Later that night, Marrow earnestly records the day's events, recalling his observation of his subjects' fear. Taylor tries hard to make us understand poor Nell's predicament, her sense of not really having a home either literally or spiritually. But even though Taylor's a wonderful actress, it's impossible to read much on her face when there's so much heavy-handed scare action roiling around her. She likes to look at them in the night as she's trying to go to sleep, even going so far as to implore them to tell her their secrets. Statues of people and animals come to life, pulling their victims into pools deep enough to drown in or threatening to peck their eyes out.
Horrific specters burst through windows and grab at people.
In fact, it's barely enough to engage you, even on the most superficial level, for an hour or two. Hill House is supposed to be a repository of unspeakable secrets, a place where evil lurks. Instead, De Bont's got it haunting as fast as it can. All rights reserved.