Product: The Haunting [VHS] (1999)
Rating: 3.0
No classic but enjoyable horror flick
Yes, the book is a classic. But the 60s adaption was boring and unscary. I dig this movie on its merit. View it solely alone and you can appreciate: 1. the super cool house, the floors, the angel heads etc are visually stunning 2. Lili as Eleanor, her performance is really enjoyable, I KNOW she's way too pretty to be the Nell of the novel but hey. 3. The creepy writing on the walls, an effective and scary deviceI think the film's flaws are: 1. The premise of "an experiment in fear' 2. The casting of Liam Neeson-he is completely lost here and gives a really poor performance 3. Catherine Zeta Jones seems like she's wandered into the wrong movie, goofy bisexual storyline. The film didn't work because it tries to explain the haunting. When left ambiguous it works. Worth seeing, but maybe not worth buying.