Psycho's Movie Reviews #291: The Haunting (1999)
- Feb 4, 2022
- 9 min read

The Haunting is a 1999 American horror film directed by Jan de Bont, and starring Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Owen Wilson, and Lili Taylor, with Marian Seldes, Bruce Dern, Todd Field, and Virginia Madsen appearing in supporting roles. Its plot follows a group of people who gather at a sprawling estate in western Massachusetts for an apparent volunteer study on insomnia, only to find themselves plagued by paranormal events connected to the home's grim history. Based on the 1959 novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, it is the second feature film adaptation of the source material after Robert Wise's 1963 film adaptation of the same name.
Development for The Haunting originally began as a collaboration between filmmaker Steven Spielberg and writer Stephen King, who together began writing a new adaptation of Jackson's novel, largely inspired by Wise's 1963 film version. After creative differences, the project was aborted, with King retooling his screenplay to form the 2002 miniseries Rose Red. Spielberg meanwhile commissioned a new screenplay for the project, written by David Self, to be produced under Spielberg's own studio, DreamWorks Pictures. Filming of The Haunting began in the fall of 1998, with some location shoots occurring in England at Harlaxton Manor and Belvoir Castle, though the majority of the film was shot in specially-crafted sets in Los Angeles by esteemed Argentine production designer Eugenio Zanetti.
The Haunting premiered theatrically in North America in July 1999. Though met by largely negative reviews from film critics, it was a financial success, grossing $180 million worldwide.
Plot
Eleanor "Nell" Vance, an insomniac, has cared for her invalid mother for 11 years, sharing a Boston apartment with her. After her mother dies, Nell's sister Jane and her husband Lou inherit the residence. They eject Nell to prepare for a sale. As she faces homelessness, Nell accepts an invitation to participate in an insomnia study by Dr. David Marrow at Hill House, a secluded manor house in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts. At the house, she meets Mr. and Mrs. Dudley, an eccentric pair of caretakers. Two other participants arrive: Luke Sanderson and the glamorous Theodora ("Theo"), along with Dr. Marrow and his two research assistants. Unknown to the participants, Dr. Marrow's true purpose is to study the psychological response to fear, intending to expose his subjects to terror.
During their first night, Dr. Marrow relates the story of Hill House: Its original owner, Hugh Crain, a 19th-century textile tycoon, constructed the rambling home for his wife Renee, hoping to populate it with a large family. Unfortunately, all of Crain's children were stillborns, and Renee, devastated by the multiple losses, killed herself. Crain became a recluse. Marrow's assistant is severely wounded in a freak accident and both research assistants leave for the hospital. Supernatural events begin happening, and Nell sees the ghosts of children. A large portrait of Hugh Crain is vandalized with the words "Welcome Home Eleanor" written in blood. Theo and Luke accuse Nell, claiming she is seeking attention.
Nell becomes determined to prove that the house is haunted. She finds Crain's hidden office and learns that he used extensive child labour in his cotton mills. He tortured and killed several orphans in his home, then burned their bodies in the fireplace. She surmises that these children's spirits are trapped in the house, providing Crain with an "eternal family". Crain had a second wife named Carolyn, from whom Nell is descended. Dr. Marrow is sceptical of Nell's claims but after a statue tries to drown him, he realizes Hill House is haunted. Nell reveals that she is related to Carolyn Crain and must help the children "move on" to the afterlife.
Dr. Marrow demands that everyone leave Hill House, but Hugh Crain's ghost traps them inside. Luke defaces a portrait of Crain, enraging his spirit to decapitate Luke. When Crain himself manifests, Dr. Marrow and Theo flee the house while Nell distracts him. Realizing that he thrived on the fear he created in children, Nell declares she is not afraid of him. Her declaration weakens the ghost and he is cast into a decorative bronze door depicting distressed children in a purgatory-like scene. He tries to drag Nell with him, but the children's spirits help her. As Nell dies, an image of her, posing as a motherly figure, is left in the bronze door, now surrounded by happy children.

Production
Development
Filmmaker Steven Spielberg approached horror author Stephen King in 1996 about making a haunted house film, and the two agreed that Robert Wise's 1963 film The Haunting was a benchmark of cinematic house horror. After collaborating on a screenplay partly-based on Wise's film (an adaptation of the Shirley Jackson novel The Haunting of Hill House), Spielberg and King ran into creative differences, and the project was ultimately aborted. Spielberg pushed forward with the project, commissioning first-time screenwriter David Self to write a screenplay for the film. King went on to retool his rendition of the material into the 2002 miniseries Rose Red, which shares some elements of both Wise's 1963 film, as well as Jackson's source novel.
Filming
Principal photography began on November 30, 1998, and ended April 9, 1999. Harlaxton Manor, in England, was used as the exterior of Hill House while its Great Hall served as the games room scene where Marrow comfort Nell after seeing the bloodied "Welcome Home Eleanor" writing and where Nell reveals of Hugh Crain's crimes, with the kitchen and pantry scenes done at Belvoir Castle.
The majority of the interior sets were built inside the dome-shaped hangar that once housed Hughes H-4 Hercules, near the permanently docked RMS Queen Mary steamship, in Long Beach, California. The handcrafted interior sets cost an estimated $8–10 million to construct, and were designed by Argentine production designer Eugenio Zanetti.
The film was burdened by reshoots, in part because cinematographer Caleb Deschanel left over creative differences one week into filming. The studio also demanded a new ending be shot, which was completed in June 1999.
Post-Production
Following principal photography, the film's elaborate visual effects were completed by Phil Tippett, who had previously provided effects work on Jurassic Park (1993).

Release/Reception/Box Office
The Haunting was largely met with unfavourable reviews from film critics, with many citing its weak screenplay, its heavy reliance on horror clichés, and its overdone CGI effects. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a "Rotten" rating of 16% from 100 reviews, with the critical consensus stating "Sophisticated visual effects fail to offset awkward performances and an uneven script". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale. As a result of the negative reviews, it was nominated for five Razzie Awards but lost all five to Wild Wild West.
Roger Ebert, however, gave the film a favourable review, praising the production design in particular: "To my surprise, I find myself recommending The Haunting on the basis of its locations, its sets, its art direction, its sound design, and the overall splendour of its visuals. The story is a mess, but for long periods of time that hardly matters. It's beside the point, as we enter one of the most striking spaces I've ever seen in a film." Similar sentiments were echoed by The New York Times's Janet Maslin, who deemed the film "a lavish illustration of how to take a fairly modest black-and-white horror film from 1963 and amplify it so relentlessly that the sight of the flying cow in Twister would not be all that amiss... the film's spooky tricks are actually orchestrated by top-notch behind-the-scenes talent, who augment Mr. De Bont's tireless efforts to keep things moving."
The Haunting opened theatrically in North America on July 23, 1999, screening in 2,808 theatres, and earning $33,435,140 during its opening weekend. The film remained in theatrical release until November 1999. It ultimately grossed $91,411,151 in North America, and $85,900,000 in international markets, making for a worldwide gross of $177,311,151.
Budget $80 million
Box office $180.2 million

{I'm sorry but I'm in love with this house! Inside and out, it speaks to my gothic soul!!! I want to live here, haunted or not, or at least film a movie here one day!}
My Review
Let's get this out of the way first. I like this remake of The Haunting better than I like Robert Wise's 1963 version of the film. However, the discrepancy between the two in my eyes on this viewing is nowhere near my last viewing in 1999, when I felt the remake was a 10 and the original a 6. My opinion of the original has gone up slightly, to a 7, and my opinion of this film has gone down two points, to an 8.
Still, I can't see how someone can like the original film a lot and dislike this remake. There are more things about them that are similar than most folks admit. A lot of the negative views on the remake seem centred on CGI and other special effects. I think that puts a disproportionate emphasis on one element of the film, and it's not as if the Wise film was really devoid of effects, although I agree it had far less.
Most folks think the original is scary and this one isn't. Maybe that's part of the problem. I don't think any films are scary and I never have. Fear is just not an emotion I can get from films.
Like the 1963 film, the focus here is on Eleanor (Lili Taylor). The premise is basically the same, if some of the details have been changed. An academic researcher, Dr. David Morrow (Liam Neeson), wants to study the fear response, especially as it relates to group interaction. Morrow poses a ruse to get research subjects. He says he's going to be doing an insomnia study. He draws a few participants, including Eleanor, Theo (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Luke (Owen Wilson), to a huge old mansion--more like a palace--called "Hill House". He invents a story based on the true one (per the film's world) about the history of Hill House and plants the juiciest details with Luke, along with an instruction to keep quiet about it lest he scare Theo and Eleanor. Of course, Luke blabs, and soon afterward, spooky things begin happening. But is Dr. Morrow behind the strange occurrences or is there really something supernatural going on at Hill House? What will happen if the participants discover the truth behind Dr. Morrow's experiment? And why does Dr. Morrow, or whoever is behind the "haunting", appear to be picking on Eleanor?
Director Jan de Bont gives strong nods to the original film in the remake's script, and he even goes so far as to recreate performances, specific shots and sequences. The strongest recreation of a performance is a minor one--Marian Seldes' Mrs. Dudley, who delivers the infamous speech about the "rules" of the house and her and her husband's caretaking habits with almost identical dialogue and intonation as Rosalie Crutchley's Mrs. Dudley in Wise's film. But all of the principal cast members are directed to give performances close in tone and disposition to those in the original. Sequences such as Eleanor and Theo running to each other as they experience strange sounds and something trying to enter their rooms are almost identical to the original, with de Bont taking great care to block infamous shots so that they're the same as the beloved Wise film. Other sequences, such as the sudden presence of cold, are changed in structure a bit, but retain the spirit of Wise. This is all evidence that despite the reputation of the de Bont film, it is much closer in tone--even with its strong emphasis on things only heard or glimpsed out of the corner of one's eye--to the Wise film than almost anyone admits.
Of course, this version of The Haunting does have differences. De Bont was not shooting for a Gus Van Sant-styled recreation, ala Psycho (1998), after all. De Bont dispenses with Eleanor's narration (which I've always found annoying in the original), shoots in colour, and goes bonkers on production design, cinematography and yes, special effects and CGI. Personally, I prefer going bonkers on production design and cinematography. On both of those ends, The Haunting easily deserves a 10. The sets are breath-taking, beautiful, bizarre and stunningly shot--the exterior of the house, too. I also like the special effects and CGI, but it may be important to remember that I'm not someone looking primarily for realism in films. To me, it's absurd to watch a film about the supernatural expecting realism, anyway. But that's because in real life, I'm a sceptic on all of this stuff. To me, this is a fantasy, as is the Wise film, and I welcome fantastical, surreal (read "non-realistic") imagery.
However, unlike the first time watching the remake, I felt that The Haunting had flaws this time around. Maybe I didn't notice them in the theatre because I was so floored by the beautiful visuals projected larger than life. The problem is that the story and the dialogue become gobbledy-gooky. There are a lot of non-sequiturs in the plot. Characters disappear for arbitrary lengths of time. Eleanor figures out mysteries that should require complicated sleuth-work without much information to the viewer about how she did it. Characters say things to each other that seem like necessary foundational exposition was edited out. On the other hand, the Wise film wasn't exactly free of these problems, either.
And the focus here isn't primarily on a tightly woven story in the vein of a mystery flick, anyway. The focus is on atmosphere--a rich tapestry of visuals and sound, where the actors are just one element, all meant to evoke moods. The film tends to be more poetic in this regard. Viewed that way, it succeeds. 8.1/10
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