Post by slayrrr666 on Oct 26, 2008 10:32:26 GMT -5
“The Haunting” is a slightly overrated yet still genuinely entertaining film.
**SPOILERS**
In the New England countryside, Dr. John Markway, (Richard Johnson) selects Eleanor Lance, (Julie Harris) and Theodora, (Claire Bloom) along with Luke Sanderson, (Russ Tamblyn) as a team to investigate Hill House, which is supposedly haunted. Arriving at the house, they begin to make their way around the house and learn of the intentions of the experiments. Settling in for the night, a series of strange events during the night begins to plague the members. Trying to determine what happened during the night, they begin to suspect that something is amiss in the house after several unexplained encounters. As the ghostly phenomena continue, they begin to suspect that the legends behind the house are getting to them. By the time that they learn the truth about the house, they try to find a way to get out before it manages to overtake their sanity.
The Good News: While not exactly flawless, this is still a really great haunted house film. One of the film’s strongest points is that it manages to make the house look suitable for creeping out even though there’s no way a normal house should like that. It’s way too movie set-like to be believable as a normal house, yet there’s plenty of scenes here driven by the way it looks. The encounter in the library and the big hallway encounters are the biggest examples, since they derive solely from how the room is structured to generate its fear. They manage to also look quite thrilling and suspenseful because of the structure used for them and that’s what makes them work. The way the rest of the house is constructed is simply fabulous. The hallways, the furniture and all the other structures around, including the different figures on the wall or the different statues, all give off a really creepy vibe that is quite believable as a setting for a haunted house. That also delivers the film’s two biggest scenes, the actual indication of a presence apparent. The second bedroom encounter, with one of it’s most iconic moments, and a later experience in the main living room where a series of gags with a door is quite chilling and manages to really terrify. The pounding and banging does have some genuine moments in them, and some of the noises do work. These here manage to lift it as a classic entry.
The Bad News: There’s only a few problems with this one. This one here is simply slow-going in the beginning and really just drags out the film. This is easily ten minutes too long, mostly due to it’s incredibly slow beginning. This is mostly hampered by the irritating convention of having the inner monologues told to the audience. This is just plain dull, taking the most obvious statements about the happening events and are then spelled out in a drawn-out, cliched manner. That it continues on through the entire film makes it all the more troublesome, being an irritation that lasts throughout the film. The really dull ending is also another problem with the film. There’s a really unsatisfying ending that doesn’t really help much. It’s uneventful and doesn’t at all seem like it’s all that special. That also applies to other parts of the film, namely the ghostly happenings. They’re low-key and not really all that eventful, making it possibly for them to wash over without really leaving their intended impact. Either way, these are the film’s only real problems.
The Final Verdict: While not the out-and-out classic that it’s been given, this is still a really great entry in the genre. Classic horror fans or those who love thrills and chills over blood and gore will love this one, though the low-key nature might find this an overrated adventure.
Today’s Rating-PG: Mild Violence
