Buy This DVD Now By Clicking On The Icon Below!
Stars:
Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson, and Russ Tamblyn
Writer:
Nelson Gidding
Based
On The Novel “The Haunting Of Hill House” By: Shirley Jackson
Director:
Robert Wise
Feature
length: 112 minutes
Extras:
Commentary Track With Stars Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson, and
Russ Tamblyn, Screenwriter Nelson Gidding, and Director Robert Wise, Still
Galleries, Essay, Theatrical Trailer
Languages:
English and French Language Monaural Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions and French and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Snap Case
Chapter
Stops: 30
Sound:
Monaural Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 1963/DVD Release: 2003
Theatrical
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Home
Video Distributor: Warner Home Video
MPAA
Rating: G
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
I
watch lots of horror movies, especially this time of year given the nature of my
profession. As a result I think that sometimes I am a little desensitized to
horror pictures than some friends of mine. Sometimes I will be told, “Oh that
was so disturbing” and I will be surprised because I did not feel the same
way. Yet there are some good horror pictures that I can honestly say are still
frightening today or even some not so good ones that even I found disturbing. It
is hard to face fears and so I imagine that a professional horror writer must be
able to look into his or her own fears and be able to manifest them in some way
that others can relate to. Fear of the unknown in all of its forms is the basis
for any sort of horror story and our own mortality intensifies this anxiety.
That is why I think horror films are popular on one level or another because
they provide a safe and cheap temporary release from our fears. Ghost stories
have been popular because of our mutual fear of death and forces beyond our
understanding and our attraction or hope that if there is such a thing as ghosts
or if the dead could indeed rise from their graves then maybe there is also a
benevolent force out there too? So we might even take that basic premise of fear
of the unknown and under closer scrutiny discover that we are also afraid to be
alone.
What
could be more terrible than to suffer alone without anyone who loves or cares
for you? We all like to think that we are going to die in a bed surrounded by
our family and friends, but the odds are we will be lucky if we die with some
dignity at all. It is very disturbing to imagine what could happen and far more
comfortable to tell ourselves that “we won’t go that way” or just to
pretend dark possibilities do not apply or exist for us, but they might.
So with Robert Wise’s original big screen adaptation of the Shirley Jackson
novel “The Haunting Of Hill House” I was truck right away by the plight of
the protagonist played by Julie Harris. Here is this woman who spent the better
years of her youth taking care of her sick mother only to have her sister
inherit everything and undergo the daily humiliation of being made to feel like
a second class citizen by her own sister and in-laws. She’s treated with less
respect than a child and in fact we see her own niece making fun of her right at
the start. She’s desperate and alone now and so she takes the car she feels
she has earned behind her sister’s back and rushes off with what little
belongings she has and goes forth to Hill House where an experiment in
parapsychology is going on and she has been invited to participate.
Despite
the indifference of the other participants, she thinks of this as a vacation and
soon believes the haunted house is somehow connected to her and she is finally
where she belongs. Are we the viewers to think that she is on the verge of a
nervous breakdown? Yes and no depending on whether one believes the final
actions in the film are those of fate or tragedy or maybe both? In the end the
scariest thing about “The Haunting” is there may be no right or wrong answer
and like the other characters that somehow survive their encounter with the
unexplainable forces that reside there, we know little more than they do with
any certainty. For this reason alone if think the 1963 version is far better
than the 1999 remake. Actually there are a lot of reasons why I think this
original adaptation is better than the remake, but personally the darker and
somewhat unresolved conclusion that leaves everything in our own minds to decide
is ultimately more effective. One thing is for certain, I can see now where a
lot of the clichés associated with the haunted house film originated from and
without naming anyone or thing in particular, I can see where some writers and
filmmakers were inspired by the film and some have successfully borrowed from it
enough to make their story have a life of its own while others simply never got
the balance right, but the intentions are still pretty clear.
With
Halloween nearly upon us, now is as good a time as any to discover or rediscover
“The Haunting” for yourselves with Warner Home Video’s DVD release that
presents the film in a stark black and white anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1)
aspect ratio with a clear English Monaural Soundtrack that preserves than manner
in which the film was exhibited theatrically as close as possible for home video
users. The picture and sound quality are quite clear and free of any sort of
imperfections one might expect to a great degree with a 40-year-old film like
this. A French Language Monaural Soundtrack and English Captions and Closed
Captions for the hearing impaired as well as French and Spanish Language
Subtitles are encoded on to the DVD as options too.
Stars
Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson, and Russ Tamblyn, Screenwriter
Nelson Gidding, and Director Robert Wise participate in a feature length audio
commentary track that is basically a mix of various separate interviews and or
recording sessions, but depending on who is speaking, the commentary can be very
screen specific and quite interesting or it could be somewhat self referential
and dull. When Wise talks is when the commentary is at its best because he is
able to communicate volumes of information including technical aspects in simple
language and with few words. In other words he doesn’t pontificate. A gallery
of excerpts from Wise’s shooting script and a gallery of various still photos,
some paranormal notes or something, and one sheet art that can be skipped
through using the remote are also included. The other extra value features
include a cast and filmmaker list and some onscreen notes about the haunted
house subgenre in films that is somewhat superficial and the theatrical trailer
(2:31). The menus are standard
interactive still frames that are easy to navigate.
A
classic of the genre, “The Haunting” is available on DVD-Video now at
retailers on and offline from Warner Home Video.
©
Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
Buy This DVD Now By Clicking On The Icon Below!