The Haunting (1963)

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  January 11, 2008

  brooklynspo

  It's Robert Wise so it's not hack but I found this film very uneven. Two powerful actresses completely overshadow dominate over two crap male actors. Unfortunately they men get half the dialogue. There's a lesbian thing, there's and female postponed adolescence hysteria thing... read more, there's guilt over a parent's death, there may be ghosts. Oh and there's a house. Eh, maybe horror's just not my bag.

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  March 7, 2012

  TheDudeLebowski65

  The Haunting is a stellar haunted house flick with a great cast. Director Robert Wise crafts a memorable film that has some genuine scares, something that is missing from many horror films of today. The Haunting is a brilliantly acted film with a great cast and it has such atmosp... read morehere to create memorable terror. The Haunting is one of the greatest haunted house films ever filmed. Director Robert Wise creates a terrific film, and The Haunting is one of the most memorable, most efficient haunted house films in the horror genre. This film relies on atmosphere to create the horror and Robert Wise has a terrific eye of what makes a memorable and effective horror flick. The cast deliver great performances and The Haunting is a perfect ghost story. Director Robert Wise genius direction keeps you imagination guessing and what the horrors are that lurk in the dark. This is superb filmmaking at its terrifying best, and remains the quintessential haunted house film to watch. This is a masterful horror classic that is still scary after all these years. The film relies heavily on the unseen to create the terror, and it proves that at times you don't need blood or gore to create the terror on-screen. Sometimes all you need is the fear of the unknown, what you can't see brings even more genuine terror than most psychotic mad men. The Haunting set the standard for all haunted house films that would follow. Robert Wise has crafted a must see horror flick, a definite classic of the genre. This film will definitely give you a few good scares. If you want a great atmospheric horror film, then The Haunting is a definite must see. Robert Wise definitely knows how to create effective horror with a dark atmosphere that keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. A flawless classic.

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  December 18, 2011

  dunmyer

  In between his masterpieces "West Side Story" (1961) and "The Sound of Music" (1965), director Robert Wise tried his hand at an old-fashioned ghost story, "The Haunting," starring Julie Harris.
  
  It is spooky. But what really sets it apart is the psychological depth of its depic... read moretion of the main character (Harris), a spinster who barely has the courage to leave the house. Because of some childhood experiences with the paranormal, which get documented by the local police, she comes to the attention of a scientist doing research on the supernatural.
  
  He invites her to join a small team of intrepid researchers who move into a supposedly haunted house hoping to conjure up spirits. Boy, do they succeed. Not just are the scary experiences effective, gradually a drama builds around Harris's character, where the house seems to have a special interest in her.
  
  The film is marred by endless speeches from the head scientist, and ultimately it's not much more than a good ghost story. But anyone interested in gothic horror will have a good time with this one. Just don't expect a masterpiece. "Psycho," which was made a few years before, was much better.

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  November 18, 2011

  SirPant

  The Haunting is the ultimate haunted house film and so much more. I would go as far as saying that it's one of the greatest film-noir too. It represents the last of the great b/w thrillers but also the first of a new kind of thriller/horror. Robert Wise was such an awesome direct... read moreor, this is easily amongst his greatest films, of which there are many. This film is highly influential too, the 1999 remake represents the epitome of what is wrong with the industry today. Watch this film. Watch it now!

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  October 28, 2011

  fb1664868775

  Probably the deepest haunted house film I've seen, it contains some great cinematography.

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  June 13, 2011

  mumby1988

  One of the longest arguments in horror fiction and filmmaking is over a very simple question: to show, or not to show? The novelist and director Clive Barker one said of monster movies: "I hate that school of filmmaking where for the first hour you see a foot, for the second hour... read more you see a hand, and then you finally see the monster for five seconds before it gets blown up by an atom bomb."
  
  For those too squeamish to throw in their lot with Barker, or his partners-in-slime David Cronenberg and John Carpenter, The Haunting is Exhibit One in the case of withholding the monster to produce terror. Along with close counterpart The Innocents, it has become the Bible of the modern cinematic ghost story, whose influence can be seen in everything from Alien to The Others. Though not a masterpiece by any standards, it remains essential viewing for any horror fan.
  
  In both its story and its production, The Haunting comes from very deep-rooted stock. The haunted house movie had been around in some form for over 40 years, and in the 1940s the genre produced such classics as The Uninvited and The Canterville Ghost, one of the big influences on Tim Burton's Beetlejuice. Robert Wise, the film's director, came from a background in low-budget horror, having helmed such titles as The Body-Snatcher and The Curse of the Cat-People.
  
  But the first success of The Haunting is its departure from both the increasingly comedic tone of the haunted house movie and the ultra-low budget look pioneered by Wise's benefactor Val Lewton. Whereas the spooks in The Canterville Ghost were included primarily for comedy, the ghostly forces present in The Haunting are inherently malevolent towards the inhabitants of Hill House. The impressive exterior shots (of Ettington Hall in Stratford-upon-Avon) situate the story in the serious end of gothic fiction, being reminiscent of the wide shots in Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca.
  
  The visuals of The Haunting are very restrained, and are well-complimented by the score by classical composer Humphrey Searle. Wise shot the exterior scenes of Hill House on infra-red film to create a grainy, amorphous look for the stones and give the impression of an ancient monster lurking within. His composition is very good, choosing his angles and edits very carefully to wring the most tension you could out of a door slamming or heavy footsteps on a wooden landing.
  
  Like most great ghost stories, the central dilemma of The Haunting surrounds whether what we are seeing is reality or a particular kind of insanity: in other words, are there ghosts, or is it all in the mind of Nell? The lengthy voiceover in the early section of the film makes the character naturally unsettling, not simply because she is sensitive but because the tone of our thoughts gives the impression of her being at least partially mentally unhinged.
  
  Though it seems obvious to point out, The Haunting was a huge influence on The Shining. But beyond Stanley Kubrick's general intention to put his own stamp on the classic ghost story, there are whole scenes in The Shining which either pastiche The Haunting or lift directly from it. Compare the sequence of Jack Nicholson driving his family to the Overlook Hotel with Nell's long drive to Hill House. Both Nell and Jack Torrance have a frenzied quality behind the wheel, as if both know that they are leading themselves, their loved ones and the audience to certain doom - and though Torrance shows it more, both are somehow excited by it.
  
  On a thematic level, The Haunting is about humans' attempts to rationalise the supernatural - to paraphrase Dr. Markway, to give a name to what we don't understand, even if the name is meaningless. The desire to prove the existence of the supernatural through science is found throughout mediaeval and early modern philosophy, with thinkers as varied as Thomas Aquinas and Rene Descartes believing that the scientific method could reveal the essence or nature of God. The Haunting is the latest chapter in this long line of inquiry, and as with Aquinas and Descartes, its findings are decidedly ambiguous and inconclusive.
  
  Subsequent ghost stories like The Orphanage have explored the link between science and the supernatural from a technical point of view - for instance, by showing the movements of a medium on infra-red cameras. But despite the scientific intentions of Dr. Markway, there is precious little cold science in The Haunting. Markway enters the house with purely rational intentions, seeking to objectively study, record and observe rather than pass judgement or live in fear. But as the nights wear on, the house rebels against his attempts to impose order, until he concludes that the only sensible thing to do is to burn Hill House to the ground.
  
  Much of the success of The Haunting lies in its ability to make us see things which aren't necessarily there. There is a comparison with Repulsion in the way that the architecture of Hill House seems to embody some sinister force, ever-present and ever-threatening. Wise is no Roman Polanski, but he does manage a couple of good tricks, making us see faces in the wallpaper, eyes in the window of the tower, and something deeply sinister in the blank expression of the marble statues.
  
  As with The Shining, the terror of The Haunting comes from the fact that so little is explained. There's nothing on the level of the man in the bear suit or Jack Torrance's appearance in the photograph, but we are still left with uncertainty as to whether or not Hill House was haunted, or whether we have just spent two hours in the midst of a deranged mind. Julie Harris gives a really great performance which is convincing and engaging even in the moments where she is bouncing off the walls.
  
  The flaws with The Haunting lie in aspects of it which are too close to the riper end of studio horror. In the midst of several really good scares, there are numerous shots of characters running into mirrors or being scared by their reflections, things which feel silly or cheesy within the context of the story. Some of the special effects are creaky even for the day; we can see the wires pulling down the mirror on the mantelpiece, and when one character falls down the stairs in the prologue, it looks stunted and over-choreographed.
  
  Elsewhere the film resorts in certain small ways to cliché, deriving a couple of jumps or scared from devices which just don't cut the mustard. The introduction of Markway's wife, played by Lois 'Moneypenny' Maxwell, is largely unnecessary - especially when she randomly appears in the attic like the mad first wife of Lord Rochester in Jane Eyre (which in turn inspired Rebecca). The opening prologue, whilst being deliberately hackneyed, almost overcooks things from the off, and it's only through a speedy introduction to Markway's plan that we choose to overlook it.
  
  The Haunting remains a scary and significant horror movie which still holds up to some degree even after nearly 50 years. Its inventive take on the haunted house motif is complemented by Wise's solid direction and a series of good performances (including an unrecognisable Valentine Dyall as Mr. Dudley). It's dated and cheesy in places, and has long been surpassed by The Shining and its successors. But as a yardstick against which ghostly movies should be measured, it still has the power to spook.

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  May 29, 2011

  3niR

  It's an old movie. You (2011) can't really expect much from it but it was indeed creepy in it's own way. Not that much though (I slept peacefully after watching this). What really bothered me was, it looked like something will happen but nothing happens at all. Just more t... read morealking and talking and that irritated me a bit. Kinda like Paranormal Activity but without any action.

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  May 4, 2011

  lewiskendell

  The Haunting is one of the movies that is always mentioned when classic horror gets brought up, but I don't think that it has aged well. It's excessively "talky", to the extent that long periods of time pass with little of interest happening. I didn't think the atmosphere was eve... read morer really established, and l never connected with the characters.
  
  I'm sure The Haunting has probably had an immeasurable influence on many movies that followed it, and it probably impressed a lot of people back in 1963. But in my opinion, the years have not been kind to it.

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  April 5, 2011

  FrizzDrop

  The reason the original film worked so much better than the remake is because the fear was all supposed to be based on what you couldn't see, what your mind could dream up when your eyes are at rest from CGI special effects and gross out blood splatter. Instead of being an overly... read more wrought, plot conundrum like the remake, the simplicity of the original Haunting, is that there is no main ghost, but instead a satanic house designed by a cruel man. There's also no reasoning towards why some residents of the house fall down staircases, others commit suicide, and still others become elderly recluses. As it draws in the nubile and innocent character of Eleanor (Harris) it becomes more than just her becoming more and more afraid of her imminent fate, but her attachment to a home for herself after years of taking care of an ill and abusive mother. The ending is almost happy, yet bittersweet, because though Eleanor is not an altogether likable character (much like Stephen King's Carrie) she is looking for a feeling of belonging that everyone can relate to. Psychological, and gut wrenching to watch, this scared me into insomnia.

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  November 24, 2010

  ajv2688

  This is the original Haunting movie, and it's much better than the remake. It's creepy in it's own way, you'll see what I mean when you see it. It's really cool, and the story is really good.

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• Julie Harris as Eleanor Vance
• Claire Bloom as Theodora
• Richard Johnson as Dr. John Markway
• Russ Tamblyn as Luke Sanderson
• Lois Maxwell as Grace Markway
• Fay Compton as Mrs. Sanderson
• Ronald Adam as Eldridge Harper
• Diane Clare as Carrie Fredericks
• Rosalie Crutchley as Mrs. Dudley

Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

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  1408 (100%)
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  The Shining (67%)
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  Thirteen Ghosts (13 Ghosts) (83%)
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  The Gate (100%)

• • Eleanor Vance: And whatever walks there walks alone.
• • Eleanor Vance: Whose hand was I holding?
• • Dr. John Markway: That's very good, Eleanor. You catch on quickly.
  • Theodora: (gets jealous and stands up) - I'm hungry. Let's go.
• • Luke Sanderson: I haven't seen a damn thing! I just don't like the way it looks.
• • Theodora: I don't think you killed your mother.
• • Dr. John Markway: Ghosts make the papers along with celebrities every day of the week.

• In what movie does Liam Neeson play a character by the name of Dr. David Marrow?  Answer »
• What movie has the characters Theo, Nell, Luke and Dr. Marrow living under the same roof for a scintific experiment that goes terribly wrong?  Answer »
• Robert Wise (who died in 2005) directed the award winning musical "The Sound of Music". He also directed the original of which horror film that has recently been remade?  Answer »
• He was Henri Ducard in "Batman Begins" Godfrey in "Kingdom of Heaven" Dr. David Marrow in "The Haunting"   Answer »

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