Today we have a favorite of mine, The Haunting! One of my favorite back-to-back movie marathons to do is 1999’s horror double feature of The Haunting and The House on Haunted Hill, both of which are remakes. The Haunting is a movie that I really do love. I remember seeing this during the summer before I started college and I loved it. It is also one of those movies that I have upgraded each time a new and better version comes out.
How to Download The Haunting
The Haunting was released on July 23, 1999. You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. If you like xxxx, check out also his other films- film one and film two.
The Movie Review
A Modern Take on a Classic Story
Even though I love this movie, I have never made the effort to watch the original from the 60s. However, I have watched the Netflix series, The Haunting of Hill House multiple times which is a modernization of this classic story. It is hard to compare the movie and the TV show, actually, it is kind of unfair, but if I had to pick which one I liked the best, I would probably have to say the TV show.
The Haunting Begins at Hill House
Anyway, let’s take a trip to this big ass scary house to try and cure our insomnia. That is not because the movie is boring, but that is what brings Nell, Theo, and Luke to Hill House. Nell’s life is a mess, her mother has died and her witch with a capital B sister is kicking her out of the house! Nell sees an ad for an insomnia study that will see her be able to have a place to stay, in Hill House and also make some money.
The Truth Behind Dr. Marrow’s Experiment
Well, this is not an insomnia study. Liam Neeson’s (Schindler’s List, Taken) Dr. Marrow is actually conducting an experiment in fear and has our three main characters come here to study their response to various things in this creepy old mansion. Nell is a bit odd, but likable, you can tell that she has a good heart, she is played by Lili Taylor. Theo is played by Catherine Zeta Jones (Ocean’s Twelve, The Terminal). While Nell may be shy and kind of naive, Theo is the complete opposite, but the two of them bond. Then we have Luke, played by Owen Wilson (Wedding Crashers, Marry Me)…. who is pretty much just playing Owen Wilson.
The Haunting History of Hill House
To get their imaginations running wild so he can study their fear, Dr. Marrow tells them a story. Dr. Marrow tells them the story of Hugh Crane, the tyrant who built this house for his wife and children, only for all the children to be stillborn and his wife kill herself! Turns out that this is no ghost story and that the place is haunted and Nell has a deep past connection to the house.
What we have here is a haunted house kind of movie and a damn fine one too. While we have an interesting core cast of characters, Hill House is like a character too. This is one of the best looking haunted houses I have seen in a movie. From its creepy rooms to rooms that make you say wow! The set designs here are fantastic, truly some of the best I have seen in a movie like this.
The Haunting (1999) – A Cult Favorite Horror
Some of the special effects are a bit dated, but for a movie from 1999, there are some impressive CGI scenes that I think still do look pretty good to this day. I remember being blown away by the way the ghosts moved the bedsheets when I first saw this as it was some of the best and most real looking CGI I had seen at the time. These days, as I said, some things do look dated, but I have seen worse CGI in some modern movies so it is hard to be too critical.
The Haunting from what I have read and heard from others who have seen it, is a bit of an acquired taste. Those who like this movie (like me) tend to really like it, but there are some who just do not like this movie at all. For me, it is a solid 8/10 kind of movie and a movie that I have seen many, many times and never gotten bored of. Although, when I do watch this back-to-back with The House on Haunted Hill, I always watch that second as it is a more fun and cheesy movie.
