The Haunting was released on 23 July 1999. Normally, I wouldn’t be talking about it in an anniversary post. But there really is nothing else good today that relates to psychotronic film. And I like the film well enough.
In particular, Lili Taylor is wonderful in the lead role. And it provides a very compelling story — a surprisingly close rendering of The Haunting of Hill House (though not as close as the 1963 film) with a wonderful back story. Creepy moments abound in the first half of the film. It’s only in the second half that it becomes less compelling.
But I always applaud big-budget horror films. Hollywood has sadly neglected the genre. But there is a catch: horror rarely needs a large budget. In this case, a fair amount of money went to the sets, which are fabulous. I don’t like it when horror films take place in suburban houses, which I understand is often necessary with a low budget. So any money spent on a great location — especially for a haunted house film — is good!
Hollywood wastes a lot of money on special effects in horror films. Look at the scariest part of The Others — just a knock at the door! (As I recall, they spent half the budget to create the fog.) Excellent film, by the way. You should definitely watch it!
This is where there are problems with The Haunting. I would bet that David Self’s first draft was better. The producers seem to be flushing their special effects budget on a number of scenes in the last half hour. The film is, at that point, more action than horror.
But again: that’s a small price to pay. The first half of the film is excellent. And despite the ending getting tedious, the mystery unfolds well.
Should you run out and watch it? It’s a solid haunted house film, so I say yes. Here it is:
The Haunting (1999) poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.
