Rating: 
Summary: ............flaunting?
Review: THE EERIE whispers surrounding you [DTS or Dolby Surround version] once the "children" come out to play is something you cannot experience in the theatre. It's a spectacular effect and causes an instant kneejerk, especially when viewing this alone, lights out, and maybe just a small glow in your fireplace. I'm not going to pinpoint this for you, but you can't miss it - so there! [Yes, there is a SHAMELESS flaunting with Special Effects and CGI present in this one, and it works!]Jan de Bont's version is a seat puckering roller-coaster ride though this never-never land for the adult kid! Strange though, the macabre, wedding-cake of a house is real, but looks fake! Eugenio Zanetti's sets, fake though they are, come to life ominously, especially the wonderful things in the green house - it's very much like a good, video game. Performances? LILI TAYLOR, so underrated, and still purposefully avoiding commercial traps: the movie belongs to her. Other [Catherine Zeta-Jones, Liam Neeson, etc.] hover. Would have been interesting to have peopled the house with ghosts of the original cast - that's another movie. The Robert Wise movie of 1963 has no bearing on this one, and should not be viewed or compared to this commercially effective product. Warning - country air can be hazardous! Companion piece? Don't miss "The Legend of Hell House" with [Pamela Franklin, of "The Innocents" fame].
Rating: 
Summary: A remake that has the cgi as the star
Review: If you saw the original, beware... The plot bears no resemblance to Shirley Jackson's psychological horror story. The sub-plots make no sense and dead-end. There's lots of CGI and special effects which are well done and are the star of the movie. The sets for the house were the best part and are worth seeing. Liam Neeson must be sorry he made this film, and Owen Wilson, seems to be the comic relief, Zeta-Jones certainly looks good but isn't given anything to do except wander around looking colorfully tarty. Bruce Dern and Marian Seldes were probably just happy they had such small parts. This doesn't make it as a "good" bad movie, and it wouldn't really worth the trouble hating, except that it butchered a book that was both scary and intelligent.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent film with serpurb special effects and setting.
Review: I was baby-sitting at someone's house the other day and decided to watch Cable TV (since I don't have it at home). I was flipping through the channels and found HBO, which was playing this film, THE HAUNTING. I missed like, the first half of it. But from what I saw, I thought this was excellent and I can't wait to rent it so I can watch the whole movie. I felt as though THE HAUNTING was a very underrated film, because it really was pretty amazing. I'm a fan of horror movies, and even though I rarely ever get scared, I still thought this was a good movie and other people out there might get freaked out by it. It's about four people who are asked to come to this old mansion to do experiments with the supernatural. If you didn't like this movie, you should at least give credit for the special effects and the settings, which were absolutely stunning and breath-taking. The acting from the entire cast, I gave an A+. This film stars Liam Neeson (STAR WARS - EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE), Lili Taylor (RANSOM), Catherine Zeta-Jones (THE MASK OF ZORRO), and Owen Wilson (SHANG-HIGH NOON). You must see this film to believe it. It's simply a wonderful, breath-taking film!
Rating:
Summary: Great... except for the stupid ending!
Review: The haunting was a very suspenceful movie, it had great sets and special effects. I was really into the movie untill she found out she was related to the ghosts. And the put the worst line i ever had in the movie, that my family has laughed at for over a year. Whoever wrote the line "It's not about that It's about family, WELL I'M FAMILY TOO GRANDPA!!!!" should be extermely imbarsed. From that line on the movie was terrible and stupid. So if you want to see a scary movie with good special effects see the haunting, and if you want to laugh at the worst line ever you have to see it!
Rating:
Summary: You've gotta appreciate the sets!
Review: It doesn't seem like many people enjoyed this flick, but it really wasn't that bad. The plot was a little lame, but the acting wasn't bad. If you are into castles and architecture, this is a "must see." The sets are phenomenal! The FX pretty awesome too. The best acting was from the two ladies, Lili Taylor and Catherine Zeta Jones, everyone else plodded through. Watch it for the huge, gothic, breathtaking sets - you can't pull your eyes away. Fabulous.
Rating:
Summary: Are ghosts real??
Review: I love this movies. The next thunder storm put this DVD in and tell me that you don't get the willys....
Rating:
Summary: Shirley Jackson's Novel Violated
Review: There was nothing wrong with the original storyline, so why did they have to mess with it? The good things about this movie are the set design and the acting. The house in this remake is beautiful by comparison to the original but who cares? The special effects are so outragious and over the top that I heard people in the theatre saying "Oh, come on now." The ghosts of the children were cuter than the robots on the "It's a Small World" ride at Disneyland (which is far scarier). I prefer the original 1963 version.
Rating: 
Summary: what the heck was he thinking?!?
Review: This is Jan De Bont . . . This film is jan De Bont on drugs. Why would he take a perfectly PERFECT supernatural novel, freak around with it til it made no sense and then film what is, in effect, an expensive "carnival-level" spook-house story? Another example of Hollywood's fetish with drugs, no doubt. This has NOTHING in common with one of the most superior novels ever written (on which it CLAIMS to be based). I think Jackson ought to come back and haunt De Bont for this travesty. Is THIS what happens when you are apportioned 150 trillion dollars for special effects and 2-cents for screenplay development/scriptwriting? For the most honest to the book and TRULY chilling version, check out Robert Wise's 1963 The Haunting which delves into the psychology of all involved: who -- or what --is really haunted? If you are stuck in the "I need to see blood and an intestine swinging from the chandelier" mode, just stick to your "Jason" movies. If you are into intellectual and philosophically based tales, Wise is "da man".
Rating:
Summary: Catherine Zeta-Jones trap!
Review: Is "The House On Haunted Hill" so different than "The Haunting"? Both share the same failure. A great old story that can be pictured every year and still make a good THRILLER. But this movie makes it no better than a poor picture! Good actors, good story but not well told with its poor suspense! The old classic movies with their limited graphics were much more successful!!!
Rating:
Summary: Welcome Home Eleanor
Review: Dr. Marrow (Liam Neeson)went to the haunted "Hill House" together with three other People, included Eleanor (Lilly Taylor), a bisexual Theo (Catherine Zeta Jones) and Luke (Owen Wilson). Everything seemes harmless... at the beginning of course. But it isn't! Strange things happening to the Guests of the "Hill House"! Children are talking to them, Statues are moving and bloody footprint are leading them to mysterious places! All this is happening most of all to Eleanor. She is seeing things. Things that nobody else cans see... This is a hillerious Ghost-Story with breathtaking Special Effects and a just perfect "Hill House"!!! Buy this DVD but beware: "Everyone lives in Town three Miles away from here. Everyone leaves before Dark. Nobody will come any nearer than that, in the night, in the dark..."
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