Best movie of this year hands down!

Lack of good storyline.

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Can it really be that I have never seen this before? Bit surprising if true but seemingly so, perhaps the fairly generic title is to blame and in my mind I had always confused it with Legend of Hell House (1973). Very good though the Matheson scripted film is, I find I prefer this. Richard Johnson is splendid in the central chief ghost hunter (he even reminds me a little of my late ghost hunting father!) although I was a little disappointed he lacked all the usual paraphernalia. Where are the tape recorders, temperature gauges, camera equipment etc? Well this is a stripped down, full on spooky tale that concentrates on the main four chapters and their experiences of the house and very well done it is too. Claire Bloom especially shines. From the very opening with the measured and effective voice-over, through the really scary mostly sound sourced effects until the scariest spiral staircase in history and the inevitable denouement, this is a great 'old dark house' mystery that really grips tight.

THE HAUNTING is a horror drama about experiences of a small group of people who investigate paranormal phenomena in a haunted house. It is based on the 1959 novel "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson.Dr. Markway narrates the history of the 90-year-old Hill House, which was constructed by Hugh Crain as a home for his wife. His wife and other women who were staying in that house have mysteriously died. The house is shrouded in secrets and mysteries. Dr. Markway wishes to study the reported paranormal activity at Hill House. He has assembled a team of several people, but only two members of the team(two young women) has appeared in the house. There is also a skeptical young man who should inherit the house. During their first night in the house, they are terrified by supernatural occurrences. However, Eleanor, an unhappy spinster, is beginning to feel a strange connection with Hill House...Mr. Wise has tried to cover almost all aspects of a mysterious or paranormal story, such as a scandal, investigation, skepticism and madness. He has blended a paranormal appearance with everyday aspirations and the traumas. The direction is good, but the pace is rather slow. A neo-Gothic scenery fully corresponds with a dark and cold atmosphere. The fear blends into a certain shape of freedom in this film. This is interesting, because the story is basically tragic.Julie Harris as Eleanor "Nell" Lance is a distraught young woman, who is obsessed with an idea to change her life. She has a friend for the first time in her life, next to her is a man who pays attention to her, but she begins to hallucinate and escapes into the unknown. Her scars of the past have attacked her uncertain character. Ms. Harris has offered a good performance.Richard Johnson as Dr. John Markway not fully answered to his task as a guide and calm voice of reason. Claire Bloom as Theodora "Theo" is a good support to Eleanor. However, her character has not developed. She is trapped between her fear and a haunted house. Russ Tamblyn as Luke Sanderson is a skeptical young man who changes his character in relation to plots and culminations.A rich idea has offered a poor product.

I really wanted to like 'The Haunting' because I am a sucker for horror movies with a slow buildup and I had read good things about this one beforehand, but it honestly didn't do anything for me and I'm very surprised about that myself considering its status as one of the greats of the genre.This movie feels dated and I'd be surprised if it could really scare a modern-day viewer in any way at all. There is nothing ghostly going on here except for some late night banging on doors and walls plus some freaky noises. That's about it and that's not enough for a 'horror' movie that runs for almost two hours. Well, maybe if the acting were exceptionally inspired, but it isn't. While the acting from the whole cast is not all bad, it also doesn't stand out, and the dialogues between the characters are mostly bland.I didn't care for any of the characters at all. They are all so unappealing and they act so weirdly, especially the main character, Eleanor Lance, who is one of the most annoying and psychotic persons I have ever seen on screen, and I don't mean that in a good way. She's just distracting and kept me from fully appreciating the good things about this movie that are certainly there.You see, from a technical standpoint, the movie is very well-made. There are many shots to be marveled at, such as a tracking shot up a spiral staircase or inventive shots of doors getting pushed in and such. I can certainly see that 'The Haunting' inspired many movies that followed and I appreciate it for that, but it's just not an effective horror movie for me.

We had a stormy weekend here so we decided to watch some films from my favorite genre...classic horror. I had picked up a TCM collection on DVD that includes a very nice sharp print of 'The Haunting' (1963). It was an okay film, I hadn't seen it in decades. Overall I was disappointed. I remembered it as being much better than it seemed to me now. Perhaps the buildup from all the positive things I've heard and read about it over the years since that last viewing had my expectations too high. I'm not saying it was a bad film, just that I didn't feel it was a great horror film.Here are some reasons I was disappointed. I usually like Julie Harris and I can see what she was trying to do here depicting a damaged, overly sheltered, woman, yet I found her character irritating and unsympathetic. I really didn't care what became of her. She acted too me much like she did as the immature young girl she played in 'The Member of the Wedding' (1952). I felt this part called for something more. I believe a more versatile actress like Deborah Kerr could have taken the character and film to a higher level. Also, there were long stretches of unnecessary and to me boring dialog between the scarce scary moments a horror film calls for. On the plus side when it was scary it did it the way I like, with atmosphere and by forcing the viewers to use their imaginations...not seeing just what is beyond that door making all the noise. I prefer this to the in-your-face gore and senseless violence of many more current horror films.For me 'The Uninvited' (1944), The Innocents (1961), 'Lady in White (1988), 'The Changeling' (1980) and 'Ghost Story' (1981) continue to be my favorite films of this type. I even liked 'The Others' from 2001 better. I realize this movie has many fans, these are simply my thoughts on it.