Review of The Haunting (1999) by Robert H — 21 Aug 2009
When this movie first came out, many comments were made in reviews about how it proved that CGI effects alone are not scary. Sadly, these comments are fully justified. Jan de Bont is proving himself a thoroughly unconvincing director of scary movies.
The Haunting is about a "scientific" experiment in a house that turns out to be haunted. The subjects are there to study fear, but they think they're part of a sleep deprivation study. They all try to be memorable characters, but none come across as genuine.
On the plus side, the body count is surprisingly restrained. Initially, the movie does try to use bumps and creaks to cause scares (and endless tense music), but it quickly starts using (bad) CGI.
On the downside, the film never really manages to be creepy. The main heroine is annoying more than likeable. And I could not bring myself to care about any of the characters. In many ways, this movie is a high budget, A-list cast chiller that falls flat with a story and set up very similar to the much more entertaining (and gory) B movie House on Haunted Hill. Perhaps because this movie takes itself so much more seriously. Geoffrey Rush hamming it up in HoHH is much more entertaining to watch than Liam Neeson blanding it up in this.
So, all in all, a waste of time.
This review of The Haunting (1999) was written by Robert H on 21 Aug 2009.
The Haunting has generally received mixed reviews.
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