The Haunting (1963)

Director Robert Wise was held to a million dollar budget by MGM to make this film, so he had to dispense with ideas he had for eerie special effects. Relying on his own creativity, Wise came up with a competent psychological thriller, though I didn't get the sense that this was all that scary for a horror flick. That's perhaps because one of the principal characters, Eleanor Lance (Julie Harris), carries on conversations with herself in a manner that suggests she may be delusional and suffering from some form of mental illness. The idea was further reinforced for me when her wild mood swings, particularly with Theodora (Claire Bloom), ranged from friendly warmth to psychotic hatred. I couldn't reconcile her behavior with someone who might have been a guest at Hill House experiencing unexplained bumps in the night that would have scared the pants off a normal person.When I think of scary movies and when I originally experienced them, I always revert back to the Vincent Price creep-fest, 1959's "House on Haunted Hill". The main reason I think that that one affected me the way it did is because I was only about nine or ten when I first saw it, and one knows how impressionable a kid can be. If I saw this one at the same age, I might have formed a different opinion, especially because the film used a lot of great camera angles and offered up a neat batch of horror type elements, like the pounding on the walls, the harp that plays by itself and the breathing door. But in and of themselves, those instances didn't seem particularly frightening to this viewer.But don't let all that stop you from catching this picture. I thought the film was competently made and the cinematography is quite rewarding. The idea that the house 'wants' Eleanor may have a profoundly different effect on you, whereas her breakdown at the end of the story suggested that her own personal demons were what were responsible for her demise. Now if you want to contemplate something really scary, take note of how much it cost for twenty four hour off-street parking in the city garage where Eleanor kept her car - one would have to pony up a whole two dollars and fifty cents!!!

The focus of this is two women and a house. Hill House has stood for over ninety years and it has always been thought to be haunted. One of the women is tired, after caring for her now dead mother for eleven years. There is conflict with her sister but they make their ways to this ancient property. Everything about the place is unfriendly, including the people who care for it. What then transpires is a kind of threat from somewhere to drive this woman (played by Julie Harris) away. At first she rolls with the punches, but eventually is really spooked. Some of the men are accused of playing cruel tricks, but they claim innocence. Of course, there is a supernatural element and soon they realize that they are up against a spirit. A really scary, threatening movie that will keep you guessing.

Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House is rightly viewed as a classic of supernatural fiction, felt by some to be the best ghost story ever written (it's certainly one of the subtlest). I've read it at least 5 times and it never loses it's power to enthrall.Robert Wise's movie version, The Haunting, is a pretty faithful adaptation, presenting its four complex central characters marvellously well. Julie Harris, Richard Johnson, Claire Bloom and Russ Tamblyn are perfect casting choices, and there is the house itself...I don't think there's ever been a better "house with a personality" in movies than the depiction of Hill House here. Director Wise had form, of course, in the genre; having previously finished off Curse of The Cat People for Val Lewton and The Body Snatcher, both of which are superb films. The "Lewton Approach" is well served here in what Stephen King once described as "The world's only radio horror movie." That famous scene, where Harris and Bloom cling to each other in sublime terror while SOMETHING pounds on the door outside is one of my favourites in all horror movies. Eleanor even laughs at one point and makes a joke, a knowing comment from Wise, perhaps, on the reaction of audiences to horror movies.The basic plot is simply this: four people spend some time in a supposedly haunted house to investigate whether there is such a thing as the supernatural, and, as one of the four begins to submit to the aura of the house, Wise always keeps a balanced view - is it really largely in Eleanor's mind? Did she write the message to herself on the wall? Or is something really there, walking alone? The travesty of a remake that was produced in 1999 is a fine illustration of how low some of Hollywood movie-making has sunk. A total CGI mess, where the original is a masterpiece. Just my opinion - but this is a truly great film. Watch it at night, in the dark...

Perhaps this is a movie that appeals only to certain people. Perhaps it has to be viewed at a particular moment in life. Perhaps it's just too dated for many to get into it. In any case, it's disappointing to see how many simply find it a waste of time.I saw this under special circumstances. I was about 12 years old and my parents were out for the evening when it came on TV. I didn't know anything about it but considered myself quite the connoisseur of horror and sci-fi shown at the small local theater. I figured it would be along the line of Universal monsters and Roger Corman fare, nothing particularly notable.It scared the absolute daylights out of me. Sitting alone the in house at night with the creepy sounds and images emanating from that little B&W screen got to me badly. Even after my parents were home and I went to bed I found myself looking for faces in the plaster walls of my room and imagining every creak as an approaching but invisible malevolent force.I still get it out every couple of years on a dark dreary night, and though the lines of dialog sound more stilted to my now elderly mind I can still remember the effect it had on me so many decades ago.I had an even more intense reaction from Hitchcock's "The Birds" and I've noticed the commentary about that film to be similar to this. Perhaps you just had to be there.