"Some houses are just born evil."

The Haunting, a movie remade several times and as recent as 1999, is a black and white film about a group of four individuals come to Hill House to determine if the supernatural does exist.

There is Dr. Markway, who is in charge of the experiment, having done the research of the house and is familiar with it's evil past.

There is Theo, just Theo, an ESP, who can read others quiet well but oddly enough can't read the house.

There is Luke, who stands to inherit the house and is there to ensure no inappropriateness goes on.

And then there is Eleanor Lance, a inverted but highly emotional recluse determined to enjoy "this vacation". Having cared for her invalid mother for the last 11 years, she is extremely melodramatic about her lot in life, especially when it comes to the care she provided her mother.

Oddly enough, Eleanor shares a similar life pattern with a previous owner of the house. As the house begins to affect each of them, it is Eleanor who seems to be seduced by the house. Does the house really want her? Or is she having a nervous breakdown? Having said more than enough, on to my Kitty Paws

One Kitty Paw for the pace of suspense this film sets.
One Kitty Paw for it's likeable characters. Granted, Eleanor's emotional roller coaster occasionally got on my nerves, I was still rooting for all of them to survive.
One Kitty Paw for the different intense moments and angles. The wall scene, for example. The part where Eleanor was looking for Ms. Markway, for another.
And a half a Kitty Paw for no blood, no gore, no adult related scenes.

But if I were to be honest, I would say, I struggled with this film. I believe I come a "gotta get the audience to jump" generation. My best explanation of this is last Friday. Last Friday I put on The Conjuring for our foreign exchange student. Now, I am surprised I have not worn down my DVD having watched it so many times. I put it on for background noise. I put it on for the dogs. I put it on when I am not feeling well. And even though I know this movie by heart, there are two moments that still make me jump. This movie scared the crap out of our foreign exchange student. He may never watch another scary movie again. IDK. Point is, I really wished this movie had this even a smidgen of this kind of effects.

But despite this, at 3.5 stars, I do recommend it. So, if you are in the mood for smooth, black and white suspenseful movie, turn off the 2018 cellphone, find the Jiffy Pop in the back of the cabinet and settle in.

csk

I think I’m from the same generation but I was raised to watch and critique movies by a member of the previous. I’m getting ready to show this to my 13 year old. She is frightened of the dark outside and a few years ago made me turn off a low grade version of Jane Eyre because of spooky laughter. However, now that she can stay home alone she has been watching Stranger Things and Jaws without batting an eye. I’m afraid the moment to scare this member of the next generation with The Haunting may have passed!

(PS- I’m glad you liked the wall scene!!)

I think some things translate well to film and some don't. The trouble is the source material. The Haunting of Hill House is a book that hinges on things being creepy and unsettling, off-kilter and that feeling of dread you can't voice. It's a masterful work, but then, how are you supposed to show dread for an hour and a half on screen? The audience gets bored and the popcorn runs out. It makes me sad they go for cheap jump scares instead. If you haven't read the book, it's worth a read, but I definitely agree that the movie is lackluster.

Did you see the original Haunting? From your description I thought you’d be describing a remake. I think the original is all about conveying the evil atmosphere by being off-kilter. I picked it for CSK’s LTC tracker because I thought it was creepy without resorting to the cheap thrills of more recent movies. I must admit I haven’t seen it in s few years though I just read the book this summer. Well, listened to an audio book in the car! But with the exception of the bloody walls, the walk outside, and changing Mrs Markham’s character around, I thought it was as a pretty faithful adaptation of the story AND it’s dread. I’m very sympathetic to problems of poor adaptations. 99% of the time the movie can not compare to the book. For me, this is one of the times when I feel it comes close. I wonder what Jackson thought of it?