Rating: 
Summary: A GOTHIC GHOST STORY THAT WILL HAUNT THE VIEWER...
Review: This is a little heralded gem of a film and a chilling adaptation of James Herbert's spooky novel of the same name. With a star studded cast, the film does not lack for talent. Beautifully acted, this gothic ghost story is a wonderfully atmospheric, haunted house tale, sparely told. The film begins with a turn of the century scene in Sussex, England with two children playing in the idyllic English countryside. They are fraternal twins, David and Juliet Ash. While playing, Juliet ends up drowning, and David, to his life long regret, is unable to save her. Years later, David (Aidan Quinn) is a Professor of Psychology with a penchant for debunking so-called supernatural occurrences. After receiving an intriguing and pleading letter from a Mrs. Webb about ghostly apparitions at the rural manor home in which she resides, David goes there, only to be met by the Mariell clan, consisting of Christina (Kate Beckindsale), and her brothers, Robert (Anthony Andrews) and Simon (Alex Lowe). It turns out that Mrs. Webb is their old nanny, whom they all still call Nanny Tess (Ann Massey). She is clearly terrified of something that is going on in the house, and the Mariells all seem to be humoring her. The Mariell siblings, at first, appear to be wildly eccentric Brits, but later seem to be more than just a little twisted, as it soon becomes apparent that all is not right in that household. There are things that go bump in the night, strange music is played, and the ghostly apparition of a young girl seems to glide about the house and grounds. Moreover, Nanny Tess always appears to be in a state of acute terror and is even so when the seemingly benign Dr. Doyle (John Geilgud) appears to give her a check up. As a romance heats up between David and Christina, however, David appears to turn a blind eye to what is going on in the household. Even the apparently unwholesome relationship Christina appears to have with her brothers, especially Robert, initially fails to nonplus David. Too late, he realizes the nature of the evil within this isolated, rural manor house. In the end, it takes the force of something beyond the grave to save him from an almost unimaginable horror. The acting is superb in this remarkably told tale of ghosts and things that go bump in the night. This is a well done, stealthily told, haunted house story that is sure to keep viewers glued to their screens. Kate Beckinsale gives a wonderful performance as the seemingly quirky and free spirited Christina. Anthony Andrews is excellent as the slightly sinister, oldest sibling, Robert. Alex Lowe is appropriately eccentric as Christina's off the wall brother, Simon. John Gielgud gives a terrific cameo performance. Aidan Quinn is effective as the erstwhile debunker who loses sight of his mission and is gulled into a false sense of reality. The only reason I did not rate this film five stars is because the director acquiesced to some need to resort to cheesy special effects at the very end. The superimposed faces on the last fire scene was unnecessary and only served to cheapen what had, otherwise, been a very well done and spooky film. The DVD itself provides crystal clear audio and visuals but little else,
Rating:
Summary: A Classic Ghost Story With a Surprise Ending
Review: Despite what some of the other reviewers wrote about this movie, I liked it very much. I won't go into the plot, since anyone reading these reviews will have already been introduced to the characters and the actors who play them. Aidan Quinn is one of my very favorite actors, and as far as I'm concerned, the chemistry between all of the actors couldn't have been more perfect. I would probably have given this film FIVE stars, BUT, one thing that totally disappointed me about the film was, that, during the love scene between Kate Beckinsale and Aidan Quinn, the scene 'switches' to a full body shot of the lovers, and suddenly, when the scene (shot) angle is changed, the man Ms. Beckinsale is making love with is NOT Aidan Quinn! The lovers flop over, the shot angle changes and WA LA! She's 'doin' Mr. Quinn again. I mean, I understand about stand ins, but the director screwed up this scene, showing the stand-in's face quite extensively in the shot. How he could think he could get away with that and expecting that no one would notice, I don't understand. The character change had nothing to do with the plot or characters in the movie, trust me. The director just screwed up with the stand-in. And, in the beginning of the movie, when Aidan Quinn's character exposes a charlatan medium, he pulls her accompice out of a 'closet' of sorts, exclaiming "THIS is my mother!". Say, what? Nevertheless, the sound effects, SCARE effects, scenery and acting were very, very good. This movie is classically SPOOKY. I'm glad I own it!
Rating: 
Summary: This is a MUST HAVE for your spook collection!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: This is a excellent movie. The acting is all top notch. The scenery is beautiful and the story line is a little different then your average ghost story. This is one of those movies that is so well made that it didn't have to resort to a blood bath to be scary. It's a soft, quiet and intellegent thriller. Well worth the cost of the dvd. You won't be disappointed. The ending is very creepy..............and a little unsettling.
Rating: 
Summary: warning for female audience
Review: After watching this movie I felt sick. And I like horror films. The film has actors and actresses that I like and their acting is good in this movie. But the story is ugly, with contains of incest and all over an erotic undertone that I suspect female audiences will not feel to good about. Movies are one of my biggest interrests in life, but this movie gave me an expierence I would like to forget. I think an average man will like this film, if they enjoyed The Others. But for women I recommend only watching The Others and skip this movie.
Rating:
Summary: A startlingly fresh and spooky haunted house story
Review: This movie is first of all a great haunted house story. If you don't think you like haunted house stories try this one. It's different and clever and eerie. It's also beautifully filmed and acted. Aidan Quinn does a fine job as David Ash, the skeptical investigator of things that go bump in the night who is still troubled by the death of his twin sister years before. Kate Beckinsale steals the show as Christina Mariel the "audaciously charming" girl whose home Ash comes to investigate. Their love story is well done. (When will Kate Beckinsale get the kind of notice she deserves? The lady continues to do superb work in every kind of role.) When you pop this into your VCR (please relaese this on DVD soon!) you're in for a real treat. You won't be safe from goosebumps until the final credits. . . and maybe not even then! See this film!
Rating: 
Summary: Not haunted enough
Review: Aidan Quinn, with his unearthly pale eyes and great handsomeness, would seem perfectly cast as a university professor exploring a case of a ghost haunting in a great English mansion; unfortunately, his harsh American voice seems wholly out of place in this period chiller. Though the movie is redeemed in part by its great wild ending (blunted in part by poor special effects), the director, Lewis Gilbert, seems to have little feel for the Gothic mode: the house itself isn't terribly scary (and doesn't even seem very large), and there's very little sense of atmosphere. All the nighttime scenes seem unusually well lit, for example. Perhaps to convey the decadent "Brideshead" atmosphere, Anthony Andrews is bizarrely miscast as Kate Beckinsale's brother, despite their twenty-five years' difference in age.
Rating:
Summary: Haunted is a Horror
Review: Aidan Quinn is usually better than this and in better films. Why he agreed to do this film is beyond me--maybe he needed the money. The movie is far-fetched and juvenile, silly when it's supposed to be scary. The only "horror" in it is the writing, acting, and directing. So take the advice of someone who loves Aidan Quinn and who likes a scary movie if it's intelligent: don't buy it. Watch Halloween instead.
Rating:
Summary: Rent it first
Review: Another film that was purchased before renting it due to some of the glowing reviews. Overall, it failed to excite the imagination and remains another dud DVD in my library.
Rating:
Summary: Yawn.
Review: This movie just plain stinks. Just don't watch it. See Poltergeist, The Amityville Horror or The Innocents. They are much better. This was not scary at all, and the acting stunk. Don't see this!
Rating:
Summary: An entertaining film.....the bottom line.
Review: This film is entertaining, which is the bottom line in any form of entertainment. The film isn't perfect, but you'll enjoy watching it. It's good entertainment. Recommended.
|
