Product: The Haunting [VHS] (1999)
Rating: 1.0
One star only for two reasons...
In 1959, "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson was published. Jackson was one of 20th century America's greatest writers, and "...Hill House" stands with some of the best of the British ghost stories as one of the finest, most enigmatic and chilling works in this genre.In 1963, Robert Wise, with an obvious nod to the great low-budget horror films of Jacques Tournier(sp?), directed the 1st movie version of this film: "The Haunting". The film retained much of the mystery and strangeness of the novel... is this house truly haunted, or is Eleanor out of her tiny little mind? As in the book, this is really left for the viewer to decide. Wise's version of "The Haunting" is, in my opinion, still one of the most frightening and unnerving films ever made. The cast (Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Russ Tamblyn and Richard Johnson) were superb, but took second stage to the house itself. As did Tournier, Wise relied (wisely!) on what one DID NOT see to chill.No monsters, ghosts, etc. are ever seen, just a truly haunting atmosphere made real by odd lighting, camera angles and VERY minimalist '60's special effects (my God, that scene with the face in the woodwork STILL gives me nightmares 30+ years after 1st seeing it... really, this bit has my vote as the most chilling scene ever put on film... if you've seen the original film, you know what I mean!!).Enter 1999. Hollywood, in it's infinite wisdom, decides to take a great story and a great film and remake it! Hiring a hack director (Jan de Bont), and an idiotic screenwriter (don't even remember his name), they changed the story and relied wholly on special effects to turn this masterpiece into a freak show. There is none of the suspense or feeling of dread that the book and the original movie held left, just one constant "shock" after another, in a storyline that is not only stupid, but doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Utterly pathetic..."Zero stars" is not an option, but even so, I would give this film "one" anyway because 1) The special effects aren't half bad, and 2) Catherine Zeta-Jones is SO easy on the eyes!!Other than that, a waste of time. Rent or buy the original version, watch it on a dark, stormy night with the lights off, and see what a truly great "haunted house" film SHOULD be!