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The Haunting [1963]


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

Certain to remain one of the greatest haunted-house movies ever made, Robert Wise's The Haunting (1963) is antithetical to all the gory horror films of subsequent decades, because its considerable frights remain implicitly rooted in the viewer's sensitivity to abject fear. A classic spook-fest based on Shirley Jackson's novel The Haunting of Hill House (which also inspired the 1999 remake directed by Jan de Bont), the film begins with a prologue that concisely establishes the dark history of Hill House, a massive New England mansion (actually filmed in England) that will play host to four daring guests determined to investigate--and hopefully debunk--the legacy of death and ghostly possession that has given the mansion its terrifying reputation.

Consumed by guilt and grief over her mother's recent death and driven to adventure by her belief in the supernatural, Eleanor Vance (Julie Harris) is the most unstable--and therefore the most vulnerable--visitor to Hill House. She's invited there by anthropologist Dr. Markway (Richard Johnson), along with the bohemian lesbian Theodora (Claire Bloom), who has acute extra-sensory abilities, and glib playboy Luke Sanderson (Russ Tamblyn, from Wise's West Side Story), who will gladly inherit Hill House if it proves to be hospitable. Of course, the shadowy mansion is anything but welcoming to its unwanted intruders. Strange noises, from muffled wails to deafening pounding, set the stage for even scarier occurrences, including a door that appears to breathe (with a slowly turning doorknob that's almost unbearably suspenseful), unexplained writing on walls, and a delicate spiral staircase that seems to have a life of its own.

The genius of The Haunting lies in the restraint of Wise and screenwriter Nelson Gidding, who elicit almost all of the film's mounting terror from the psychology of its characters--particularly Eleanor, whose grip on sanity grows increasingly tenuous. The presence of lurking spirits relies heavily on the power of suggestion (likewise the cautious handling of Theodora's attraction to Eleanor) and the film's use of sound is more terrifying than anything Wise could have shown with his camera. Like Jack Clayton's 1961 chiller, The Innocents, The Haunting knows the value of planting the seeds of terror in the mind, as opposed to letting them blossom graphically on the screen. What you don't see is infinitely more frightening than what you do, and with nary a severed head or bloody corpse in sight, The Haunting is guaranteed to chill you to the bone. --Jeff Shannon

Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

Made in 1963 The Haunting is one of the best-ever movie ghost stories and was adapted from Shirley Jackson's novel The Haunting of Hill House. Suave ghost-hunter Richard Johnson takes a couple of psychic women--neurotic spinster Julie Harris and elegant lesbian Claire Bloom--to stay in Hill House, which has unsettling architecture (the spiral staircase is especially unnerving) and a bad reputation. Russ Tamblyn is along as a jive-talking sceptic, but he soon shuts up as the eerie phenomena mount up. The scene with a breathing door is a wonderful terror highlight, and the business about whose hand Harris is holding in the dark (she thinks it's Bloom, but Bloom is on the other side of the room) provides a moment of unmatched creepiness. Perhaps director Robert Wise allows too much psychology into the picture, letting you off the hook with the possibility that the twitchy Harris is behind all the spookery, but he fills the widescreen frame with really scary stuff and the cast are perfect. Lois Maxwell, of Miss Moneypenny fame, makes a marvellously chilling sudden appearance from the dark. Forget the remake, this is the real deal.

On the DVD: The Haunting comes to DVD with a trailer narrated in character by Johnson, a satisfyingly packed file of stills and an interesting commentary featuring input recorded separately from Wise, screenwriter Nelson Gidding and all four principal cast members. --Kim Newman

Editorial
Special Features

Commentary by Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Russ Tamblyn, director Robert Wise, and screenwriter Nelson Gidding
Theatrical trailer(s)
Stills gallery
"Things That Go Bump in the Night" essay
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 (16x9 Letterbox)
Sound Mono
Editorial
Synopsis

Dr Markway (Richard Johnson), a paranormal investigator, invites a pair of psychic researchers to help him examine the restless spirits at Hill House, a sinister family estate haunted by the angry souls from its troubled past. The owner insists her nephew (Russ Tamblyn) join the team of Theodora (Claire Bloom) and Eleanor (Julie Harris) become increasingly obsessed with the history of the huge, ominous house. Based on Shirley Jackson's lyrical novel "The Haunting of Hill House" THE HAUNTING is one of the most frightening psychological horror films ever made, featuring virtually no blood, gore, or monsters for its effective scares. Chilling.

the best
Review date: 2008-04-01 Rating: 10 out of 10

Remember seeing this when I was about nine years old and I could not go up the stairs to my bedroom in the attic for weeks,mum had to take me up.I still watch it at least once a year and it still raises the hair on the back of my neck.Watch it alone in candle light or the dark and enjoy a journey into fear.

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Reviews


My favourite ghost film of all time
Review date: 2007-12-27 Rating: 10 out of 10

The only film ever to make me hide in the toilets when I saw it at the cinema, and as good now as it was then.
Although it is shaky in places - some of the dialogue and of the acting is clunky - the way that the tension builds throughout this film is unique and astonishing. The malevolent spirit is only heard, not seen, and this makes the viewer's imagination work to fill in the gaps.
It scared me witless when I was 16; it is still very very scary 40 years on.
The remake is OK, but the original is just better in nearly every way

Horror benchmark!
Review date: 2007-12-01 Rating: 10 out of 10

I agree with all the reviewers that loved this classic chiller.
Thought provoking, spine tingling, never boring, always engaging. All done with no gore and very few but mind ripping special effects. Great sound effects.
I never get bored with this movie.

Truly terrifying
Review date: 2007-10-29 Rating: 10 out of 10

Despite having almost comletely cured myself of superstition, this film still scares the hell out of me. I don't tend to go for films-of-a-certain-age. This one is a total exception.

It's methods appeal to the most primal part of the mind in creating its terrors. As others have said the 1999 "remake" is an effects led waste of time in comparison. For the best enjoyment of this film watch it on your own late at night.

Good luck!

The Haunting (1963)
Review date: 2007-10-17 Rating: 10 out of 10

This is one of the most scariest, thought-provoking and original chillers to ever set foot in the film industry. Don't bother with the 1999 rehash, stick with this and you'll be in for a spine-tingling treat...

Starring Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson, Russ Tamblyn and Fay Compton and directed by a well-accomplished director Robert Wise (The Sound of Music, The West Side Story, The Day the Earth Stood Still), The Haunting tells the story of Dr John Markway (Johnson), a psychic researcher who brings along two mediums (Harris & Bloom) to help him investigate a extraordinary mansion that's thought to be haunted...

In this classic supernatural horror, you won't find any gore or blood as it plays entirely on terror that you can't actually see which is probably one of the most original of ideas seen in films like this. Robert Wise directs with such passion, such commitment that he can do no wrong, from pulsating doors to the classic spiral staircase scene, and his cast are picture-perfect as they try to uncover and eventually escape the terror of Hill House (I think that's what it's called) while the ending, to me, is truly a shocker!

You don't have to be a film critic to know that this is simply one of the greatest films ever made (among a whole lot of others) so add this to your collection!

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Julie Harris
Claire Bloom
Richard Johnson
Russ Tamblyn
Fay Compton

Creators:
Julie Harris (Primary Contributor)
Claire Bloom (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
EAN: 7321900651943
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Black & White, PAL,
Release date: 2003-09-29
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 107 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1963-09-18
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: French (Subtitled)
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: Dutch (Subtitled)
Language: Italian (Subtitled)
Language: Arabic (Subtitled)

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