Product: The Haunting [VHS] (1999)
Rating: 4.0
............flaunting?
THE EERIE whispers surrounding you [DTS or Dolby Surround version] once the "children" come out to play is something you cannot experience in the theatre. It's a spectacular effect and causes an instant kneejerk, especially when viewing this alone, lights out, and maybe just a small glow in your fireplace. I'm not going to pinpoint this for you, but you can't miss it - so there! [Yes, there is a SHAMELESS flaunting with Special Effects and CGI present in this one, and it works!]Jan de Bont's version is a seat puckering roller-coaster ride though this never-never land for the adult kid! Strange though, the macabre, wedding-cake of a house is real, but looks fake! Eugenio Zanetti's sets, fake though they are, come to life ominously, especially the wonderful things in the green house - it's very much like a good, video game.Performances? LILI TAYLOR, so underrated, and still purposefully avoiding commercial traps: the movie belongs to her. Other [Catherine Zeta-Jones, Liam Neeson, etc.] hover. Would have been interesting to have peopled the house with ghosts of the original cast - that's another movie. The Robert Wise movie of 1963 has no bearing on this one, and should not be viewed or compared to this commercially effective product. Warning - country air can be hazardous!Companion piece? Don't miss "The Legend of Hell House" with [Pamela Franklin, of "The Innocents" fame].