The Haunting [Blu-ray]

Still one of the scariest movies I know.

first and formost, this is the best haunted house story - period. if you have seen this film, you know that audio plays a large part in the tention of this wonderful film from the man who made the earth stand still - robert wise. i wish that the dvd was in suround at least. god, when eleanor and theo are in eleanors room and that... SOUND envelopes them, you see from their reactions that it is all around! that would have been the best upgrade. i didnt see a terrible shimmering that one of the other reviewers saw, but i only had a well loved 2nd gen copy of a w/s vhs so to me the video was a step up. youd think for its 40th anniversary, the film would have gotten the criterion treatment. hey, thats not a bad idea, criterion. get a hold of this gem and do it justice!!

Probably my all time favorite scarey movie. Truly creepy, wonderfully filmed.

My favorite horror film. No blood, no CGI, just psychological fear and the special effects. It is very close to the book and in black & white. The remake film with Liam Nissem is horrible and about all it has in common with the book and this original film is the title and character names.

This original movie version of Shirley Jacksons highly esteemed novel The Haunting of Hill House is definitely the finer;it faithfully follows the novel and captures its intended creepiness. Handsome Richard Johnson plays Doctor Markway (Montague in the book) who invites three people to work as his assistants while doing psychic research in an old New England house reputed to be haunted. Eleanor is lonely,timid and impressionable;she spent eleven years caring for her invalid mother and at 32,has never had a life of her own. Theodora is beautiful, bright and vivacious;conscience to her is an attribute which properly belongs to girl scouts-shes Eleanors free-spirited opposite. The scene where the two women, trembling from the cold, clinging to each other in bed as SOMETHING is knocking at the bedroom door is genuinely chilling. When asked by Luke (Russ Tamblyn) and Dr.Markway what happened the two women look at each other in disbelief and Eleanor says Nothing in particular. Someone just knocked on the door with a canonball, then laughed their fool head off when we wouldnt let them in,but nothing out of the ordinary!. As Eleanor drifts slowly into dementia, it is obvious that the house becomes her lover. If The Haunting is viewed on television, its effect is considerably enhanced if seen alone.

Scary without the blood and guts

(Moderate Spoilers) Robert Wise (director of the original West Side Story, Oscar winner for Best Picture of 1961) pledges a veritable haunted-house film (as do most of the movies reviews that Ive read), adapted from Shirley Jacksons book The Haunting of Hill House (1959). The components all seem to be there: an in-depth background story; a mysterious and dark house/mansion; a satisfactory budget; and likeable and capable leads, including West Side Story alumnus Russ Tamblyn (as Luke), Julie Harris (as Eleanor aka Mel here but probably best known as starring opposite James Dean in the classic East of Eden), Claire Bloom (Theodora aka Theo), and Richard Johnson (Dr. John Markway). As a paranormal investigator, Dr. Markway conscientiously chooses a paranormal team to more concretely prove the presence of supernatural forces (with admittedly interesting theories) in a supposedly haunted house, built 90 years before. Then, IMHO, although the film appears to have incremental buildups that reach respective scenes of moderate suspense, the film disappoints in delivering the goods. Ghosts, demons, monsters, gore (even of the mild variety), and true scares are MIA (unless loud noises in the house and voices coming through the wall are scary to you). While I do understand the psychological aspect (that a persons mind being forced to imagine the unknown can certainly be scary), the viewer--like the paranormal team--also sees very little concrete evidence of paranormal occurrences. You can take it or leave it, but its nowhere near in the same league as The Exorcist, The Shining, or the original Omen and is middling at best. Its like a well-prepared performer who then gets stage fright. Remade in 1999.

Dont think I can say anymore than has already been said about this version of the movie, far, far better than that special effects dripping recent version with Catherine Zeta Jones (hated that one). As in The Innocents this is all about the acting, the sets (even though b/w) and the music, the direction is superb, all combine to create an atmosphere of creepy evil..

This is one of those films that can scare the poo out of me. No blood, no gore. Just a total mind game. I slept with the lights on for a week after this flick. It doesnt need the usuall things that follow a horror picture now, it messes with you the way it should. Way better than the remake, even without Zeta-Jones eye candy. Get this DVD and be prepared to have some bad dreams.

you really should only purchase this movie if you appreciate the classics. see, by modern day movie standards, this movie doesnt accomplish the intended purpose of what horror films are supposed to do - scare you. BUT with that being said, you must keep in mind that for the time era of when this movie came out it had people wetting their pants over how terrifying it was. i didnt like it purely based on an attraction to okd school horror, but also how clever it was. its almost directed in the style of Alfred Hitchcock. for example, horror movies like The Birds arent scary by modern day standards. but you must appreciate how clever and original the script and the concept was. so to sum up, i wouldnt reccomend this movie to someone who wants to watch a random horror flick with his girlfriend on a Friday-Saturday night. however if you love classics, and want to see the godfather of haunted house movies abd where the idea came from, then this is your guy!