Review of The Haunting (1999) by Matthew M — 14 Apr 2012

Despite the lavish visuals, "The Haunting" fails in either a psychological thriller or full-on horror - it just becomes laughable and ridiculous by the end of its overlong running time. De Bont, director of Speed and Twister, combines his slick action-style look with an eerie atmosphere at first, but it doesn't continue and, by the end, both the story and acting becomes stupid and careless.

The cast, of which the highlight is Zeta-Jones, tries as hard as possible with the material given - Wilson is the "funny man", which just becomes painful and annoying, which, in a character, entirely sums up the film.

However, despite these major flaws, the beautiful visual style - both in cinematography and CGI - cannot be denied; the fluidity of the camera, moving from room to room, panning from the ceiling and zooming past the perfect location, is energetic and brilliant, De Bont's actioneer style becoming evident and working well.

The CGI, which may look a bit dated now, was the height of the capabilities at the time, and still looks pretty decent - these become the best and most memorable moments in the whole movie, and are the parts that keep you entertained through the rest of the muck.

I wouldn't recommend this film to you for any other reason that some real, detailed and beautiful camera work and location design.