Review of The Haunting (1963) by Haytham K — 19 Feb 2014

Robert Wise, who directed such classic films as "The Day the Earth Stood Still," "West Side Story" and "The Sound of Music," comes out with "The Haunting," a film that looks like a simple haunted house flick but has really good execution, which makes for a well-shot and creepy movie. It deals with the horrors of spirits as well as of the human mind.

The film takes place at Hill House, a mansion built by a man named Hugh Crain (Howard Lang) for his wife; however, she died when first approaching the house. Crain's second wife also died by falling down the stairs, and he kept his daughter Abigail in the nursery her entire life until she died while calling for the nurse; the nurse inherited the house but hanged herself in the library. A woman named Mrs. Sannerson then inherited it, but the house has been empty ever since. Now paranormal investigator Dr. John Markway (Richard Johnson) wants to spend a few days in the house, along with Sannerson's son Luke (Russ Tamblyn), psychic Theodora (Claire Bloom) and outcast Eleanor (Julie Harris).

Julie Harris gives a very effective performance as Eleanor. She's spent her adult life caring for her mother until she passed away; now her mean sister is evicting her, causing her to take the car and drive to Hill House. When she's there, she's both terrified, but at the same time, eerily attracted to the place. She senses some unexplainable thing in the house that she can't pull away from. The way she sinks into this level of psychosis is pretty chilling.

The black-and-white really works to the movie's advantage; the scenery looks gorgeous. Everything about this place-the angles, the layout, the shadows-it looks beautiful. But it also looks very eerie, just like how you expect a big old house to look. This naturally makes for some good spooky scenes when night falls.

Much like future films such as "The Blair Witch Project" and "Paranormal Activity," a lot of the horror comes from what we don't see. There are some really harrowing scenes where Eleanor and Theo hear noises outside a bedroom, as well as an extremely creepy scene when they're sleeping in the same room. Eleanor hears noises while lying in bed and feels Theo's hand holding hers in comfort. Finally when she screams for the noises to stop and the lights turn on, Theo is on the other side of the room, not holding her hand at all.

By this time, I should mention that "The Haunting" was one of the few films back then to indicate that one of its main characters was a lesbian. Though it's only subtly hinted at, there are a number of moments where Theo seems to show an attraction to Eleanor; of course, the stupid censors wanted it really scaled back, but it makes for some interesting scenes. Like I mentioned, there are moments where Eleanor and Theo hear noises outside the bedroom; naturally, when you're scared, your instinct is to cuddle next to the person closest to you. When that person may or may not be attracted to you, the situation is made more uncomfortable. I think this aspect of the film is executed quite well.

There's really not much else I can say about the other characters, though I can say that Richard Johnson is pretty good as the doctor, and Valentine Dyall and Rosalie Crutchley are good and creepy as the caretakers, Mr. & Mrs. Dudley. Russ Tamblyn doesn't have much to do as Luke, however; he's just the skeptic that eventually becomes a believer.

This movie is more worth analyzing than specifically watching; it's something I like alright when I'm seeing it, but it doesn't get really good unless you think about it a little. It brings up a lot of questions about fear and paranoia, and it's basically all centered on Eleanor. Just how much of what's happening in this house is really happening? Is it all in her mind? Is the house even haunted at all? The film smartly doesn't answer all the questions; rather, it stays character-oriented. We don't need to know what's real, just how the main character reacts to it.

It's true that the movie starts pretty slow and features plenty of scenes where the characters are just talking about things that aren't interesting, but much like "Halloween," it has plenty of build-up to the scary moments. It's a good, classic spook-fest.