The Haunting

1963

1h 52m

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

668

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Horror

Dr. John Markway invites three distinct individuals to the eerie and isolated Hill House to be subjects for a sleep disorder study. The unfortunate guests discover that Markway is far more interested in the sinister mansion itself — and they soon see the true nature of its horror.

Directors

Robert Wise

Writers

Shirley Jackson(novel by)

Nelson Gidding(screenplay by)

Stars

Julie Harris

Claire Bloom

Richard Johnson

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Videos7

Photos68

Top cast

Eleanor Lance

Theodora

Dr. John Markway

Luke Sanderson

Mrs. Sanderson

Mrs. Dudley

Grace Markway

Mr. Dudley

Carrie Fredericks

Eldridge Harper

First Mrs. Crain (uncredited)

Frieda Knorr

Second Mrs. Crain (uncredited)

Amy Dalby

Abigail Crain at 80 years old (uncredited)

Rosemary Dorken

Abigail Crain's Nurse's Companion (uncredited)

Verina Greenlaw

Dora Fredericks (uncredited)

Howard Lang

Hugh Crain (uncredited)

Paul Maxwell

Bud Fredericks (uncredited)

Susan Richards

Nurse (uncredited)

Directors

Robert Wise

Writers

Shirley Jackson(novel by)

Nelson Gidding(screenplay by)

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User reviews4

Review

Featured review

9/10

**A simple film with a basic script, but which scares us in such a way that it still has an influence on horror productions today.** Movies about haunted houses? Whoever saw one of them, saw them all… right? I like to think not. And this film is probably the grandfather of a good number of them! Currently forgotten due to the passage of time, the film had a much weaker remake in 1999, and I believe that it is itself a rewrite of “House on Haunted Hill”, released three years earlier, in 1959, and which also has already deserved a new production in recent years. The impact of this film on the industry and horror genre was notable and continues to have some echoes. The story begins by introducing us to Hill House, a fateful mansion shrouded in a cloak of mystery and a past of death. Unlike the modern remake, this film never explores the origins of that evil, it simply accepts it and places the characters inside the house, under the pretext of a paranormal investigation clumsily led by a parapsychologist obsessed with proving the veracity of haunting phenomena and the afterlife. As a story told, the film is frankly poor and leaves us with more questions than answers. We are presented with a psychological experiment conducted without criteria and which, if it had been true, would have shocked the scientific community and led to a variety of legal consequences. Do I need to say that the study would have to stop at the first sign of danger to the mental health of one of the participants? Issues that seem logical, such as the fact that the subjects volunteer in writing, after fully knowing what will be done and the risks, are put aside, as are the hostile attitudes of the caretakers, who are not satisfied with the additional work, or the passivity of Eleanor's family, which only appears to show how uprooted the character would feel. The cast is not very well known but makes a commendable effort. Lois Maxwell is perhaps the most easily known name, but she appears for a very short time and doesn't add much with her participation. She gives life, moreover, to the most apparently sane person in the midst of that madness. And I'm not saying that I don't believe in the supernatural: in fact I do, but I'm more afraid of the living than the dead and I don't accept any nonsense. It's Julie Harris who dominates the screen with an inspired and crazy interpretation of someone living on the brink of a mental breakdown. She is friendly, and we agonize with her scares and fear. Claire Bloom also does an interesting, more restrained and sarcastic job. If the audience is expecting fluttering sheets or skeletons animated by nylon strings, it's best to forget: the film does not use carnival tricks, preferring to intelligently use sound, image, shadows and camera angles to create an atmosphere of tension and threat. The result is frankly positive: when we don't see what scares us, we don't know what to expect, and that intimidates us. Knocks on wood, heavy footsteps, punches against doors, muffled laughter, the range of sound effects is rich and was used in a creative and very credible way. The filming location, a huge English neo-Gothic mansion, is wonderful and was put to great use. All interior settings are exquisitely crafted and look authentic. The house itself is a dense, rich and mysterious character, a villain worthy of an anthology.

FilipeManuelNeto12 Sep, 2023