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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audience Rating: G (General Audience) Binding: DVD Brand: Warner Brothers EAN: 9780790746609 Format: Anamorphic, Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC ISBN: 0790746603 Label: Warner Home Video Manufacturer: Warner Home Video Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: Warner Home Video Region Code: 1 Release Date: August 05, 2003 Running Time: 112 minutes Sales Rank: 4670 Studio: Warner Home Video Theatrical Release Date: September 18, 1963
Description: A group is introduced to the supernatural through a 90-year old New England haunted house. Be prepared for hair-raising results in this classic horror film!
Amazon.com essential video: Certain to remain one of the greatest haunted-house movies ever made, Robert Wise's The Haunting (1963) is antithetical to all the gory horror films of subsequent decades, because its considerable frights remain implicitly rooted in the viewer's sensitivity to abject fear. A classic spook-fest based on Shirley Jackson's novel The Haunting of Hill House (which also inspired the 1999 remake directed by Jan de Bont), the film begins with a prologue that concisely establishes the dark history of Hill House, a massive New England mansion (actually filmed in England) that will play host to four daring guests determined to investigate--and hopefully debunk--the legacy of death and ghostly possession that has given the mansion its terrifying reputation.
Consumed by guilt and grief over her mother's recent death and driven to adventure by her belief in the supernatural, Eleanor Vance (Julie Harris) is the most unstable--and therefore the most vulnerable--visitor to Hill House. She's invited there by anthropologist Dr. Markway (Richard Johnson), along with the bohemian lesbian Theodora (Claire Bloom), who has acute extra-sensory abilities, and glib playboy Luke Sanderson (Russ Tamblyn, from Wise's West Side Story), who will gladly inherit Hill House if it proves to be hospitable. Of course, the shadowy mansion is anything but welcoming to its unwanted intruders. Strange noises, from muffled wails to deafening pounding, set the stage for even scarier occurrences, including a door that appears to breathe (with a slowly turning doorknob that's almost unbearably suspenseful), unexplained writing on walls, and a delicate spiral staircase that seems to have a life of its own.
The genius of The Haunting lies in the restraint of Wise and screenwriter Nelson Gidding, who elicit almost all of the film's mounting terror from the psychology of its characters--particularly Eleanor, whose grip on sanity grows increasingly tenuous. The presence of lurking spirits relies heavily on the power of suggestion (likewise the cautious handling of Theodora's attraction to Eleanor) and the film's use of sound is more terrifying than anything Wise could have shown with his camera. Like Jack Clayton's 1961 chiller, The Innocents, The Haunting knows the value of planting the seeds of terror in the mind, as opposed to letting them blossom graphically on the screen. What you don't see is infinitely more frightening than what you do, and with nary a severed head or bloody corpse in sight, The Haunting is guaranteed to chill you to the bone. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Mesmerizing, Beautiful, and...Haunting
The Haunting still remains the definitive haunted house story-- a weird assortment of people gathered together to spend the night in a large, extravagent house with a gruesome history. The movie gives us many strange images and leaves the main question intact: is the house really haunted or not? Although I can't say I was moved by Julie Harris' performance, she does her job in making us question the motives of an unlikable character, which is what the other characters do. The real stand-out in terms of acting is Claire Bloom. This was the first movie I'd seen her in and her character is such ... Read More
Rating: - Five stars for film, two stars for Warner Bros. DVD treatment
By far - the best haunted house story (or any film for that matter) ever filmed. I concur with every five star review that I have read on Amazon and do not need to restate the obvious.
But I have a bone to pick with Warner Bros.
The Haunting is considered masterpiece almost unanimously by all the top critic's. Meticulously made and directed by one of the greatest American directors Robert Wise. Yet this DVD version has been given only grade C treatment. The film used for this DVD does not appear to be from a pristine negative bit rather from an OK piece of film stock. ... Read More
Rating: - Even good for teens
We liked this movie. My teenagers are usually quick to mock the movies I thought were scary at their age but they got into this one and enjoyed it.
Rating: - Just one thing......
The only thing I would add to the (In my opinion)'spot on' positive comments regarding this film, is that I wish that it had a Digital Surround audio track. Can you imagine how much it would add to the film to have those awesome audio effects coming at you from all directions in a dark room, on a dark stormy night?!
I guess I will add one other thing (can't help myself). The fact that it was filmed in black and white, to me, was an indication of just how great Robert Wise (the director) was in his craft. I believe that it added to the anticipation of dread and terror. All those shadows and ... Read More
Rating: - A True Classic
A True Classic
When you look at 1963's THE HAUNTING directed by Robert Wise you can see the intellect, craftsmanship and most importantly the subtle emotionally thought provoking energy that went into the making of this film. Director Robert Wise was always the consummate professional consistently delivering a solid, engrossing and entertaining motion picture. Robert Wise was a director with no discernible directorial style yet he took whatever the budget would allow and he always delivered a solid film time after time. I believe his background as a film editor gave him a very dynamic ... Read More
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