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Summary: THE ORIGINAL AND BEST ADAPTATION OF SHIRLEY JACKSON'S NOVEL
Review: This original movie version of Shirley Jackson's highly esteemed novel "The Haunting of Hill House" is definitely the finer;it faithfully follows the novel and captures it's intended creepiness. Handsome Richard Johnson plays Doctor Markway (Montague in the book) who invites three people to work as his assistants while doing psychic research in an old New England house reputed to be haunted. Eleanor is lonely,timid and impressionable;she spent eleven years caring for her invalid mother and at 32,has never had a life of her own. Theodora is beautiful, bright and vivacious;conscience to her is an attribute which properly belongs to girl scouts-she's Eleanor's free-spirited opposite. The scene where the two women, trembling from the cold, clinging to each other in bed as SOMETHING is knocking at the bedroom door is genuinely chilling. When asked by Luke (Russ Tamblyn) and Dr.Markway what happened the two women look at each other in disbelief and Eleanor says "Nothing in particular. Someone just knocked on the door with a canonball, then laughed their fool head off when we would'nt let them in,but nothing out of the ordinary!". As Eleanor drifts slowly into dementia, it is obvious that the house becomes her lover. If "The Haunting" is viewed on television, it's effect is considerably enhanced if seen alone.
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Summary: The Haunting - Born and Bred
Review: I have very vivid memories of the first time I watched The Haunting. I must have been about 8 or 9 years old, and had an understanding brother as a babysitter that night. The film itself, as you can imagine for a boy of that age, terrified me and I had problems sleeping that night. It stayed in my memory for years after, until I next saw it, this time as an adult. It is, in my opinion, a truly great film. It stands the test of time and remains one of the best "suspense" horror films. The special effects, in today's terms, are at best below average, and yet the impact it makes upon the viewers imagination is tremendous. The characters are all played to perfection, and it is unfortunate that no member of the cast went on to reach the status they deserved. In the UK, Russ Tamblyn is probably the most well-known. My disappointment came when I managed to locate a copy of the original novel by Shirley Jackson. I had been brought up on a film which had made such a large impression on me at a tender age, and through repeated viewings only enforced the status of it amongst the genre. However, the novel is an excellent piece of work. It is true to say that the written word stimulates the imagination more than celluloid as you envisage the characters in their entirety, and having read the book 2 or 3 times I now wonder if the film should have stayed more closely to the book. Dr Markway is "dashing", but Dr Montague would have given a different emphasis to the whole film, as would the "love interest" with Luke and Theo. Regardless, a classic film...I only hope the remake can lace it's boots....
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Summary: Still creepy after all these years...
Review: I first saw "The Haunting" before I was ten years old. It scared me then and, thirty-odd years later, still sends chills down my spine. It is, has been, and always will be, the classic horror film. I am a fan of Shirley Jackson, too, and having read the novel recently for the first time, I was quite pleased with the movie's interpretation. I recently watched the remake and was sorely disappointed - it was very badly made, the dialogue was sophomoric, there wasn't a single element of suspense you couldn't picture ahead of time, and with the exception of using some of the characters' original names from Ms. Jackson's book, it neither resembled the original story line, nor had the impact of either the book or the original movie. I was totally bored and found it generally to be an entire waste of celluloid. I highly recommend the original movie to anyone who likes good, old fashioned, horror movies, without the computer effects, gore or violence rampant in today's films. You are left at the mercy of your own imagination watching this film - remember, it's what you don't see that can hurt you.
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Summary: Cinematic Masterpiece!
Review: The Haunting is the prototype upon which the haunted house genre is based. Poltergeist, Amityville,.. all followed in the footsteps of this classic film. In the early days of film-making, directors borrowed on the theatre for their techniques, not other films of similar genre. Because of the limits of the stage, fancy special effects and horrifying images were not possible. Instead, the audience's immagination was engaged in the creation of the story's atmosphere. That, and clever light and sound design. Never underestimate the power of suggestion! Too bad modern film-makers no longer have this advantage with today's savvy and cynical audiences. Julie Harris is one of this century's great actresses. She has stood the test of time, and so has The Haunting. You will not regret your visit to HillHouse, though you will find that those who walk there, walk alone...
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Summary: HILL HOUSE HAUNTINGS!
Review: Often compared with "The Turn of the Screw" by Henry James,Shirley Jackson's THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE is a book which somehow lingers in the memory long after the reader has finished the book. Freudian overtones are there, but only to a certain extent: there is more to this story than meets the eye for it is loaded with symbolism and hints of horror throughout. Julie Harris is absolutely brilliant as Eleanor; a great example of an actress who's perfectly suited for the role assigned her - she actually becomes Jackson's Eleanor (Jackson herself was quite pleased with the film which was made two years prior to her death in 1965). I don't think Claire Bloom was bad as Theodora, but I felt Theo would have been more of a fun person (not too unlike Rhoda on Mary Tyler Moore) and I think her interpretation was a mite icey. Doctor Montague was Hollywoodized in the form of Richard Johnson; a likeable man to be sure, but he wasn't in keeping with Jackson's bearded, rather cynical character. Luke was actually pretty true to the book in the form of Russ Tamblyn (he's the egotistical punk who's the heir to Hill House). The great stage actress Fay Compton has an effective cameo as Mrs.Gloria Sanderson. Mrs. Dudley,the housekeeper is played with restraint by Rosalie Crutchley (someone else could have made her more creepy somehow). This must be a difficult book to film properly as this version only does a 3/4 job; there are many worthwhile elements in the book which never make the screen. The house itself should be seen nestled among great masses of hills ("It's why they call it Hill House", Eleanor said inadequately). If this is ever re-made again in colour, please show us the coloured bedrooms: Doctor Montague: pink, Luke: yellow, Theo: green and our heroine's in blue. Scenes from the book like Eleanor hearing voices in the clearing, the phantom picnic party and the trip Theo and she make to the brook are uniquely Jackson and should be included. When Eleanor opens the little trap door (once she gets to the top of the spiral iron staircase), she is shocked to see Mrs. Montague (who got lost??)- HOKEY! (in the novel, Mrs. Montague was a matronly woman and not this bloom of youth!). THE HAUNTING is definitely a good thriller - but something always seems missing after I see it - they've yet to make this book into a totally satisfying film (however, this version far surpasses the ridiculously overblown and enept re-make!).
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Summary: The old Haunting movie 1963
Review: I just wanted to say that I think the original Haunting was excellent. The new one is almost all the same which is unusual in remakes. I would like to get a copy of the old one as well as the new one.
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Summary: A good chiller which could be more haunting!
Review: While I can only be overjoyed that there still seems to exist an audience for cleverly implied and suggested screen-terror, as these 100+ reviews affirm; and loath, as I do, the nerve-assaulting pyrotechnics of contemporary fright-pics;--while this, as I say, serves as a tribute to the idea of "The Haunting," it is with some hesitation that I confess that this movie not only failed to ultimately cohere in my mind as the really significant work that is perpetuated here, it also did not frighten me very much. I think working against the possibilities of higher screen terror were failures to make the very most of cinematic resource, setting, and characters. I was let down by former-editor Robert Wise's failure to take full advantage of cinematic storytelling in adapting Shirley Jackson's book for the screen. One reviewer noted that the film followed the book almost verbatim--a crippling decision. "The Haunting's" main narrative device is dialogue, not editing, so that it seems much more like a novel on film, rather than a cinematic work--especially disappointing considering the tremendous potentials of horror films. The psychological terror, in particular, is too literary, as the endless Harris voice-overs create a tedious tapestry of extracts from the novel's text. Such an approach works much better on the printed page. Except for the final orgies of terror--in which the surreal frenzy of the moment goes off the rails--scenes are most often filmed too literally (I suspect that, here again, the widescreen is a hindrance). Rather, stylish and elegant expressionism is needed to heighten the terror of every angle, texture, and shadow; and provide the brooding atmosphere I missed here. (1944's "Gaslight," for example, is a masterpiece of this kind.) There is also not enough plot to sustain its great length. The violent poltergeist activity begins too early on. The two women become believers in the ghosts too quickly. The impression of Hill House's evil, covetous enclaves is undercut by a too-strong sense of community among its visitors. Too often the characters share the comfort of each other's presence during the chilling encounters (terror wanes in the company of others). Perhaps a little more than just one source of jealousy and petty behavior needed to be cast into that happy lot. Russ Tamblyn's character is nauseatingly irritating. Above all, I didn't feel that the Hill House itself was vividly enough established as a CHARACTER. Maybe the confines of the mansion were just too vast to provide the audience with much-needed familiarity of every spook-infested room and corridor with a haunted past, or perhaps the human characters were just allowed to do too much of the talking. All told, "The Haunting" still has its moments. The one scene that aroused true terror for me was the scene in which the sound of unearthly voices are heard, but not discerned, by the quivering Eleanor through the grotesque ornamental carvings on the wall (the faint, possibly imagined sounds of voices in a house empty or full of supposedly asleep people being a childhood--and grown-up!-middle-of-the-night trauma of mine). Most performers satisfy; Julie Harris particularly pulling her weight as the troubled Eleanor. The eerily luminous black-and-white cinematography of David Boulton is a treat to look at throughout. And above all, the spine-tingling use of sound, filling the ominous recesses of Hill House with the echoes of the long-ago dead. Turn off the lights, and watch alone. Maybe I should have.
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Summary: A griping tale with some wonderful one-liners
Review: It was good. Some very wet yourself moments. The use of cinematography was imense. I loved it all.
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Summary: A classic worth owning
Review: Ever since I saw this movie when I was little, it has remained one of my top favorites of all time. For anyone who is bored and tired by all special-effects and no real thrills, this is a MUST! It is that which you don't know that scares you rings quite true in this movie. The superb acting of legendary Julie Harris and supporting cast carries the entire movie. You FEEL their terror... For a chiller filmed in 1963, it certainly does go above and beyond.
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Summary: THE scariest classic ever!
Review: The first time I saw this movie I was about 8 years old. I had nightmares about it for at least ten years! I'll never forget the scene where the doctor's wife jumps out at Eleanor from the attic! It was the most terrifying thing I had ever seen! I love that there are still old fashioned ghost stories in creepy old houses that are G-rated so that I can share them in a dark room on a Friday night with a bowl of popcorn with my children. Movies don't have to be full of sexuality & gore to leave a lasting impression of fear!
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