Rating: 
Summary: A horrific masterpiece!
Review: THE HAUNTING is one of my all time favourite horror films: it's well-acted, beautifully shot and the score is woderfully eerie. The best thing about this film is that it scares the living hell out of you without using any blood and guts like such badly-made horror flicks of today (eg. SCREAM 2). Please note that if you are a fan of this genre, you must check this beauty out! END
Rating:
Summary: Scares you out of your wits!
Review: I recall viewing this while still in my teens and I was actually frightened! It is the kind of story that scares you without the bloody,gory slice and dice of today's films. You use your imagination and follow the story wondering what will happen next inside the haunted house. What also helps is the scary music score that plays all throughout the movie. GREAT STUFF!!! END
Rating:
Summary: The Wise choice for the Occult!
Review: Call it horror or a supernatural thriller, "The Haunting" (1963) ruled out the pitfalls that made others of the genre seem pretentious. On first sight you are treated to a mansion set in an evil aura with baroque décor and looming statues. Doctor Markway (Richard Johnson) presides over the investigation, supplying us with an excellent catalog of phenomena to fuel our apprehension. Eleanor Lance (Julie Harris) is the hysterical spinster whose emotional fears become bound with ours. Then there is the wild soundtrack. Humphrey Searle composed a creepy score with a strong arrangement of brass and strings, creating an abstract and crazy effect to attack the senses. A perfect plot, script, narrative and good casting builds the horror through the viewer's own imagination. The best example of a movie to triumph over gore, intense violence and CGI. More evidence that "black and white" is not an obsolete format but an underused film technique. Robert Wise is a versatile director who showed a genuine skill in fright. You will not find "The Haunting" in any shallow top ten list with other famous horror films. You will find it taking refuge in your personal list of what you fear. A movie with a formula to survive repeated viewing and perpetual quality on DVD.
Rating:
Summary: A chilling movie about an evil house
Review: HIll House has been standing empty for almost 90 years. Whipsers of strange phenomena have kept would-be ocupants away for a long time; not even the owners will live their. That is, until Dr. John Markway assembles a small team to invesitgate the supposed supernatural events of the house. He invites Theodora, a psychic who lives a very different lifestyle; Eleanor, a sheltered young woman who recently lost her canterkaerous mother and has had experienece with poltergeist phenomena; and Luke Sanderson, soon to inherit Hill House and acting as the family's representative. Together, they begin to study the house, it's history and architecture. Or, has the house chosen one of the team for its own purposes?Horror film director Robert Wise does a magnificent job with this adaptation of the Shirley Jackson novel. Very few visual effects are used, instead relying on lighting (the one scene with the wallpaper in Eleanor's room is eerie), atmosphere, sound and the viewers own fear to create a creepingly chilling film. They make the viewer feel like actors in the movie instead of bystanders. All the actors give fine performances: Clair Bloom as Theo, Russ Tamblyn as Luke, and Richard Johnson as Dr. Markway. But, Julie Harris' performance of Eleanor makes the film. Her almost childlike confusion, fear and determination to stay the course keep you enrapt in the film. It's very refreshing to see a horror film that doesn't rely so much on expensive special effects to get the chills across, instead using acting, lighting and story to convey terror and fright. This is a classic horror film that still delivers to this day.
Rating:
Summary: One of the scarest 60's films in the world.
Review: Most people see the remake and won't bother with this one, but this film is really truely pure horror unlike the remake, one of the scarest films ever made, it also tells a classic story of a repressed women and a house that makes her lose her mind, the film is so much more than all of that though, it has all the events timed perfectly as it keeps bulding more and more untill the frightning conclution, If you're a true horror fan give this one a shot, you'll love it.
Rating:
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.
Rating:
Summary: Eleanor comes home in the greatest haunted house film
Review: Still the best haunted house film, "The Haunting of Hill House" has the virtues of director Robert Wise and an excellent adaptation of Shirley Jackson's novel by Nelson Gidding. Hill House was built by Hugh Crain and its legacy of death includes both of his wives, his daughter Abigail and her lover. Dr. Markway (Richard Johnson) hears of the house's reputation and decides it is the perfect locale to investigate. Markway brings with him a team: Eleanor "Nell" Vance (Julie Harris), a neurotic spinster who had a terrifying poltergeist encounter as a child; Theodora (Claire Bloom), a strong willed psychic; and Luke Sannison (Russ Tamblyn), who intends to inherit the house from the current owners. The house assaults the group their first night in Hill House, although all of the phenomena are suggested by sound effects rather than depicted with cheap specific effects. Meanwhile, the group is experiencing its own strange vibes. Theodora, a lesbian, is interested in Nell, who is totally oblivious to this and has eyes for Markway, a married man who also has no clue. More importantly, Nell is clearly the target of whatever forces are at work in Hill House. "The Haunting" is a masterpiece of atmosphere and suspense, with the performance of Julie Harris at the heart of the film. Both of the female characters are vastly more complex than the pair of males, and Harris and Bloom's performances dominate throughout. The recent "remake" of this film with its over abundance of special effects only serves to heighten the strengths of the original when the horror is created in your mind and not just left on the screen. "The Haunting" is a true horror classic, filmed in glorious black-and-white. This is truly a movie to watch late at night with all of the lights out. Just don't expect to get any sleep afterward...
Rating:
Summary: A Brilliant Thriller-A MUST SEE!
Review: I don't remember exactly when I first saw "The Haunting" but I do remember how it made me feel. Scared to be in a dark room alone! As other reviewers have stated here, you can see it a dozen times and still be scared out of your wits. This is truly a masterpiece of the genre. Robert Wise, the film's director, uses unusual camera angles, an eerie musical score and sound effects to achieve the perfect mood. Not to mention the wondrous script and actors. Unlike movies of today, it does not rely on gore. I saw a production of "The Gin Game" in NYC with Julie Harris and Charles Durnning. I waited at the stage door to get their autographs. Out of all the work Julie Harris has done all I could think of was "The Haunting" to ask her about. I told her how much I enjoyed the film and asked how was it making such a scary movie. All she said was "It was fun". Well there you have it. You too will have a fun and creepy time enjoying her marvelous performance. Please make an effort to see it and share Hill House with your friends and/or relatives. You all will have a great time you won't soon forget. Hey, it's not just for Holloween!
Rating:
Summary: Far Superior To The Remake
Review: Fans of Shirley Jackson will delight in this screen adaptation of The Haunting of Hill House. Faithful to the original novel and not bogged down in excessive specail effects, this movie haunts you and keeps your attention. The character of Nell may be irritating at times, but her personality is consistent with Jackson's book. The characters and situations seem much more probable than the more grisley and explicit 90's film adaptation. If you like this one you should check out the Legend of Hell House.
Rating:
Summary: "HELP ELEANOR COME HOME"
Review: There are few really first rate ghost stories, and fewer still where the movie version is worthy of the story itself. This marvelous Robert Wise film really does full justice to Shirley Jackson's terrifying novel about the endurance of evil. Although the two male leads aren't much help (especially Russ Tamblyn, who is saddled with the terrible role of the wisecracking playboy), the female leads are outstanding. Claire Bloom is tense and surprising as the Greenwich Village telepath Theo, and Julie Harris gives a superlative performance as the terrified virginal chameleon Eleanor, whom the ghosts of Hill House focus upon (Harris is not afraid to let her character be deeply shrill and annoying when the script demands it, but she also can be radiant and deeply likeable at other moments too). The hideous Richardsonian manor itself where the ghosts of Huge Crane and his daughters seem to lurk is another of the film's stars, and Wise films it spectacularly--there is a great reverse angle fast crane shot that is breathtakingly frightening, and the film's use of sound effects are justly famous. This may be, with THE INNOCENTS, one the greatest ghost movies ever filmed.
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