Product: The Haunting [VHS] (1999)
Rating: 2.0
This HAUNTING is a flop
Being a fan of horror movies and having never seen the original 1963 film, I found myself eager to catch this remake, which looked interesting from the theatrical trailer. However, I could have never been more mistaken. THE HAUNTING, with its expensive special effects and large budget, looks more like a 'tamed' episode from TV's Goosebumps than an actual feature film. What's worse is that this incredibly dull chiller lacks what many of these types of films require to work...chills! Infact, the only scary thing about this flick is how DreamWorks managed to green-light this expensive dud into production. The paper-thin plot finds a psychological researcher tricking a group of people to staying a night at a haunted mansion in hopes of studying them and their reactions. While the cast seems promising, they are surprisingly wasted...Neeson especially, with Catherine Zeta Jones offering a pretty face to look at, but nothing more. And surprisingly, I never thought that director Jan DeBont could top the horrendous Speed 2: Cruise Control, but once again I was wrong. All in all, THE HAUNTING was one of 1999's biggest Hollywood disappointments and, in my opinion, I would seriously consider that you walk passed this one at the video store. DROUGH!