Product: The Haunting [VHS] (1999)
Rating: 1.0
Some things are better let alone
I just can't find the words to tell people how bad this movie is. Knowing Shirley Jacksons brilliant novel and knowing the also brilliant movie by Robert Wise from 1963 I was kind of sceptic when I heard that "Mr. No-Content" Jan DeBont would direct a remake of that movie. And believe me, I was not disappointed. They simplified the story (mabye Hollywood thinks that we, the audience, are too stupid for a psychological ghost story). They erased every psychological aspect from the story, which is quite an achievement when you do a movie based on a book that was all about psychology. They miscast all the actors. Especially Liam Neeson was not worth his money - stoically saying his lines like a zombie. They threw in completely useless and childish looking special effects. They built a house which wouldn't have been built the way it is shown in the movie back in the victorian times. They basically did everything wrong in this movie. When will Hollywood producers learn that real thrills come from the things you DON'T see (like shown in Robert Wise's brilliant adaption of the book) and not from throwing in hundreds of special effects?Well, this absolutely horrible movie shows us two things: 1) ...that everybody should stay away from this movie 2) ...that cameramen should not be allowed to become directors.