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The haunting
Threat advisory: Elevated - Significant risk of entertaining activities
Movie propaganda
Some houses are born bad.
From the team that brought you Twister comes a supernatural tale of terror.
Dark and forbidding, Hill House sits alone. It was built 130 years ago by textile baron Hugh Crain for his wife and the children they would never have. Instead it was filled with stories of tragedy, which over time turned into ominous tales of death that left the house uninhabited... or so it seemed.
A century later, Doctor David Marrow (Liam Neeson), intrigued by the mansion's storied past, has drawn three people to hill house, for what he tells them is a sleep disorder study: Theo (Catherine Zeta-Jones), a woman of the world whose outward bravado isn't all it seems; Luke (Owen Wilson), the cynic of the group who is the first to suspect that doctor marrow's study has nothing to do with sleeping; and the most sensitive of the group, Nell (Lili Taylor). From the moment of her arrival, Nell seems mysteriously drawn to the mansion... and the attraction is frighteningly mutual.
Before long, the ghosts of the past manifest themselves in terrifying visitations that might explain why the group was warned that no one stays in the house in the night... in the dark. The walls of hill house are upright... the floors, firm. But the locals know - and we will soon discover - that something walks here... and it walks alone.
Also starring Bruce Dern and Marian Seldes. Directed by Jan de Bont (Twister, Speed) and produced by Susan Arnold and Donna Arkoff Roth (Forces of nature) and Colin Wilson (The lost world: Jurassic Park), based upon the book The haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.
Intelligence analyst
Special Agent Matti
Theatrical report
Hmmm... some things that go bump in the night, but there are so many lights on that you wouldn't know it's night, so the bumping isn't all that scary.First rule of scariness: turn off the lights!
Not that The haunting won't give you a few chills and thrills, just... well... Alien it ain't. Don't get me wrong, I was entertained, thrilled and horrified (it is a horror/thriller, after all), but so much money was spent on the CGI that someone felt they had to see what they'd paid for. Bad move, Batboy. Remember the first rule of scariness: turn off the lights!
*Sigh*
Other than that, the sets are awesome, the acting is good, the script is ok and the plot is... adequate. If you haven't seen a horror/thriller for a while, you'll enjoy it. If you saw The rage: Carrie 2, you'll enjoy it. If you just watched Alien for the 47th time... well... time for number 48.
Security censorship classification
M
Not for public release in Australia before date
23 September 1999
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