La Maison du diable

Robert Wise's recent passing brings "The Haunting" to mind. Less of a horror movie than a psychological thriller, it has Eleanor Lance (Julie Harris) coming to old house with several other people invited by Dr. John Markway (Richard Johnson). This is no ordinary house; it has a very disturbing history. And the answers to the creepy incidents that have taken place may be closer than anyone realizes.

What makes this movie so good is that it relies on camera angle (rather than gore and special effects, as usually seems to happen now) to create the horror. You literally can't tell when something is going to happen. The only thing that gives the movie a slightly silly feeling is the presence of Lois Maxwell (aka Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond movies) as Dr. Markway's wife Grace. Still, it's a horror classic. The 1999 remake, as far as I could tell, was deliberately trying to be silly; if so, then they sure succeeded, because that was a poor excuse for a movie. This one is the real "Haunting".

I saw this movie the summer I got out of high school. I went with a date and he about dug a hole in the arm of my sweater, it scared him that much. What makes the movie really scary is the fact that it does not have any slashers, monsters, blood and/or gore. Robert Wise scared you with camera angles, the unknown "presences" that seemed to be always lurking behind every door, and the sound effects were very effective. Filming it in black and white also made it creepier. The audiences imaginations and their own personal fears make the movie very effective. We have all experienced a frightening event at some time in our lives (dark closets, what's under the bed, what's outside the window after dark, did you hear that?, etc.) This movie plays on those feelings as you watch it. The remake was disappointing at the least. It had a great cast, but the producers/directors were trying too hard. These days, it seems that special effects can sometimes ruin a movie. There's nothing to play on ones imagination. That's why the book is usually much better than the movie. I purchased this movie on VHS a few years ago and I watch it every once in awhile in the dark (of course) when my husband is here. I don't think I could watch it alone - in the dark - in the night....

After finding this gem at the public library's VHS section, I finally received the chance to watch the 'better' version of The Haunting. With what I could recall from reading the original novel (after seeing the modern version), I found this cinematic version infinately better and denser in character exposition than the 1999 version. In this 1963 version, the ending stayed closer to what happened in the novel and that was the definitive moment of The Haunting. I can't say much for the modern version, other than it was an effects film.

What I found original in this 1963 version is that there were some clever uses of lensing effects to heighten the strangeness of Hill House. By adjusting the props in the sets so that they are off by a few degrees, it helps to unsettle the viewer.

I'm hoping for a dvd release so that I can own both versions of the film. In the meantime, read the novel. There were a few details left out.

Perhaps this is a movie that appeals only to certain people. Perhaps it has to be viewed at a particular moment in life. Perhaps it's just too dated for many to get into it. In any case, it's disappointing to see how many simply find it a waste of time.

I saw this under special circumstances. I was about 12 years old and my parents were out for the evening when it came on TV. I didn't know anything about it but considered myself quite the connoisseur of horror and sci-fi shown at the small local theater. I figured it would be along the line of Universal monsters and Roger Corman fare, nothing particularly notable.

It scared the absolute daylights out of me. Sitting alone the in house at night with the creepy sounds and images emanating from that little B&W screen got to me badly. Even after my parents were home and I went to bed I found myself looking for faces in the plaster walls of my room and imagining every creak as an approaching but invisible malevolent force.

I still get it out every couple of years on a dark dreary night, and though the lines of dialog sound more stilted to my now elderly mind I can still remember the effect it had on me so many decades ago.

I had an even more intense reaction from Hitchcock's "The Birds" and I've noticed the commentary about that film to be similar to this. Perhaps you just had to be there.

When director Robert Wise works on a small scale, with oppressive and/or claustrophobic settings, and uses less than mega box office actors, his films are usually good. Examples of this would be "The Set Up," "House On Telegraph Hill," "Andromeda Strain," "Odds Against Tomorrow" and "Born To Kill". It's also the case that when this director decides to go all "epic" on us he's a windy bore. I won't name those films, but you know who you are. Fortunately, this film is in the former category. It's just five characters in a creepy house and it grabs you from the get go with an effective montage of the house's macabre history and keeps your interest with acute examinations of the personalities of the main characters and the fear of the unseen.

What makes "The Haunting" so genuinely terrifying is the subtly expressed theme: that the house gradually devours Eleanor because her sad, pathetic life encapsulates the history of Hill House. This is made even clearer in the novel, where Hugh Crain had two daughters, who hated each other, and whose lifelong feud mirrors Eleanor's loathing of her own sister. Eleanor really has had no life up to this point - as a result she is emotionally all of thirteen. She doesn't get Theo's not so subtle hints that she is attracted to her. She also doesn't get that just because Professor Markway talks to her like a human being does not mean he is attracted to her. She's like the junior high kid in love with her teacher.

It has superb performances, a credible atmosphere, and gorgeous direction and cinematography. If you are after a body count ala John Carpenter look elsewhere, but if you like your horror implied this is worth your while.