Review of The Haunting (1963) by Mannie L — 01 Aug 2008

If you want your horror spoon-fed to you and all your scares have to be sight gags (as has become common place in recent horror flicks), this IS DEFINITELY NOT the movie for you. The Haunting is great cinema. Filmed in B/W - which does great things to the mood of the movie - and almost entirely without obvious scares. The Haunting's ability to deliver goose bumps comes from the expert visual flair delivered by Robert Wise, as well as solid ensemble acting. Whereas John Carpenter was a newbie, having just released the indy Assault on Precinct 13 (the original not the watered-remake) when he made Halloween, Wise was a critically acclaimed and accomplished director (The Day The Earth Stood Still, Run Silent Run Deep & West Side Story) when he made The Haunting. Wise's abilities come through loud and clear. This movie never fails to give me the shivers when I watch it.

Mannie's Book-Movie Comparison: Wise's film (based on Nelson Gidding's screenplay - Gidding also scripted Wise's The Andromeda Strain & The Hindenburg) remains faithful to the basic story set forth in Jackson's book. However, like most movies,The Haunting, is not a direct translation of the text to film. The first third or so of the book is quite well represented. however, it would seem for pacing reasons that Gidding constricted the "action" of the middle portion of the book, and for simplicity of character's condensed two characters from the last third of the book (the wife of Dr. Montague [book]/Dr. Markway [film] & her friend Arthur) into one (Markway's wife). The latter change results in a different final act of the movie as compared to the book and leads to the only "overt" scare of the film (which is not present in the book). Otherwise, I believe Wise has brought to screen a creepy rendition of Jackson's book, at least equal in its ability to scare as this classic piece of literature.