. The Haunting works on suspense alone. The scene where Elenore and Theo are alone in their room and the pounding on the door starts will scare the heck out of you. Julie Harris brings Elenore to life as a haunted, troubled woman who is still guilt ridden for the loss of her mother and has had paranormal experiences in her past which she wishes to forget. A must have movie!

Robert Wises overly praised (and badly written) adaptation of the much better Shirley Jackson novel The Haunting of Hill House piles on the atmospherics but goes the safe and well-trodden Hollywood path by needlessly giving Eleanors character a truly embarrassing love interest. As this silly angle is not evident in Ms Jacksons carefully structured psychological exploration of Eleanors mental disintegration, the film substitutes subtlty with an hysterical performance from Julie Harris, who is unconvincing in the extreme. Add a dash of the sensational (a lesbian) but then shrink back from its deeper implications, tilt the camera now and then and turn the soundtrack up, contrive the inexplicable and cap the tale with a rushed finale and a classic is born! One should take the era of production into consideration, but subtle The Haunting isnt, and this to its own detriment. On the plus side though are a couple of truly chilling set-pieces (thanks to Shirley) which seem to have helped The Haunting earn its glorious reputation. Compared to Jack Claytons incredibly perverse The Innocents, Robert Wises ghost story pales significantly. All copies of the 1999 remake should be burned.

I think what makes this so much better than the remakes is they stick close to the book. The remakes may use great actors but keep thinking they thinking they can improve the story and never hit the mark. It still gives me tingles when I watch it