The Haunting
1963 Directed by Robert Wise
Synopsis
You may not believe in ghosts but you cannot deny terror
Dr. Markway, doing research to prove the existence of ghosts, investigates Hill House, a large, eerie mansion with a lurid history of violent death and insanity.
Cast
Popular reviews
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It still scares me to no end....
A masterclass in scare tactics. Sounds, shadows and things that go bump in the night, it has everything and it knows that things imagined are far scarier than things seen. Required viewing for anyone who enjoys and/or makes horror films.
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More a haunted house-based drama than a supernatural thriller, "The Haunting" is a stately and deliberately-paced production. Aesthetically and technically, the film is a masterwork of textured set design and decoration, severe angles, and deep-focus cinematography. Narratively, the film is a character study, dealing with themes of guilt, fear, finding where one fits in, and family. It is both impressive looking and impressively acted.
As an experience, "The Haunting" is not interested in visceral scares; it is interested in suggestion, idea, and foreboding. It is not about the thing that jumps out from the shadows; it is about what could be lurking behind the door and what could be causing the bumps in the night.
"The Haunting" may be tame by today's horror standards, but it is chilling at time and the praise-deserving precursor to many of the genre's greats.
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A classic. Who knew a breathing door could fill you with so much terror.
Often copied, never equaled.
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I don't know how I wasn't even aware of this movie up until now. Based on a novel by Shirley Jackson (it shows!), this haunted house story is just as much a psychological drama as it is straight horror. Maybe even more so. It's a great, slow burn of a horror flick that sets up a lot of atmosphere and mood but uses almost no visual effects. It's creepy more for the central performance of Julie Harris as Eleanor 'Nell' Lance.
Nell is a seriously disturbed woman who was the center of the first poltergeist event documented by police and who's cheese is CLEARLY about to slip off her cracker any second. She's been invited to Hill House by the…
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I should start this review by saying that 10/10 is a rating that I rarely give. In fact, this is the first 10/10 I have newly awarded since joining Letterboxd and this film is now in a prestigious - well, maybe not - club of 6 or 7 films that have earned perfect marks from me.
This film absolutely astonished me in not only its ability to scare but also in its quality as a film. Right from the opening shot of Hill House, I knew that I was going to enjoy this film, but my adoration for it increased as the film went on and the constantly creepy atmosphere grew and grew, caused only by the aforementioned "deranged house".…
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Film 16 of Steve Grzesiak's Worldwide Month of Scary Bastard Films - Cheating Edition
Continuing my cheating end to my month of worldwide horror by revisiting The Haunting. Much like earlier in the year when I revisited Three Colours: Red and discovered that it's 'only' a 4.5/5 star film (that Kieslowski was shit, wasn't he?), I've discovered that a return to The Haunting wasn't as satisfactory either.
In fact, not nearly as much. I don't know if it's because I, all of a sudden, seem to have developed a complete hatred of voiceovers in films. As soon as I hear one these days a film has to work so much harder to be great in my eyes - a testament…
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An entertaining ghostly story which everyone raves about. I quite enjoyed it but fail to see why it is considered to be such a masterpiece - that probably says more about me than it does about the film.
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An effective horror film from the 1960's.
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everybody loves this haunted house film but I cant get into it. I tried it twice and thought it was dull. It didnt *do it* for me
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scary
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A good example of a film that time hasn't been kind to. I'm sure back in the 60s this was considered scary. Today, though, it seems rather boring and not very thrilling. Nothing really can save that here either. Overall, IMO this is a pretty unremarkable horror. For an earlier and more successful horror IMO see The Innocents.
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A masterclass in how to use sound and lighting to create real fear and tension rather than than cheap scares. Things that go bump in the night are seldom as scary as this.
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ooooooOOOOoooWWEEEEEEEOOOOOOOO
Creepy. Loved it.
But more importantly: Where can I get this house because I need this staircase in my life.
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Does more with ambient sound than any of the new crop could do with twenty gallons of blood and 30TB of CGI.
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I don't know how I wasn't even aware of this movie up until now. Based on a novel by Shirley Jackson (it shows!), this haunted house story is just as much a psychological drama as it is straight horror. Maybe even more so. It's a great, slow burn of a horror flick that sets up a lot of atmosphere and mood but uses almost no visual effects. It's creepy more for the central performance of Julie Harris as Eleanor 'Nell' Lance.
Nell is a seriously disturbed woman who was the center of the first poltergeist event documented by police and who's cheese is CLEARLY about to slip off her cracker any second. She's been invited to Hill House by the…