Baron is always talking about the original movie The Haunting from 1963 and that the remake doesn’t live up to the original so when I saw it EPIX I thought I would watch and review it. The movie came out in theaters in 1999 from DreamWorks based off Shirley Jackson’s novel and was directed by Jan de Bont and was written by David Self who also wrote the screenplay for The Wolfman (2010). The film centers around Hill House which is known to be haunted and is locked up at night by the caretakers the Dudley’s.

Dr. Marrow (Liam Neeson) is conducting a study on fear and how it affects an individual and he recruits 3 individuals Nell (Lili Taylor (The Conjuring (2013)), Theo (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Luke (Owen Wilson (Anaconda (1997)) who think they are there for a study on insomnia. Dr. Marrow has 2 assistants however they don’t stay long because one of them gets injured in the eye and must leave right away before the gates are locked. It doesn’t take long for the sounds, ghosts and haunts start and they seem to target Nell maybe because she comes from a hard life of taking care of her mother and a sister who wants to take everything from her when the mother dies? This seems to be the greatest thing to happen for her except for the ghosts mainly the owner of the house Hugh Crain and his children who won’t leave her alone although she does embrace them after doing research in the house. Dr. Marrow is found out and the others are angry and want to leave but they can’t until morning, but they see that Nell is becoming unhinged, so they need to look out for her. At one put they take her car and try to crash into the gate but that doesn’t work and before they know it Nell goes back into the house. One of them insults Hugh Crain and that doesn’t end well. In the end Nell faces Mr. Crain’s ghost so the children’s spirits can be set free. I don’t want to spoil how it happens for those who haven’t seen it.

The Haunting was an ok movie and I think the best part of it is the house: Hill House, the architecture was great and lots of hidden passages which is fun for anyone to explore unless it’s haunted. The CGI of Hugh Crain and the kids worked at times and at other times it was silly but that happens in any movie that has that special effect. All in all, it’s a decent haunted, ghost story but since it’s a remake I’m sure the original is better. I’ll have to check that out and see.

TAGLINES:

• A Jan de Bont film
• Some houses are born bad.
• Sleep tight.
• Ghosts with the most.
• There once was a house, a bright happy home. Then something bad happened, and now it sits all alone. These (pillars) are its bones. These (walls) are its skin. These (windows) are its eyes. WON’T YOU COME IN?

IMDb Rating: 5.0/10

3C Rating: 5.0/10