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The Haunting Customer Reviews (1 - 3 of 37 Reviews)

Not for Shirley Jackson fans
This remake supposedly is based on "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson, but there is actually very little of her original novel in this version. In fact, so many things in this over-the-top special-effects fest fly in the face of what Ms. Jackson wrote, it's an insult to say it's based on her work.

The first film from the 1960's is one of the best ghost stories ever put on celluloid and is about 90% true to the original story, which is why it was so good. Special effects are virtually nonexistence in the first film -- and everything that happens is believable, which is why it's so scary.

In this new "version," all the effects are so ridiculous and heavy-handed, I could only laugh! And the way it ends is just totally not right! Read the book! See the first version on film! Avoid this new one like the plague.

(It's telling -- as of the today, the DVD of the remake is selling for less than the DVD of the first film!)

(:D) ....it was ok for me
A great screen version of the Jackson novel. The special effects are very well done and the cast was so good I forgot who I was watching. Most people don't realize Wilson is in this film and are surprised. A definite must-see with a pillow in hand. Do not leave the room anywhere near the end!


Overblown nonsense, more laughable than anything else!
I saw this when it first hit movie theaters in 1999 and actually fell asleep halfway! Now, as a horror movie fanatic (and not someone raised on Freddy and Jason--I'm 53), when a movie heralded as "frightening" and "shocking" knocks me out (literally), I gotta wonder. What was the point of remaking something that's already so perfect? The 1963 version hit all the right notes. It was filmed in black and white, had a truly eerie feel, some spine-numbing frights, and enough ambiance to satisfy anyone interested in the macabre. This "new" version is just terrible on every level. Where to start? The cast. I hated--emphasis on that last word, HATED--Lili Taylor as Nell. The reviewers here say she's "talented," but I gotta ask, where ARE they getting such an impression? Certainly not from this movie, because she's downright awful! When Taylor screams (and she does a LOT of that), it sounds like an angry bull in heat, and the sight of her galloping down the hallways bellowing (again and again, it seems) are sure to either make you cringe or break out in gales of laughter. As for the rest of the cast, they're washed out and blah. Owen Wilson does his stoned surfer boy with the crooked nose schtick, Catherine Zeta-Jones is slumming on her way to an Oscar, and Liam Neeson looks so incredibly uncomfortable, like he's about to have dental surgery. The sets are way overdone, and when the CGI kicks in, the whole kit and kaboodle just collapses. What was suggested in the original is realized in the remake and done up BIG. The "breathing door" morphs into a frickin' house moving and undulating and actually forming faces and claws and whatever. It's all wacked out nonsense, courtesy of a director with absolutely no style whatsoever.

I gotta say, it amazes me that some of you have given this high marks. Either you guys have a low tolerance for horror, or Dreamworks is employing "plants" on Amazon to promote this piece of garbage. If you want true haunted house scares, check out the original Haunting, as well as Legend of Hell House, The Changeling, Suspiria, and the original House on Haunted Hill.

Oh, and I gave this one star because "no stars" isn't an option.

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