Rating: 
Summary: YAWN!
Review: I am always at a loss to understand why so many horror movie afficianados love this movie? I saw the newer one 1st & listened to numerous reviews stating that the original was so much better. Fortunately, it came on AMC one night, because i would have been very angry had I paid a rental fee for this snooze fest! I didn't find this film the least bit creepy. I actually found it almost silly. I was bored throughout, waiting patiently for SOMETHING to happen, but it never did. The lead characters are more lifeless than the supposed spooks. The atmosphere was hardly eerie & the effects, what few there were, were lame. As I said, I'm mystified why so many so called authorities on horror love this flick, but i'd leave it on the shelf & wait for it to come back on cable before you shell out a few bucks at blockbuster! Rent the new version! At least the special effects will keep you entertained.
Rating: 
Summary: Exceptional Ghost Story
Review: This is the definitive ghost/horror movie and is an example of excellence that all ghost/horror movie makers should strive for. A wonderful close adaption of the Shirley Jackson story, this is no gory blood/slasher hack-em-up film or special effects blood bath. It is simply one of the scariest films I have ever seen. Spooky noises, cold spots in the house, a breathing door that almost frightened me out of my wits! A particular scene where Julie Harris and Claire Bloom are very frightened and holding hands in a dark room while "something or someone" is trying the door, only to find that they were on opposite sides of the room! Julie Harris' comment was, "then who was holding my hand?" I have seen this film dozens of times, and each time it still makes the hair on the back of my neck rise. Not a movie to watch late at night by oneself! This, and "The Uninvited" are two of the best ghost story movies of all time.
Rating: 
Summary: Good horror film...Score: 80 (out of 100)
Review: I am inclined to say that PSYCHO (1960), THE INNOCENTS (1961), AND REPULSION (1965) are some of the best horror films of the sixties. Robert Wise's THE HAUNTING ranks up there too. Its a simple film about a haunted house. What makes this film with no special effects, gore, or blood so scary??? It makes use of a technique similar to Steven Spielberg's JAWS (1975) - no monster is ever seen or revealed until the end of the movie. The only trick here is that the monster of Hill House is NEVER seen. The ultimate underlying message is: things unseen are more scarier than those which are not.This film takes on the use of the psychological. Are the ghosts of Hill House real or apart of peoples' imagination? Professor John Markway (Richard Johnson) seeks to find the answer. He employs "witnesses" to the fact - Eleanor Lance (Julie Harris), Theodora (Claire Bloom), and Luke Sanderson (Russ Tamblyn). Eleanor is a displaced, repulsed neurotic - similar to Catherine Deneuve's character in Polankski's REPULSION (1965). She has decided to leave her sister's home, and spend a weekend in Hill House - just to get away from it all. Theodora is a lesbian/psychic with one goal - to sweep Eleanor off her feet. Sanderson is the true skeptic. He is a playboy who plans to inherit the house for his own greed. The film does have some scary moments. The cinematography is brilliant in black and white - appropriate for this type of movie. Finally, all I know is after I saw this film - I had fallen in love with the beautiful English actress, Claire Bloom. I never knew who she was until I saw this film. She certainly deserved an Oscar nomination for this movie. I will definately pay more attention to her career from now on. Her other movies include LIMELIGHT (1952), THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD (1965), and CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS (1989), just to name a few. Her character doesn't have to look like Catherine Zeta-Jones (with exposed breasts) in order to make herself very sexy. Bloom's provocative mannerism and attitude do the job "purrrrfectly".
There are some problems with the film, too. Harris' character is annoying. She is overacting in some scenes. Her voice-over thoughts about Hill House are similar to PSYCHO (for example, Marion Crane's travel to Bates Motel while she plots to extort money from her boss). Also, there should have been more emphasis on the house at night. The Shirley Jackson novel has Eleanor wandering Hill House at night and she discovers more eerie things. The fact that Luke has a crush on Theodora, who has a crush on Eleanor, who has a crush on Markway, is a MAJOR flaw to this film. Finally, today's audience demands special effects. I don't know if special effects would be needed for this movie, but an occasional fog-like effect at night coming through the window or under the door would have worked to some degree. That's probably why POLTERGEIST (1982) succeeded, where this film fails. All in all, a good horror film. Pros: Claire Bloom, atmosphere, cinematography
Cons: Julie Harris, no special effects, where's the beef? Score: 80 (out of 100)
Rating:
Summary: A Haunting Movie
Review: It's not unusual for Hollywood to take a literary piece and try to adapt it to film. What IS unusual is for it to be done so well. It's been a long time since I read Shirley Jackson's original tale, so I can't really say how faithfull this movie is to it. What I CAN say, though, is that haunted house movies just don't get any better than this. And it's all done without any overt violence, without blood and gore, and without lots of special effects. Instead, this flick relies on subtlety and stimulation of the viewer's imagination. Make no mistake, though, this movie is plenty scary. Written messages mysteriously appear on walls. A cold spot hovers near the old nursery door. Loud pounding sounds go up and down hallways in the night, focusing on the bedroom door of the main female characters, Nell and Theo, and accompanied by a deliberately rattled doornob. These are only a sampling of what this house has to offer. Mrs. Dudley, the housekeeper, always leaves before sunset. Nobody will come any closer than town in the night, when it's dark, as Mrs. Dudley repeatedly informs everyone. This is a great haunted house movie. It's all done in black-and-white, but that lends it a certain stark quality that adds to the overall atmosphere. The acting is first-rate. If you haven't seen "The Haunting", by all means give it a look. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes a good ghost story.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Film Version of Celebrated Novel
Review: While much of Shirley Jackson's novel cannot be captured on film, unlike the later and extremely overblown remake this particular adaptation comes extremely close in its story of researchers who investigate a reputedly haunted house only to find they may be their own worst enemies. Are there really ghosts in Hill House--or are they merely victims of personal weaknesses that drive them into hysteria? Like the novel, the film offers no easy answers, and the result is a real spine-tingler, as notable for its exploration of the darker corridors of the human heart and mind as for its chills. Julie Harris gives a heart-stopping performance as the neurotic Elenor, upon whom most of the house's energies seem focused; of the superior supporting cast the lovely Claire Bloom is also particularly notable as a sexually obscure, high-fashion co-reseacher. The moody black and white cinematography serves the film extremely well. Not for watching alone in the dead of night!
Rating:
Summary: The haunting -- VHS
Review: This is a masterpiece unlike the over teched new version.
(...) Robert Wise(genius) knows how to use imagination of the viewer to extreme.
The setting really is in England and the Music is everything.
No Color Needed with this work of art. Everytime you watch it
again you pick up more storyline that you missed the last time.
Rating:
Summary: VERY SCARY!!!
Review: This movie is a must-buy for fans of a good haunted house / ghost story. I think that it is, perhaps, the BEST haunted house movie that I have ever seen. It's a kick to watch the movie in complete darkness. But don't watch it by yourself, unless your very brave, or unless you like to be scared witless! This version beats the remake HANDS-DOWN!!!
Rating:
Summary: They don't make them like this anymore
Review: Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House proved to be major force in the world of the ghost story and with its adaptation to film we have what may well be the all time best haunted house story. The movie is one of the last in the classic school of fright were the imagination is what gets you. With its gothic scenes and excellent use of shadow, The Haunting is that rare movie that delivers and continues to do so without having to rely on cheap gimmicks or gratuitous gore. A researcher invites a group of people to stay in the Hill House to determine if it is indeed haunted. We have two women, one an unmarried spinster, the other a free spirited lesbian. Both women have had psychic occurrences in the past and the spinster seems to have been taken by the house, her purpose in life is complete as she looks forward to becoming its caretaker. Yet the house does posses her and in a tragic turn of events claims yet another victim. Whether the house is haunted is undeniable, the actual spirits are not seen but make their presence felt in some of the most frightening scenes involving the classic school of "Fear of the Unseen" that filmmakers like Alfred Hitchcock were best noted for. The photography and setting are wonderfully distorted and used to create a sense of fear and sheer terror. It is undeniable that this movie is one of the best made films in the Horror genre and regretfully we may never see another like it in our world of FX and all out gore. I highly recommend this movie to any movie buff to help show what real terror is all about, but make sure you are not alone.
Rating:
Summary: Best horror movie ever made
Review: "The Haunting" is undoubtedly the best horror film ever made. This is better than anything Hitchcock made, better than anything Hammer made, better than anything else in the genre. "Psycho" looks subaverage and tame compared to this utterly terrifying masterpiece. Parts of this movie will have any sentient lifeform wizzing their proverbial pants and shuddering, spellbound but totally frozen in fear. The character of Eleanor is tragic, sad, and totally believable:the actress gives one of the best performances I've ever seen on the stage or in film. Everything was simply done right with this movie. I would go so far as to say that this movie alone, even though it was made in 1964, is a solid justification for the past and continued existence of horror movies--and there have been far more bad and just objectionable/desensitizing horror movies than substantive and intelligent ones. This surpasses the book, and the book was a classic. One of the most effective, noirish, decadent, fascinating, enigmatic movies ever made.
Rating:
Summary: Director as Editor
Review: Robert Wise goes back to his roots as an editor with this film. It appears that his goal to imply as much as possible without showing anything at all. The horror of the film comes from the lack of action on the part of the spooks. The film is loaded with bangs, screams, rattles and groans. Except for a few key moments, nothing physical happens due to spirits. Instead Wise illustrates the NOISE with architectural inserts and closeups, which makes it more unbearable and frightening. Forget anything else Wise has done (The Sound of Music, Star Trek:TMP). He goes back to where he belongs as manipulator or image and creator of impression.
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