Product: The Haunting [VHS] (1999)
Rating: 4.0
somehow, it's good
The Haunting is not for everyone. Basically if you like a castle setting with an abundance of special effects involving statues coming to life, unexplainable creeps and howls throughout the night and a storyline that centers around children, murders and a group of unsuspecting people having to persevere a night of both mental and physical pain and suffering, you'll eat this stuff alive. Me? I have a weakness for these kind of movies. For 1999, they really took the horror genre to unimaginable heights. This movie holds up and looks very impressive.Of course you can't have the good without the bad! This would explain the several less than enthusiastic reviews here on amazon. While I truly don't think it'd be fair to give the movie a 1-star rating, the obvious low point is unquestionably the acting. Some of is borders on horrendous. I won't spoil the ending but come on, Lili Taylor's a fantastic actress (and by the way she's the one who receives the most attention since the story focuses on her character so be prepared for that) but some of her reactions to the dangers and unknowns is really awful and questionable (the ending in particular).Of course what helps the Haunting tremendously are the several big name actors and actresses that star in it. Catherine Zeta Jones (who's once again, hotter than a picnic in Sydney), Liam Neeson who's recently gotten even more popular thanks to his successful Taken series, and Owen Wilson who plays a dorky and out of place guy wrapped up in a haunted house dilemma. Basically all these characters come together for the purpose of research because they have their own personal demons that need straightened out. Yes it's weird they'd come to a haunted house of all places but uh... the storyline should explain why (but maybe not convincingly or clearly, hehe).Overall the Haunting is a pretty cool movie. It does several things amazingly well. Atmosphere, scares, a mysterious story, suspense... but the one problem is easily the lack of interesting acting all around. Anyone that likes this film would probably love Silent Hill (both the movie and video game). I sense a strong similarity between the two films.