Product: The Haunting [VHS] (1999)
Rating: 1.0
I wish there was an option to give this 0 stars... *sigh*
Ugh. Let me start this off by saying I'm an RABID horror fan and have been for over 20 years - I love ALL types of movies, from the classics to the painfully dull bargain bin selections. I knew when this one came out in theaters, to stay FAR AWAY and not waste my money on the price of admission. A year or so later, I finally caught it on cable and figured, "Oh, why not, I'll watch it." Bad choice - I lost just about 2 hours of precious time I could have spent picking out bellybutton lint or cleaning my cat's litterbox. I'm trying to locate a copy of the book, so I can read it again and see just how badly this Shirley Jackson story was ruined, as my memory of the original is quite fuzzy. All I know is that she must be rolling around in her grave, waiting for a chance to get her hands around the director's neck.What a steaming pile this movie is... since when did using CGI become the only way to get "scares" out of the audience? I miss the horror of the 80s, 70s, 60s and so on... back then, people actually had relatively fresh ideas (in most cases) and could execute them in a creative way. Could you imagine if the Exorcist had been done today, by someone fond of CGI? The actors wouldn't have had to spend grueling hours in a freezing cold room, with REAL breath rising like steam from their lips - the director could have had the breath drawn in digitally, like in THIS stinker, and the effect would have been absolutely ruined.Bah... ugly moaning cherubs (Same moans used over and over too! Tacky!), horrible cliches, huge old guys and a monstrously large mansion you just KNOW nobody's lived in - this movie blows. I'm gonna go watch the ORIGINAL movie from the 60's now, and I suggest you do the same. Avoid this movie... it's a serious waste of perfectly good time AND money if you rent it.