tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2795601141833900338.post8274978085423542481..comments2023-04-03T05:11:10.672-07:00Comments on THE MOVIE PROJECTOR: Unseen Menace at Hill House: Robert Wise's The HauntingR. D. Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05045080274131718843noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2795601141833900338.post-26009774827289646712009-09-02T21:41:02.333-07:002009-09-02T21:41:02.333-07:00R.D. -- wow, that was a perfect writeup on this gr...R.D. -- wow, that was a perfect writeup on this great film. The movie never lets off the tension -- while watching it felt as if I was holding my breath throughout, with the only catharsis being when it finally ends. <br /><br />And that's just the outermost layer of the film. The psychological and personal themes add to it such that is s superior example of what can be done with the genre.<br /><br />As John states above, that scene with the pounding on the walls scared the hell out of me and I watched it for the first time at the age of 30!<br /><br />Oh, and avoid the remake at all costs, as they replace the unknown dread of the original with a bunch of hacky CGI effects and throw any subtlety waaaaay out the window.Troy Olsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14843741571724231174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2795601141833900338.post-49865865966227898602009-09-01T11:26:33.802-07:002009-09-01T11:26:33.802-07:00A fascinating take on one of the most powerful gho...A fascinating take on one of the most powerful ghost stories of all time. I don't know what it is about The Haunting, but it still has the power to frighten me all these years later. It really shows the progress Wise made from the beginning of his career and the influence those early Lewton films had on him. As you say, the emphasis is markedly on characterization, and that's what makes his horror films so frightening.Joshuahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02455492676909216509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2795601141833900338.post-25105649818295511942009-08-31T14:18:56.345-07:002009-08-31T14:18:56.345-07:00This sounds like a great film and after reading yo...This sounds like a great film and after reading your review I will have to track it down - I do admire Val Lewton and to have him working with Robert Wise is an intriguing combination. I was surprised to realise just what a wide range of films Wise made, and really that he isn't better known, when you think how many classics he directed. I'll be following the blogathon at the Octopus Cinema site with great interest. JudyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2795601141833900338.post-61241693441965409492009-08-31T10:26:48.801-07:002009-08-31T10:26:48.801-07:00R.D. a great essay on what I personally consider t...R.D. a great essay on what I personally consider the best ghost story ever made into a film. This film scared the hell out of me as young teenager, home alone one Saturday night! The pounding on the walls was more horrific than Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers could ever be. <br />“One reason this approach is so effective is that it requires the viewer to be more than just a passive recipient of horrifying images; it makes the viewer become an active participant in his or her own terrorization. The greatest source of fear then becomes fear itself. In The Haunting this is true not only of the audience but of the characters in the movie as well. The monstrous force in Hill House seems intent on teasing and terrifying these people without ever revealing itself. The movie's emphasis therefore is less on action than on characterization, less on what happens than on the effect events have on the people involved. This is especially true of Nell, and although The Haunting is technically an ensemble piece, it is her character above all else that powers the movie.”<br />You get to the heart of the horror right here in this statement. <br />Julie Harris, as you rightly praise, is such a wonderful actress. She comes across as possessing an inner strength and is certainly one of the great talents of the American theater. She also possesses a subtle beauty that grows on you. Even in a throwaway film from the 1960’s that I recently saw called “The Split” with Jim Brown, Ernest Borgnine and others, where she played against type as the leader of a gang of criminals she stole the show.<br />Robert Wise was a versatile director who for many years was maligned by critics for works like The Sound of Music and The Sand Pebbles. He deserves better treatment as you so aptly prove here.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01808503055317962289noreply@blogger.com