Review of The Haunting (1999) by Elliot N — 12 Feb 2011

When one remakes a classic movie from the past there will be inevitable comparisons between the two. While very few remakes (especially horror remakes) rarely come close to matching their original it does not stop multitudes of directors from trying. The Haunting is just one of those awful remakes that don't even come close to being a good film let alone a decent remake. Liam Neeson sums the film up perfectly in The Hauntings one and only swear word 'shit.'.

When three carefully chosen people arrive at Hill House expecting to be part of an experiment that involves their sleeping difficulties they soon experience paranormal events. The sleeping experiment turned out to be a big hoax as the experiment that is really being conducted is to investigate the paranormal and discover more about what fear really is.

While the 1963 original was a masterpiece in atmospheric tension and a masterpiece in the horror genre, the 1999 remake of Shirley Jackson's horror novel just isn't even a good film. The most frustrating thing with the 1999 remake of the 1963 classic (or adaptation of Shirley Jackson novel as some call it) is that the 1999 remake removed exactly what made original one the greatest ghost stories in the horror genre. In the GCI infested remake we see the ghostly apparitions while in the 1963 we didn't and this fear of the unknown is what made the 1963 original very creepy, unnerving and generally quite scary. Removing the most effective and scariest part the 1963 is plain idiocy (in fact it was insane to remake the thing in the first place, only seems to have been made for the modern, special effects demanding generation.) By making the ghostly visions visible, it's like removing the demon from The Exorcist, Freddie Kruger from the Nightmare On Elm Street series and removing Michael Myers from the Halloween series-oh no wait, they did that! The extreme use of the special effects just makes the film and the scares look fake and boring. The over use of the GCI is the films biggest problem, the GCI sucks the life and the tension out the film the leaves the viewer totally bored and unmoved by the yawn inducing scares. The most frightening thing about The Haunting is that they actually made the bloody thing and removed the exact factor that made the original so memorable and replaced it with fake special effects. This all but proves that effects can never replace a truly terrifying atmosphere.

The story never takes off; it's boring, dull and unimaginative, it's actually amazing that the makers of this film could make this film such a boring, dull and lifeless mess with it's very impressive cast list that quite frankly do a lousy job. However we have to give some credit to the makers of this film for actually making those quite big stars such as Liam Neeson, Owen Wilson and Catharine Zeta Jones to agree to work on this hopeless story. The story is just completely flat, the scares are worthless and one dimensional they lack any subtlety and substance This complete nonsense is a terrible and dumb film that does nothing but add to the list of the ever increasing shockingly dreadful Hollywood remakes but worst of all it's not even remotely scary. Granted it's only a 12 but so was the original. So the remake has no excuse. A low rated horror movie allows the director to me experimental with atmosphere but the big budget was blown on the uninteresting special effects of completely forgettable monsters instead of creating a chilling and freaky atmosphere.

The performances by the cast involved are just as dull and ineffective as the GCI effects. Lili Taylor, in the lead performance, is laughable and wooden, Catharine Zeta Jones provides all the eye candy, Liam Neeson is neither good nor is he bad and Owen Wilson seems to be high. However it's not the actor's fault that the script is terrible and that the characters have a lack of a personality. The script forces the actors to constantly spoon feed us details in the bland plot and with the mundane dialogue watching The Haunting feels like a chore. You could have the greatest cast list in the world and they would never even come close in making The Haunting slightly entertaining. The Haunting is low point for all involved. However, on a more positive note the set designs are tremendous.

With its dull, cheap, clichéd scares the 1999 remake of The Haunting is a rubbish film that is bland and a thoroughly pointless remake that only proves that the horror genre has reached the very bottom. The Haunting is a bad idea that is badly executed.

1/5.