The Haunting
No, not that one.

"Where are we going today, Mr. Peabody?"

"Well, Sherman, my lad, we are setting the Wayback Machine for 1963. This was the time of great transition in movie making. Color film was becoming less expensive to use, but many filmmakers still knew the art of black and white. They also knew how to leave something to our imagination and encourage us to scare ourselves."

You know, I wanted to like 1999's The Haunting. I really did. I sat my butt down in the theater and the director and producers had me. Then they proceeding to truly fuck things up until I left the theater in disgust. They had such great material to work with. What exactly was their problem? Hollywood-itis, I suspect. And I have the cure for that.

The original Haunting, based on Shirley Jackson's classic novel The Haunting of Hill House, scarred me for life. I mean that in a good way. It's nice to visit it again and even nicer to discover it still gives me the creeps. Eleanor Vance (Julie Harris), a who has a tenuous grip on reality at best, decides she needs an adventure after her mother's death. Shut up and cloistered, caring for her invalid mother for eleven years, Eleanor has some serious issues. Invited by a psychic researcher, Dr. Markway (Richard Johnson), to stay in an aged New England mansion, she jumps at the chance. Once at the mansion, she meets the charming caretaker and his lovely bride (former natives of Transylvania, not doubt). Then the rest of the gang enters the picture. Eleanor discovers she shares a bathroom with sophisticated, feline Theodora (just Theodora, played by Claire Bloom). Soon she meets Dr. Markway (Richard Johnson) and Luke (Russ Tamblyn), a ne'er do well who hopes to live comfortably from the proceeds of Hill House when he inherits it.

Dr. Markway is an excellent construct of how science was viewed at the time the film was made. He is bright, hopeful, and eager. He is sure nothing happens within the confines of Hill House that can't be explained with scientific method. Luke is the rich playboy, but he's not so greedy as to be stupid about the events surrounding him. He adds much-needed humor is the tensest of moments. And then there's Theodora. Her attraction to Eleanor is handled very skillfully (remember, this was the early 60's). You come to the realization of her bisexuality and her intensive psychic skills gradually.

While Theodora was invited because of her extreme psychic sensitivity, Eleanor was included, seemingly, for one poltergeist episode in her youth. However, it is Eleanor who immediately connects with the house. She and Dr. Markway speak of it as a living thing. But while the good doctor is thinking is abstract, scientific terms, Eleanor means it quite literally. Both frightened of and attracted to the crumbling manse, we hear her inner monologue. We also hear her detonating sanity and her neurotic, compulsive need to belong to someone or something. While it can start to feel a little claustrophobic, hearing Eleanor's thoughts and her constant need to reflect how everything affects her, that's the point. The extensive use of close-ups and murky shadows of the black and white film stock work together to make you feel hemmed in, trapped. The house itself is full of odd angles and disjointed hallways, added to the atmosphere of chaos and no escape. And the ghosts? Sound alone, my friend. The seed of terror is planted and fertilized with poundings, cries, laughter, and whispers.

Most of this movie takes place in Eleanor and the viewer's mind. Nothing is spelled out for you. You are experiencing what the character experience, learning when they do, becoming frightened as they do. You never know what to expect next. Smart, crisp dialog adds to the suspense. These aren't a bunch of stupid people who deserve to be taken out of the gene pool (as we experience in "scary" movies today). They are all intelligent, if flawed, people, and because you share their experiences, you come to care for them. By the end of this movie, you feel jittery and nervous. Was Hill House alive? Was it inhabited by tortured spirits, or was the house itself diseased? Did Eleanor finally find what she was looking for, or was she tricked? Good luck getting to sleep.

DROOL FACTOR: Well, I wouldn't say "drool". Young Russ Tamblyn is cute and Richard Johnson is handsome in a very post-50's, stalwart kind of way.

GROSS-OUT FACTOR: Due to the times and director Robert Wise's restraint, this is kept to a minimum. Little discreet trickles of blood, but that's it.

STRONG CHICK FACTOR: Theodora's a pretty with-it chick, but she gets a little squealy during the house's attacks. I was willing to forgive her because of her ESP. Eleanor is a narcissistic navel-gazer, which makes her hard to like. But all things considered, you eventually come to care for her.

-- Carrie Rock

The Haunting is currently available on video.

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