The Haunting – 1999 – Horror, Supernatural, Thriller
Directed by: Jan de Bont
Written by: David Self
Main Players: Liam Neeson; Catherine Zeta-Jones; Owen Wilson; Lili Taylor; Bruce Dern; Virginia Madsen; Marian Seldes
An adaptation of novel “The Haunting of Hill House,” sort-of, this film has some pluses and minuses. The Haunting opens with a creepy ass mansion in the woods, as usual. Then we quickly zip away to personal drama as siblings Eleanor (Nell) Vance (Taylor) and Jane (Madsen) bicker over probate details and the sale of their mother’s apartment. Nell, who lived in the apartment, all of a sudden may have nowhere to go despite all the care she gave her mother before she passed.
Nell is also an insomniac, and this stress does not make things better. She does however fit a study profile for Dr. David Marrow’s (Neeson) hill house experiment on fear and hysteria. He has a plan to elicit this primordial response to unaware insomniacs to research their reactions. This sounds foolproof. Nell needs the dough so she rolls up to the creepy mega house and meets Mr. Dudley (Dern), the caretaker.
His wife Mrs. Dudley (Seldes) is inside making the dinner, and shows Nell to her room. The next morning, new friends arrive. Joining purgatory expert Nell in this selective experiment invitational are the sleep avoiders doofy Luke Sanderson (Wilson) and snooty Theodora (Zeta-Jones). How will these selected experimentees react to this elaborate house full of creaks and chills? Come find out if anyone makes it out of hill house alive.
The casting is probably the best part of this film, which only has a so-so script. The house is great to look at and there is a bit of tension here and there, but mostly this is a harmless slow crawl of a ghostly feature. A few lines are okay and some of the scenes have some chills. Not many critics or fans think a ton of this film, so don’t expect to be blown away. I don’t hate it, but it’s a bit disappointing considering the talent involved.
This is a sort of remake/reboot/re-whatever the hell of a 1963 version of The Haunting. Additionally, Netflix put out a mini-series “The Haunting of Hill House” which is also based on the same book. Most all presentations have similar plot elements; however, all vary quite a bit in general.
See This If You Liked:
The Haunting (1963); The House on Haunted Hill (1959; 1999); 13 Ghosts, Thir13een Ghosts; 1408; The Changeling (1980); The Others (2001); The Woman in Black (1989; 2012); The Legend of Hell House; The Conjuring; The Amityville Horror (1979; 2005)
Score:
6.5