'The Haunting' (1999) A movie review by Walter Frith This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Member of the ‘Online Film Critics Society’ http://www.ofcs.org 'The Haunting' was originally a small budgeted film from 1963 with the same name.  In 1999, this version of 'The Haunting' is such a stupendously bad film that it's tough to know where I should begin. It's written in wooden fashion by David Self, _base_d on the novel 'The Haunting of Hill House' by Shirley Jackson.  I didn't think that camera man turned academic director Jan DeBont could make a worse film than 1997's 'Speed 2: Cruise Control' but he has.  'The Haunting' is a gothic _style_ of film making that is protracted, muddled, and doesn't seem to know where its high points are and to make the most of them when they try and come up. My parents took me to Disney World in Florida in 1976 for the first time when I was eleven and there was a ride called 'The Haunted Mansion'. You sit in one of those carnival cars and ride through a simulated haunted house and as you do so, a tricky light show makes you believe that you are seeing ghosts everywhere.  At one point you even pass by a mirror and it seems that a ghost is sitting between you and your companion.  That five minute ride was more entertaining than this film. In 'The Haunting', it's tag line is...SOME HOUSES ARE BORN BAD.  Maybe they knew when they had their finished project that it was such an abysmal accomplishment, they decided to blame it on the house where most of the setting takes place.  : - )  You could also make the argument that the film is entirely disrespectful to anyone who loves horror movies. Lili Taylor plays Eleanor Vance, a woman who took care of her mother for the last eleven years before the sick woman died.  After her death, mom left her property to her other daughter who seemingly did nothing to serve her mother in her final years and she and her husband want Eleanor out of the house.  Eleanor's sister and husband are horrid people who are materialistic, cut throat and devious.   Eleanor answers an ad in the paper that will pay her nine hundred dollars per week (she needs the money now that she's homeless) where a doctor (Liam Neeson) needs people to fill a study depicting the effects and causes of insomnia.  Others who answer the ad are a trendy babe named Theodora (Catherine Zeta Jones), a woman who aches to be a fashion victim and brags about her huge spending habits and is every credit card's nightmare. Last there is Luke (Owen Wilson), a character that is completely wasted as we never get to know anything about him or who he really is. The wasted cast gather at an old mansion with a sinister past, its former owner more than a century ago employed children in a sweat shop operation and their abuse led to their deaths and the house is supposedly haunted with their troubled souls.  The characters find that instead of being studied for their insomnia, they are tricked into be studied for the effects of fear that plays upon them.  There is a mythological explanation of the house's history and what the religious overtones are meant to be and the film looks like a cross between a rare bad episode of 'The X-Files' and out takes from the achievement a first year film student.  The entire film spends too much time building up its climax and when it's supposed to pay off here and there, it relies too much on convincing the audience that special effects will work better than the story and this is a major miscalculation. The fate of the characters in the film's last act is the true testament as to just how bad this film is.  You can always judge a good or bad film by how much you care about what happens to the major p_layer_s.  You won't care a bit about anything when this film is over.  It looks more like an instructional film shown to upcoming film technicians on how to use special effects than it does an actual motion picture with any redeeming qualities.  A shocking disappointment, especially coming from Dreamworks, started and owned in part by Steven Spielberg! OUT OF 5 zero Visit FILM FOLLOW-UP by Walter Frith http://www.cgocable.net/~wfrith/movies.htm

The Haunting A Review by Paul McElligott Rule #1 in telling a good ghost story: the less you show of the ghost, the better.  Robert Wise remembered that in 1963, Jan de Bont ignores it in 1999. To be honest, for the first half of this new adaptation of Shirley Jackson's classic novel, the story follows the book and the original movie with reasonable fidelity, and thus for the first hour, The Haunting is reasonably effective and spooky.  The ghostly manifestations are done with sound and suggestion, not ham-handed visuals.  After that, however, the special effects take over and the film loses all narrative cohesion. There were a few early problems with the movie, too.  The first was the house itself.  In the book and the first film, Hill House was a stately mansion to be sure, but never resembled this cross between Xanadu and the Winchester House.  Secondly, in the book and first movie version, the character of Theodora (Catherine Zeta-Jones) was subtly suggested to have a sexual interest in Eleanor.  In this version, Theo announces outright that she has a girlfriend and a boyfriend and any sense of subtle sexual tension between the two women is lost for good. As far as the story goes, the writing depends on coincidences too bizarre to be believed, and the resolution is too neat, too pat to make an effective ghost story.  The foreshadowing in this _script_ not only lacks subtlety, but some events are so obviously telegraphed that Samuel Morse should get a writing credit. The acting is fine, although Liam Neeson chews the scenery a little toward the end.  He's probably just making up for the lack of opportunity he had to do any acting in Star Wars. Jan de Bont serves up another reminder that he's never one to let story get in the way of special effects.  This is probably his most competent film since the original Speed, but that's hardly an accomplishment. All in all, this version of The Haunting is a waste of the talents of those involved.  See the 1963 original instead.  Better yet, read Shirley Jackson's brilliant novel.   This is film gets 4 out of 10 and most of those points were earned in the first hour of the movie.

A review by John Beachem * * * 1/2  CAST  Liam Neeson - Dr. David Marrow  Lili Taylor - Eleanor Vance  Catherine Zeta-Jones - Theo  Owen Wilson - Luke Sannerson Before entering The Haunting , it's important for the viewer to consider what kind of movie they're looking for. If it's a terrifying horror movie, look elsewhere. If it's a special effects extravaganza with fine acting and some of the best sets ever seen, this is the movie to see. It should also be noted that as a remake of the chilling original, the film is not quite up to par. If taken on its own merits however, this is a rather fun, brainless summer movie. Dr. David Marrow is a professor whose speciality is fear. Taking a group of subjects consisting of the timid Eleanor; the perky, gorgeous Theo, and the goofy Owen, he travels to Hill House. Hill House is a tremendous mansion in the middle of nowhere which has a rather checkered past (I don't want to say more, as further explanation would be a spoiler). Dr. Marrow does not, however, tell the group that they are there to examine the effects of fear. They are supposedly there to cure the insomnia experienced by the group. Upon reaching the house, it slowly dawns on the three, and eventually on Dr. Marrow, that the house is indeed haunted, and out for their blood. The house seems to take a special interest in Eleanor. As the nights go by, the house becomes more and more dangerous. I was rather disappointed at the bad reviews this recieved (except from the always reliable Roger Ebert). So many critics seemed to grade this _base_d entirely on how it compared to the original. If viewed on its own merits, I found this to be quite an enjoyable film. The acting is quite good, although the characters really are underwritten. The standout in my opinion is Liam Neeson, but I've always been a fan of his. The one person I was not so impressed by was Lili Taylor, though she seems to be receiving all the praise from other critics. Owen Wilson does get a little annoying at times, but for the most part he adds some neccesary comic relief. The greatest part of this film is amazingly not the visuals, though they are impressive. It is the house itself, that steals the show. Filled with long, dark corridors which seem to lead to nowhere, and are filled with chilling (and sometimes moving!) statues, the house is truly awe inspiring. The fireplace, and its possible denizens, is one of the few truly frightening parts of the film. This brings us to the flaws, and there are quite a few of them. As I mentioned before, the characters are very underwritten. We know nothing about Dr. Marrow, Theo, or Owen, and very little about Eleanor. The dialagoue is, at times, positively abysmal. For example, Liam Neeson climbs a very rickety flight of stairs to help an apparently suicidal Eleanor. The stairs collapse, all over the place, and Owen points at them, open mouthed saying Look, the stairs are falling. My only other really major complaint is the film's end, which was really quite terrible. Eleanor confronts the evil spirit in a huge (but strangely disappointing)special effects event, while spouting out some sort of strange speech about family values! As I stated earlier, do not see this film if you want a terrifying horror movie. It simply doesn't inspire much fear. However, I do reccomend it simply to see the amazing, bone chilling sets. For this, some fine visual effects, and some good acting, The Haunting earns three and a half stars. * * * * * - One of the greatest movies ever made, see it now. * * * * - Great flick. Try and catch this one. * * * - Okay movie, hits and misses. * * - Pretty bad. See it if you've got nothing better to do. * - One of the worst movies ever. See it only if you enjoy pain. E-mail with comments at: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it