The Haunting

So many movies that try to be scary rely too much on special effects and/or gore. Cringy and gross are not the same thing as scary. This movie is scary. The acting is great, the sets are very creepy, the story is pretty run of the mill but still quite good, and most of all the scares come from unrevealed sources of anxiety, terror, and dread.This one ranks up there with The Changeling with George C. Scott.

Who needs crazy special effects? When I was a kid this movie scared the hell out of me. Brilliant acting, compelling story, and masterful cinematography make this film a great experience. Like Hill House, the shots and angles add up to one frightening distortion. Nell pulls you into her world, and through her, you are pulled into the beating heart of Hill House.

For decades, even with however-many ghost" movies have been made in the interim, this film has stood the test of time, as surely one of the scariest films I have ever seen! Certainly, in youthful years, the stuff of haunting nightmares. ~ Here, NOTHING is seen, as would be the case today, with most unimaginative and uncreative directors and writers in effete Hollywood, employing basically the same-tired old familiar techniques and image-scenes to induce sudden-fright. What you could call the sudden, unexpected (though all too-expected) "Boo-effect". — In this movie, the tension increases, and FEAR builds, in what is NOT-SEEN. "The Haunting" entity or force, is just heard and felt. Vicariously through the character(s), you experience the terror of the unknown and unseen. ~ Truly brilliant movie, whatever the written story was like. And personally, I can attest, very effective in affect! ~ Yet also with a very sad note that runs through the film... — Five stars in 1963. FIVE-stars still, in 2023! The film is simply, well, — terrifyingly "Haunting"!

Few movies adapted from novels are as good as the original book. Even fewer are *better* than the original book. I feel that THE HAUNTING, adapted in 1963 by master director Robert Wise (also known for  THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL  in 1951,  THE SOUND OF MUSIC  in 1965, and  WEST SIDE STORY  in 1961), is one of those rare movies in the latter category.That's not to say that Shirley Jackson's original novel,  THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE , is anything but groundbreaking. In fact her novel in 1959 launched the haunted house sub-genre as we know it today. Are you familiar with the theme in which a group of people spend the night in a haunted building in order to experience the paranormal? Shirley Jackson came up with that, and it's been re-used in many ways.But the novel is primarily a study on the character of Eleanor, and spends a great deal of time exploring her brooding and depressed thoughts. The haunted house is not the focal point of the novel, but the stage on which her psychosis would play itself out. When Eleanor heard strange sounds, Jackson felt compelled to explore her character's reactions rather than frighten the reader with them.The movie, however, bled the story for its horror potential. It did not abandon Eleanor's thoughts, we hear them in her narration throughout. But Robert Wise took advantage of the implicit horror that is brought about when you hear an unexplainable sound in a house that you "know" is empty. He magnified the tension exponentially, using sound and camera angles to frighten you.THE HAUNTING is one of the finest examples of minimalist horror.Minimalist horror is storytelling that creates fear with minimal direction. You will not see a single ghost in the entire movie. You will only imagine ghosts because you can hear them. Hauntings are also evidenced by doors. Doors play an important role in the movie. They open and close by themselves, their knobs jiggle, and in one powerful scene a shut door swells in and out as if something gigantic must be pressing against the other side. One suspects that the use of doors in THE HAUNTING symbolizes "the other side" of reality. Metaphor or not, a menacing and unexplainable sound on the other side of a closed, unlocked door is a powerful source of anxiety. But we never get to see what's behind it. That's what makes it minimalist.You will rarely hear music when there are hauntings about, because this would work against its goal. (Compare this movie with the embarrassing 1999 re-adaptation directed by Jan de Bont and you'll see what I mean. In the awful 1999 treatment, the music and sound effects just wouldn't stop, and the audience couldn't sort out what the characters were really hearing.)A modern horror movie overuses sound effects and music because the director thinks it will bring more anxiety. Most of the time it's actually distracting. The directors don't seem to trust the imagination of the audience. One trick of the trade is to strike a loud sound when something dashes by the camera. John Carpenter probably started that trend with  HALLOWEEN)  (1978), and he's one of the few directors who can work it really effectively. Fear brought about by a sudden, loud sound has been used countless times since  THE EXORCIST  (1973), but few directors are daring enough to repeat the subtle, minimalist formula of THE HAUNTING.However, there are two more recent and effective examples of minimalist ghost stories, which I also recommend.  THE SIXTH SENSE  (1999) directed by M. Night Shyamalan (himself well known as a minimalist director), and  THE OTHERS  (2001) directed by Alejandro Amenábar.Eleanor was played by Julie Harris, with whom I had the pleasure of working on  THE FIRST OF MAY , and she told me that shooting THE HAUNTING was not a happy experience for her. In fact she felt as alone and depressed as her character, and did not consort with the other actors much. She was able to bring this to her role, and helped to create one of the greatest horror movies of all time.

It was interesting to bring back memories of when I saw it on its first release. The passage of time has lessened its impact a bit but the direction leaves it still very near the top of the pile.

Relies on suspense rather than merely horror

The Haunting is an absolute classic!! Modern Horror film makers watch and learn. This is how you make the perfect horror film... It's of the old school setup proving that what you don't see is far scarier than what you do see, relying on suspense and atmosphere over blood and guts. The cast is perfect as well from our 2 stunning leading ladies Claire Bloom and Julie Harris to their 2 male counterparts Richard Johnson and Russ Tamblyn. As a fellow reviewer has already mentioned not only do we have the supernatural events occurring throughout the film but also the personal disintegration of Eleanor, who in her fragile state of mind is pure fodder to the spirits haunting Hill House. Truly tragic to witness but acted superbly by the awesome Ms Harris. The whole atmosphere of the film grips you and it makes me wonder whether a certain Mr Sam Raimi wasn't slightly inspired by it when he made The Evil Dead, especially with regards to the ominous sound effects used quite brilliantly in this gem. This film is pure genius. I upgraded to this Bluray from my DVD copy and I was so engrossed in the movie that I failed to notice if there was any real improvement in quality, To be frank I don't really care. The overall quality of this film says it all.... As I've already suggested.. Watch and learn..... They just don't make horror films like this anymore. Now to get The Legend Of Hell House House on bluray. Another classic in the same vein as The Haunting..............

Almost five stars. A film that seems like it's been shot yesterday, for the tension, the editing, the effects that make it one of the best horror ever made. Probably it's not as amazingly modern and purely scary like The Innocents (made more or less around the same time) but Robert Wise is an excellent director (West Side Story, and a wonderful editor (he worked for Welles, editing Citizen Kane) and although he never became a true author, he can master cinema like few others.He can make the house breathe and live like a real creature (only few others succeded in that, like The Fall of Usher House). Blu ray is glorious

This is one of the best horror films of all time & it's British.I used to have this film on vhs many moons ago.I still have nightmares after watching this movie.You don't need gory murder scenes to be scared stiff & this fine movie proves that.It's much better than the rubbish 1999 remake.I'm looking forward to bring scared once again so I highly recommend this dvd☺ .