Prichards12345 Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House is rightly viewed as a classic of supernatural fiction, felt by some to be the best ghost story ever written (it's certainly one of the subtlest). I've read it at least 5 times and it never loses it's power to enthrall.Robert Wise's movie version, The Haunting, is a pretty faithful adaptation, presenting its four complex central characters marvellously well. Julie Harris, Richard Johnson, Claire Bloom and Russ Tamblyn are perfect casting choices, and there is the house itself...I don't think there's ever been a better "house with a personality" in movies than the depiction of Hill House here. Director Wise had form, of course, in the genre; having previously finished off Curse of The Cat People for Val Lewton and The Body Snatcher, both of which are superb films. The "Lewton Approach" is well served here in what Stephen King once described as "The world's only radio horror movie." That famous scene, where Harris and Bloom cling to each other in sublime terror while SOMETHING pounds on the door outside is one of my favourites in all horror movies. Eleanor even laughs at one point and makes a joke, a knowing comment from Wise, perhaps, on the reaction of audiences to horror movies.The basic plot is simply this: four people spend some time in a supposedly haunted house to investigate whether there is such a thing as the supernatural, and, as one of the four begins to submit to the aura of the house, Wise always keeps a balanced view - is it really largely in Eleanor's mind? Did she write the message to herself on the wall? Or is something really there, walking alone? The travesty of a remake that was produced in 1999 is a fine illustration of how low some of Hollywood movie-making has sunk. A total CGI mess, where the original is a masterpiece. Just my opinion - but this is a truly great film. Watch it at night, in the dark...

ReasonablePiper Eleanor is a broken women. She spent most of her adult life taking care of her sick mother, with little help from her sister. Her mother has passed away, and now Eleanor doesn't know what to do with her life. She receives no support from her sister, who argues with her, and even her niece calls her names. When Eleanor is invited by Dr. John Markway to stay in a mansion, she readily agrees. Dr. Markway studies the paranormal, and he believes Hill House to be haunted, so he invites Eleanor, along with Theodora and Luke, the current owner's nephew, to be witnesses. Eleanor, desperately wanting a friend, takes a liking to Theo. They act close at the beginning of the film, likening their relationship to that of sisters. Theo, however, is implied to be lesbian, so there may be more to their relationship than just sisterly bond. Eleanor also takes a liking to Dr. Markway because he is the only one not to make fun of her.As the film progresses, Hill House lives up to its reputation. Loud noises sound off in different rooms, there are cold spots in impossible places, and something keeps on banging on the doors. Eleanor starts to see things, but is she losing her mind, or is she being influenced by something otherworldly? Theo and Luke make fun of her, which is why Dr. Markway is nice to her.The scares are effective, the tension is constant, and there is never a moment of boredom. The acting is good, and the direction and cinematography are astounding. While watching this movie, I was amazed at Robert Wise's diversity. The only other movies I've seen of his are Born To Kill (1947), a dark and violent noir, and the Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), an intelligent science-fiction movie. My only real complaint is the ending. It's too abrupt. After Eleanor crashes her car into a tree, the others find her, and then it ends. Still, The Haunting was a great movie, and I could see my score going up upon a rewatch.8/10

GL84 Arriving at a supposedly haunted mansion for an experiment on fear study, a group of strangers and their over-seer are witness to an extraordinary amount of physical evidence that forces them to believe the house to be haunted and must find a way of getting out of the building alive.While this one does have some great work here there's some troubling parts as well. There's a lot here that works with this one in dealing with the theory of the supernatural that runs through the film, as this one preys upon the concept of the victim's own imagination to play tricks on what's going on. The emphasis on her guilt and sensitivity, buoyed by the history of the house itself, makes this such a fun time with how the early supernatural scenes from the odd creaks and groans and disembodied voices heard throughout here but also in all the teasing and joking around that soon turn into actual haunting sequences as they explore the house all manage to give this one quite a healthy sense of fear here, while it's big haunting scenes are the main focus. The bedroom scenes here are absolutely chilling as the utterly pounding footsteps echoing throughout the hallways into the room next-door where they begin scratching on the walls to an absolutely fevered pitch that then dies down just as quickly as it appeared, and a second scene where the girls are alone in the room overhearing the echoing footsteps return into the next-door room again and the muffled conversations to the frightened girl prompt their own individual response to the situation before the truly classic hand-holding gag that makes this quite fun. As well, the big centerpiece sequence here is the encounter in the parlor where the pounding footsteps appear leading into the door to the hallway outside which leads to it pushing against the door from outside with enough force to push the wooden door in with quite a powerful display all in front of everyone which gives this as much as it does. That this is the lone haunting done in front of others and is such a thrilling and creative moment makes for quite a powerful scene as a whole. The other big plus here is the actual house itself, which is quite spooky and appropriate setting here for the type of action portrayed which is quite an impressive task, and uses its setting to great effect. These are good enough to make this hold off the few minor flaws here, which comes from the rather bland and drawn-out pace here as while this one isn't boring its' way too long for how little action is present. The encounters are spaced out throughout here in such a big amount of time that it never really settles into a groove about how to play off the dreariness of the pace here. as well, there's also the fact that the films' psychological issues here are considerably downplayed into appearing so clumsy here that the inclusion is really troubling. Otherwise, this one works rather well overall.Today's Rating-PG: Mild Violence.

jacobjohntaylor1 This not scary movie at all. The only thing good I can say about this movie is that if it had not been made and ended being the unbelievable success that it was the remake would which is one of the best horror movies ever made would never have been made. Other then that this is badly written and has an awful ending. The acting was mediocre. I think people say that it is scary are to easy to scary. They probably not like the remake because they got to scared. Because it is one of the scariest movies ever made. It is not that I do think the old horror movies are scary. I think a lot of horror movies are scary. And this is not one of them. I think people are narrow minded about remakes and sequels and prequels. The reason people don't like the 1999 remake is because it is a remake. The remake was mush stronger story line. The story line in this one is just week. The acting is mush stronger in the remake. The story line is better and ending is better. The special are far more better. And that is a good thing believe me. This movie is overrated 60's cheese. Do not see this movie. Don't wast your time and money.