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Post by fangirl1975 on Jun 5, 2017 18:46:18 GMT
Has anyone here seen the original The Haunting from 1963? I've seen it on TCM a few times; most recently last Halloween. I appreciate its subtle approach to scaring the viewer.
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Post by stefancrosscoe on Jun 5, 2017 19:12:57 GMT
No, but I have always wanted to. Did catch the 1999 version and it was, well not great but decent b-movie entertainment, not much more really.
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Post by naterdawg on Jun 6, 2017 15:44:32 GMT
I've seen the original many times, and I saw the ill-conceived remake twice. Disliked both of them, but the original is MUCH better atmospherically than the remake. In the remake, everything is done BIG. Instead of a door that "breathes," we have a bedroom morphing into a face with teeth. Ridiculous. And I absolutely HATED Lili Taylor as Nell. She spent half the screen time either bellowing like a bull in heat or running through the house in her bare feet.
Likewise, I also hated Julie Harris as the original Nell. So shrill and wimpy, with her whiny voice and "inner thoughts." While the original has its moments, whenever Julie Harris is involved, things go south. They should've stuck to the haunted house theme and discarded the "Eleanor's connected to the house somehow" plot device. It just doesn't work.
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Post by TheOriginalPinky on Jun 6, 2017 16:51:15 GMT
I love the original The Haunting. There are a few scenes that still raise the little hairs on the back of my neck. Very well-done horror for it's time that still stands up well. Slow-burn, understated, and nothing gratuitous. Just good, old-fashioned scares.
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northernlad
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@northernlad
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Post by northernlad on Jun 11, 2017 14:19:58 GMT
Love it. I have the original movie in my collection. I watched this because I had to read Shirley Jackson's novel "The Haunting of Hill House" for class in college. I loved the book so much. The closest thing to it is the original movie.
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Post by darksidebeadle on Mar 12, 2022 9:31:17 GMT
Has anyone here seen the original The Haunting from 1963? I've seen it on TCM a few times; most recently last Halloween. I appreciate its subtle approach to scaring the viewer. I found it a little underwhelming
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Post by theravenking on Mar 12, 2022 12:01:38 GMT
I couldn't even finish the Shirley Jackson novel and thought that the original adaptation from 1963, while elegantly made, wasn't particularly scary. I kept waiting for something disturbing to happen, but nothing truly scary occured, and once it was over I was left with a feeling of slight disappointment.
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simest
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Post by simest on Mar 12, 2022 20:48:26 GMT
I do like THE HAUNTING. It has plenty of mood and atmosphere. I think Robert Wise brought a lot of the subtlety to the subject that he might have learned from the master of understated horror, Val Lewton during their brief period working together in the 40s.
Having said that, I don't hold the film quite in the same high esteem that critics generally place it.
It's THE INNOCENTS, made two years earlier that I would vouch for as a stonewall classic and the definitive work on the subject of ghosts and hauntings.
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Post by wmcclain on Mar 12, 2022 22:02:34 GMT
The Haunting (1963), directed by Robert Wise. First Review: Pure haunted house story, with psychic researchers lodging where no one else will. Much spookiness, but is it the house or something they brought with them? Is it a supernatural force, or the growing dementia of one of their members? Strong cast, great house. A combination of nighttime knocks and banging, weird psychodrama between the characters, and the increasingly distracted interior monologue of one of them. To the contemporary eye this will seem inexplicit and talky, but there are some moments of extreme terror, of the "if I were there I would probably be losing my sanity too" sort. Set in New England but filmed in England. Second Review: I reviewed this before but just read The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson and had to see it again. The movie follows the book pretty closely in many respects; differences are listed in the wikipedia. The film omits one fright scene (the blood and writing in Theo's room) and adds another: the madness of the doctor's wife (Lois Maxwell, who was Miss Moneypenny in the early Bond films). It's 40 minutes before the scary stuff begins, which will be too long for many people these days. It's Eleanor's story both in print and on the screen: her loneliness and paranoia, her fear that she is the cause of the happenings, her need to be cherished and belong somewhere, and her growing belief that Hill House is where she belongs. A favorite bit: she and Theo clutch each other while a mysterious entity slams the walls and doors in the hallway. She jumps up and screams "Go away! Leave us alone!" Silence. She thinks: "It was looking for a room with people inside. Now it knows we're here." Then "it" starts craftily working on the door... A discussion in the book suggests some thoughts on horror films. The doctor points out that the conscious, rational mind can resist the supernatural, but that no one controls their subconscious, so even skeptics must be careful in haunted houses. Horror films can range from the barely suggested to the gruesomely explicit. The former end is sometimes called "psychological horror", although that's not well defined. I propose that the explicit can be dealt with by the rational mind, as with any other problem where we apply positive thinking and craft. (Revulsion is another dimension, though: you can't necessarily reason your way out of disgust). The merely suggested is more insidious: it creeps under your defenses, into the subconscious where intellect and reason cannot cope. It's like trying to describe a nightmare, one of your really bad ones. Words fail. You can summarize it, but never communicate why it was so bad. You can't even explain it to yourself. Feelings of dread, fear of the inexplicable, the sense of spiritual loathsomeness: these are not engendered in the conscious mind, but come out of the depths. That's scary. Movies that can prompt those sorts of responses go on a special list.
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Post by Feologild Oakes on Mar 12, 2022 22:07:22 GMT
A brilliant movie.
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Post by politicidal on Mar 13, 2022 18:58:17 GMT
Fantastic film.
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Post by phantomparticle on Mar 13, 2022 18:59:17 GMT
I saw it in '63. Audiences were genuinely frightened.
The movie was made before overkill, buckets of blood and tons of gore destroyed the traditional horror movie.
Eleanor's final dialogue, taken directly from the book, is one of the most chilling final passages in literature.
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Post by masterofallgoons on Mar 14, 2022 16:27:11 GMT
I read the book, saw both versions of the movie, and watched the TV series a few years ago.
It's a very strong book, and I think the '63 movie is a terrific adaptation. It's a haunting film, and that's exactly what it should be. It cuts the right things, includes the rights things, is beautifully designed, and is dripping with atmosphere. Its one of the best horror movies of it's era and one of the best haunted house movies ever made.
The '99 movie isn't terrible, but it's nowhere near the quality of the original film. It's worth watching just for the production design though. The house is a marvel, and it's of the great practical sets from it's day, but it's a shame that it's all there to set up some lame CGI effects in the 3rd act, but even with all the failings of that movie, I think it's worth seeing just for that setting.
But I think the series may very well be the best thing to be produced from this source material, even though it doesn't follow the same plot at all.
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Post by twothousandonemark on Oct 3, 2023 3:58:23 GMT
Finally watched it this week... it's free online. B+ My interest in it had led me to anticipate a more malicious horror venture than its reactive, psychological spins. Still, solid ensemble, excellent atmosphere, & the night scares are welcome. The ending gave me a Jack Torrance at Overlook vibe.
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Post by masterofallgoons on Oct 3, 2023 11:56:47 GMT
Finally watched it this week... it's free online. B+ My interest in it had led me to anticipate a more malicious horror venture than its reactive, psychological spins. Still, solid ensemble, excellent atmosphere, & the night scares are welcome. The ending gave me a Jack Torrance at Overlook vibe. Yeah, I thibk Stephen King was pulling pretty direct inspiration from Shirley Jackson... as I guess most haunted location stories do.
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Post by twothousandonemark on Oct 3, 2023 21:08:55 GMT
Podcast marinating, seems the crux is that it's all in her head, which is plausible (including writing her own name in chalk whilst nightwalking) ... to a degree. I suppose the other 3 buy in & question things themselves, yet apparently in no way shape or form was the house intended to be supernatural - it's what we bring to the film ourselves, which for me was reading a history of 'scariest film ever'. It's very good for the genre, & capitalizes on imagination the way The Blair Witch Project does - less is more, & enjoy the ride letting it all in.
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on Oct 3, 2023 21:22:56 GMT
I dig it.
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