The Haunting

Alot of people hate on this movie. But since it has come out on my birthday in the summer of 1999 I've loved it. I know it's goofy. But it's one of the only big budget Hollywood scare fests. And although it's not very scary or even very suspenseful it lacks something genre films desperately need, it's absolute fun. A genuine rush of pure entertainment. Starring Liam Neeson, Lili Taylor, Owen Wilson and scene stealer Catherine Zeta Jones. The film centers on a group of characters who are unwittingly participating on a study on fear in a giant grotesquely beautiful mansion with a sketchy past. The film is not subtle at all and when the floodgates of paranormal activity begin. It's a barrage of CGI that has everything from furniture to stone sculptures springing to life and attacking. Like I said before the movie it's a ton of fun and a truly rare example of an imaginative Hollywood reimagining with a budget so that the director of Speed and Twister can do everything his little heart desires. One of my faves. Budget: $80M Box Office: $180M 9/10

It's not that bad, it could have been worse. I’m left with very contradictory feelings about it. I’m not entirely sure what I felt after watching it. On one hand, I’m unsettled—perhaps a little stunned—because I knew I was going to see something very different from the original, and as a remake it certainly doesn’t fit that definition: it strays so far from the 1963 version that this modern take could easily work as a completely independent film. Deep down, that was something I already expected, so I can’t say I was especially disappointed. In fact, I genuinely liked it. It doesn’t excite me, nor is it a great film, but it entertains me, and that is enough. I never get bored during its two-hour runtime. The story remains at least mildly interesting throughout, even while being so different from the classic version, which I personally love. I wasn’t expecting a masterpiece, and thankfully I didn’t get my hopes up. There are disappointments, of course, especially in the way the investigator character changes—Dr. David Marrow, played here by Liam Neeson. This version of him doesn’t work for me at all. He loses almost everything that made him charismatic, and that affects the film considerably. Even so, I admit this “modern” version does have something in its favor: it is much richer narratively, with a different subplot, a conflict that changes enough, and a story with more narrative layers. In terms of plot, it is arguably more curious than the original, but less reflective. And although I still like this screenplay overall, it also betrays much of the essence of Robert Wise and Nelson Gidding. Here, the tension between the rational and the supernatural does not exist in the same way. Julie Harris’s Eleanor was essential to that concept, because her psychology and emotional fragility gave the story depth. With Lili Taylor, that emotional complexity disappears, or at least does not retain the same richness. That hurts the film, because what fascinated me before here becomes just a simple “fine". The approach is ultimately what hurts it the most. As I said, the original was far more reflective and thrived on ambiguity. Here, however, it leans toward something more infantilized and direct. It is far more fantastical, exaggerated, and caricatured. The supernatural treatment is more visually spectacular, and it works on a surface level, but the mystery that Wise created is gone. The horror is not the same. Before, the fear was subtler, more natural, more believable, and more psychological. Here, it tries to achieve something similar, but the result is the opposite. The screenplay is obviously not left untouched. The dialogue is simpler and less inspired. The main elements of the central story remain, but the brilliance disappears. It is the same narrative foundation—almost—but reinterpreted in a more spectacular and less sophisticated way. Where I do think it earns points, however, is in its visual presentation. It does not have the black-and-white expressionism, but visually it may actually be more interesting. The production design is immersive, bigger, and more striking. The house still has a strong presence and constantly holds my attention. The characters are what bothers me the most at first, but little by little I connect with them more and get to know them better. I end up gaining some respect for them. The problem is that I never become fully invested in them, and that happens most clearly with the protagonist. The rest work well enough—they are decent characters—but even then, I still think Liam Neeson’s role is atrocious, not because of the actor, but because the character is so poorly written and underdeveloped. It is pure entertainment and something quite commercial. It does not keep me up at night or move me deeply, but it always has my attention. The ghostly elements are okay, and that matters, because curiously, this version has all the qualities the previous one lacked—and lacking them is what made the original almost perfect. It’s a good film to watch on a random afternoon. It is far from having the same depth, mystery, and elegance, but it is not a complete failure.