Rent The Haunting (1963)

The Greatest Haunted House - The Haunting review by CP Customer

The Haunting is a masterclass in suspense and terror from Robert Wise. It ranks as one of my favourite films of all time despite the 90's remake which was a travesty. Many years ago I stumbled across a late night showing on BBC 2 and it made for an uncomfortable night. Wise assembled a cast of unknowns for this tale, where the star of proceedings is the house itself. The forces at work within its walls are never fully explained or shown. Clearly it is what you don't seen onscreen that leaves you with a sense of terror. There are several standout moments, especially when the cast decide to bail out. The cinematography is memorable along with the dynamic editing and use of sound. The Haunting only features one special effect of note and even then its very low key. This is the textbook example of how to terrify your audience, no matter how often they see the film.

A clever and scary film - The Haunting review by CP Customer

Reminded in many ways of Psycho with this film, which I think preceded it, but would say I got much more satisfaction with The Haunting.

Genuinely quite scary with long moments (in a similar way to Susan Hill's The Woman In Black) that build the tension.

The clever thing though is the story running in parallel about the main character battling with their own inner demons and trying to stay strong, which is unwittingly playing into the hands of the demons living inside the house

Atmospheric Haunted House Classic - The Haunting review by GI

Robert Wise' fantastic haunted house film based on the novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (a real treat if you haven't read it). What sets this apart is that it's a film about atmosphere and character with no reliance on special effects or 'cattle-prod' style jump scares. The result is a very spooky and interesting film that centres on Eleanor, played wonderfully by Julie Harris, as a woman arguably suffering from delusion. The end result is the film opens up the opportunity for a variety of readings, all of which make it a classic of the ghost/haunted house sub-genre. If you are only familiar with the inferior 1999 remake or the recent TV series then I highly recommend you seek this little gem of a film out, it's worth the effort. Oh and watch it late at night it'll unsettle you too!