THE HAUNTING [1963 / 2017] [Premium Collection] [Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Download]
You May Not Believe in Ghosts, But You Cannot Deny Terror!
“It was an evil house form the beginning, a house that was born bad." The place is the 90-year-old mansion called Hill House. No one lives in there. Or so it seems. But come in. Because even if you don't believe in ghosts, there's no denying the terror of ‘THE HAUNTING.’
Robert Wise, returned to psychological horror for this much admired, first screen adaptation of Shirley Jackson's “The Haunting of Hill House.” Four people, Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson and Russ Tamblyn come to the house to study its supernatural phenomena. Or has the house drawn at least one of them to it? "The answer will unnerve you in this elegantly sinister scare movie. It's good fun" (Pauline Kael, 5001 Nights at the Movies).
FILM FACT No.1: Awards and Nominations: 1964 Golden Globes: Nominated: Best Director for Robert Wise. 2014 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA: Nominated: Saturn Award for Best DVD/Blu-ray Special Edition Release.
FILM FACT No.2: Robert Wise was in post-production on West Side Story when he read a review in Time magazine of author Shirley Jackson's novel, “The Haunting of Hill House.” Robert Wise read the book and found it frightening; he passed it to screenwriter friend Nelson Gidding, with whom he had worked on the film ‘I Want to Live!’ (1958).’ Nelson Gidding did a full story treatment for Robert Wise before proceeding to work on the adaptation. As Nelson Gidding crafted the screenplay, he came to believe that the novel was not a ghost story at all, but rather a compilation of the insane thoughts of the lead character, Eleanor Vance. He theorised that Eleanor Vance was having a nervous breakdown, envisaging a scenario in which Hill House is the hospital where she is held, Grace Markway is her psychiatrist, the cold, banging, and violence are the results of shock treatment, and the opening and closing of doors reflected the opening and closing of hospital doors. Writing the screenplay took about six months. During this period, Nelson Gidding worked alone, and although he passed some of his work to Robert Wise to show him that work on the screenplay was progressing well, Nelson Gidding and Robert Wise did not otherwise collaborate on the screenplay. The screenplay made other changes to the story. The number of characters was cut down, the backstory was significantly shortened, most of the supernatural events depicted in the novel were kept off-screen, and the greater part of the action was set inside the house to heighten the audience's feeling of claustrophobia. Eleanor Vance's role as an outcast was also emphasized. The character of Theodora was given a sharper, slightly crueller sense of humour in order to make her a foil for Eleanor Vance but also to heighten Eleanor Vance's outsider status. The role of Luke became more flippant, and Dr. John Markway (Montague in the novel) was made a more confident character. The screenplay was finished just after Robert Wise completed work on the film ‘West Side Story.’
Cast: Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson, Russ Tamblyn, Fay Compton, Rosalie Crutchley, Lois Maxwell, Valentine Dyall, Diane Clare, Ronald Adam, Pamela Buckley (uncredited), Amy Dalby (Abigail Crain Age 80) (uncredited), Rosemary Dorken (uncredited), Verina Greenlaw (uncredited), Claude Jones (uncredited), Frieda Knorr (uncredited), Howard Lang (uncredited), Janet Mansell (Abigail Crain Age 6) (uncredited), Paul Maxwell (uncredited), Susan Richards (uncredited) and Mavis Villiers (uncredited)
Director: Robert Wise
Producer: Denis Johnson
Screenplay: Nelson Gidding (screenplay) and Shirley Jackson (based on the novel "The Haunting of Hill House")
Composer: Humphrey Searle
Cinematography: Davis Boulton (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p (Black-and-White)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 (Panavision)
Audio: English: 1.0 DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
German: 1.0 Dolby Digital Mono Audio
Spanish: 1.0 Dolby Digital Mono Audio
Spanish [Castilian]: 1.0 Dolby Digital Mono Audio
Português: 1.0 Dolby Digital Mono Audio
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English SDH, French, German, Spanish, Spanish [Castilian] and Português
Running Time: 111 minutes
Region: All Regions
Number of discs: 2
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / Warner Home Video
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: Director Robert Wise's ‘THE HAUNTING’ [1963] begins with both guns blazing, so to speak. As a haunted house film, it starts beautifully and Director Robert Wise lingers on a very eerie black and white shot of Hill House while narration tells us the creepy backstory, which is chock full of death and suicides, probable murders, early intimations that some spiritual force intertwined with the house itself killed people, etc.
Richard Johnson is Dr. John Markway, the self-assured man of science hoping to use Hill House as a means of investigating the reality behind spiritual visitations, assembling a team of expert witnesses to his experiment. Only three turn up: Theodora "Theo" [Claire Bloom], a Sapphic psychic; Luke Sanderson [Russ Tamblyn], the otherwise disinterested heir to the house; and Eleanor "Nell" Lance [Julie Harris], is keen to escape the sofa in her sister’s claustrophobic living room following the death of their mother, for which Eleanor "Nell" Lance blames herself. The house takes a pretty instant shine to the timorous Eleanor "Nell" Lance, writing her enigmatic notes and seeking her out during the nights. The house takes a pretty instant shine to the timorous Eleanor "Nell" Lance, writing her enigmatic notes and seeking her out during the nights.
The film takes the usual twists and turns, slowly making each character more suspicious of one another and ramping up the spookiness until the final act of the film. What starts off as a pleasant stay at a beautiful country house soon turns into a psychological nightmare of a place where all your fears and doubts are amplified. Indeed right until halfway through the film, Eleanor "Nell" Lance is still convinced she is there for a relaxing holiday regardless of the success of the study, but is soon traumatised by her grave past.
The real crux of Robert Wise’s film, which was actually shot in Warwickshire, isn’t so much the hauntings – although these are among the most effective ever committed to film – but the relationships between the characters and the unravelling of Eleanor "Nell" Lance’s sanity. Already on a knife-edge when she arrives, Eleanor "Nell" Lance misreads the married Dr. John Markway’s kindnesses as advances and initially fails to register Theodora "Theo" interest and it’s against this backdrop that Eleanor "Nell" Lance’s inner turmoil intensifies.
With its starkly contrasted monochrome compositions, sudden camera movements and odd perspectives, Robert Wise’s film owes much to Orson Welles, and the Blu-ray transfer shows this debt off beautifully. There’s a touch of inadvertent grain only very infrequently, and but for the experimental lenses that Robert Wise was using and the associated occasional softness of the focusing, everything looks wonderfully sharp, really bringing out the mood of the movie. It’s probably beneficial that the audio, so involved in the night-time visitation sequences, has been left in the original mono.
What makes this film stand out from the numerous haunted house pictures that thrilled audiences in this era is that we are never quite sure if what Nell has seen is genuine or if we are witnessing is just the manifestations of her own tortured psyche. Since all the spooky happenings are directed at her or are in her presence, we can never be certain of their validity. While this is a perfect get-out clause for the writers, the lack of explanation ultimately creates an unsettling film which leaves the viewer frustratingly still in the dark by the end of the film.
‘THE HAUNTING’ is an important horror film which ought to be included in any must-see lists for classic horror fans. Like Jack Clayton’s ‘The Innocents’ (1961) released two years before, the horror genre was in flux. No longer able to solely rely on the popularity of the Dracula and Frankenstein outings, filmmakers had to look to within the human psyche to explore what could really frighten us. ‘THE HAUNTING’ is a successful experiment in this ideal and remains spooky today.
Of course as you as you know there was a lot of banging and to some of you might not understand what was going on, but to me it is very obvious, as obviously the ghost of the old woman who was bedridden and kept banging on the wall for help and sadly passed away because she was neglected by the selfish woman, and to me it is very much in the same genre as the equally brilliant scary ghostly horror film ‘The Changeling’ [1980] that starred George C. Scott and if you have not seen that film, the I highly recommend it and after you have seen it, you will understand why I feel it has a similar scenario running throughout the film ‘THE HAUNTING.’
Post Script: Whilst the original is lauded for its effective scares without the need for effects, the remake ‘THE HAUNTING’ [1999] has difficulty going 10 minutes without some ludicrous late 1990s CGI monstrosity making the film a laughing stock. Whether it’s a giant statue coming to life to briefly attack Liam Neeson, a giant cartoon hand emerging from a doorway to push Lili Taylor around or a pair of giant church-style windows becoming enormous animated eyes, it’s difficult to believe this wouldn’t have caused eye rolls and guffaws galore even upon initial release, when the CGI might not have appeared so terrible. Avoid at all costs and your peril!
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Blu-ray Image Quality – ‘THE HAUNTING’ is presented to you by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Home Video and is shown in its theatrically correct 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The 1080p image presentation looks extremely well for a 1963 film, as it gives you excellent detail, gradation and contrast, and this high definition entry tops them all. You can scarcely believe this is a fifty one year old film such is the pristine nature of the image. First up the detail that the picture exhibits is astonishing; everything is clear and precise and edges are held way, way back into the frame. Take a look at the weave in the clothing, the individual wool strands in the tweed jackets, or the patterns in the designer women’s wear. Skin has incredible texture, freeze frame Eleanor Vance’s close up as she screams on the second night; see the pores, the strands of hair, her tears framed by her eye lashes, the saliva on her teeth! Look at the intricate nature of the wall coverings in the House, or the wood grain in the heavy doors. Brightness and contrast are set to give tremendous blacks, this really gives depth to the image, as well as shapes lurking in the shadows. Digitally there are no compression problems, banding or edge enhancement. The print is extremely clean as a whistle and grain is kept to a terrific light organic sheen. The only fly in the ointment in the opening montage of the history of the House, which is somewhat softer than the rest of the film and pushes the contrast a little too far, giving the occasional softer black image. But once into the film starts proper, this is a blistering picture that modern films could do well to emulate. Any attempt to improve it would surely have ruined the effect. Every detail is there, this definitely get a five star rating from me.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – ‘THE HAUNTING’ is brought to you by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Home Video and the 1.0 DTS-HD Master Audio Mono experience, may please fans for its authenticity to the original release, but it is very restrictive especially considering the sound design of the film which takes into account multiple dialogue overlaps, eerie noises and a terrific score; perhaps an upgraded 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio Mono might have opened it up slightly? But what we do have is very impressive; cleaned up to remove all traces of hiss, pop and crackle, the track can be played at reference without problem or distortion. Speech is well defined and well audible, though early parts do have a tendency to crash in the higher end, sounds a bit like sibilance in the track, but it is very rare and confined to the early scenes. Otherwise it’s clean all the way. The tremendous knockings and bangs that keep our ghost hunters awake at night come through with suitable gusto. The bass itself is very limited for the afore mentioned sound effects and film music score by Humphrey Searle taking the brunt of the action to good effect. You cannot expect miracles with a 1.0 DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track and you don’t get any, but what you do have imparts its information with an excellence audio experience.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Audio Commentary by Director Robert Wise, Screenwriter Nelson Gidding, Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson and Russ Tablyn: This is the same audio commentary that accompanied the previous inferior DVD release. First up to talk about the film is director Robert Wise, and comments that he has read a review in the Time magazine about the book by Shirley Jackson’s “The Haunting of Hill House,” and found it very interesting and intriguing, and decided to get a copy of the book and was sitting in his office reading it and at one hair raising moment an assistant burst into his office and nearly scared the living daylights out of him, and so if this could happen in reading the book, then maybe by turning the same scenario in to a film, then hopefully the audience watching the film will experience what Robert Wise experienced in his office, and so went ahead to buy the rights to make the film. But before all that Robert Wise made an appointment to see the author Shirley Jackson to get her opinion on how Robert Wise wanted to transfer her book 100% onto film, and on top of all that, Robert Wise asked what the title of the film should be, and Shirley Jackson said that another tile for her book was going to be called “The Haunting” and of course Robert Wise said that would be a perfect title of the film, and felt that was a massive plus. So Robert Wise went over to the M-G-M studios in Hollywood to discuss about making the film and a budget was offered to Robert Wise for $1,000,000, because they were very keen on the project and that was the only amount of money they could offer him, but for Robert Wise he informed them that would be impossible to make the film on that budget, he need much more money, so declined their offer, but luckily at the same time he had planned a trip to England to attend the Premiere in London of his film ‘West Side Story,’ and was suggested he take the book with him to discuss a film deal with another film company, and when he landed in England, contact the M-G-M British studios in Borehamwood and when Robert Wise pitched his idea in wanting to use the main crux of the book, they liked what they heard and offered him a budget of $ 1.4 million US Dollars and so there and then signed the contract and that is why the film was shot in England. Robert Wise comments on all the different angles he like being shot and had no problem in shooting his film in Panavision, and also had no problem in filling up the frame with a special wide angle lens. Next up to talk about his involvement in the film was Richard Johnson who of course played Dr. John Markway who of course was a psychic investigator, and because he was in an M-G-M film with Frank Sinatra entitled ‘Never So Few’ [1959] and because of that film, was offered a seven year contract with M-G-M, and because of that, was offered the part in the film ‘THE HAUNTING,’ as well as ‘Operation Crossbow’ [1965]. At the time of shooting ‘THE HAUNTING,’ was also appearing in a RSC [Royal Shakespeare Company] play in London and performed the play in the evening and got up at some ungodly hour in the morning to shoot the film, and thinking back, had no idea how he did it, as it was a really gruelling schedule, but despite this, enjoyed the whole experience, but the downside was the filming was a 16 hour a day schedule, but very honoured to think 40 years later, people still love the film, which of course has now become a cult classic. Robert Wise talks about the actress Julie Harris, who he felt was a really marvellous actress and had seen her perform on the stage and so honoured to have her in his film. Next up is Julie Harris, who talks about here role in the film, which was very difficult at the time, especially filming in England at the time, but normally on a good day would only take 30 minutes to be driven to the Borehamwood studios, and of course always a very early start filming schedule, especially as it was in the Autumn or as Julie Harris called it “The Fall,” and to make matters worse, experienced what she called the “Black Fog” or what we called the very dangerous “The Great Smog of London” of 1952, and was also called the "pea-soupers” because of using Post-war domestic coal tended to be of a relatively low-grade, sulphurous variety, which eventually was completely banned, because the British Government passed the Clean Air Act of 1993 because of a very severe air-pollution event that affected the British capital of London in early December 1952, and for Julie Harris at the time experienced it for five days, and because it was so horrendous, took for a short journey, four to five hours, and “The Great Smog of London” caused a horrendous amount of deaths, it was that dangerous. The other difficulty Julie Harris experienced while filming, is because the actress wanted to portray her character one way, but the director Robert Wise wanted Julie Harris to play here character another way, and of course actress Julie Harris was not in any position to play here character her way and had to respect the director’s position, and because the other actors were treating the film as a comedy, Julie Harris took the film much more serious and was getting depressed at the same time, so in the end Julie Harris had to struggle throughout the filming and eventually came out okay by the end of the shoot, but despite this, had certain moments throughout the shoot, and it also helped working with director Robert Wise, as he was especially a very gentle and calm gentleman, and nothing ever ruffled him, and was very patient and kind towards Julie Harris, and still feels that they are very good friends. Next up we have Screenwriter Nelson Gidding, who had an office next door to Robert Wise and was shown the Shirley Jackson novel "The Haunting of Hill House" and was very keen to get involved with the film, but at this point it was very hard to hear what he was talking about, as he was mumbling his words really badly and talked like that American comedian W.C. Fields, who wherever he was performing deposited money into loads of bank accounts all over America and a lot of those bank accounts have never been found and lost forever. Robert Wise felt the house was a totally monstrous house and felt like it had eyes looking down on Julie Harris when filming, and Robert Wise used an infra-red filter to give it a very evil look, and wanted the voice over you hear the words spoken by Julie Harris to know what her character was thinking when viewing the house for the first time, Robert Wise thought the set of the interior of the house was superb and it was just as important as the professional cinematographer Davis Boulton who he praises a great deal. On top of all that, Robert Wise praises Humphrey Searle, who did a sterling job in creating a very atmospheric haunting ambient music that were placed at the right moments in the film. Next up with have actress Claire Bloom who informs us that she had a lot of fun making the film, and especially her Sappho character, who was of course attracted to other women, who at the same time was very intriguing and another bonus is that here character wore wonderful clothes that were designed by Mary Quant who was the height of her game when the film was being shot and of course the “Swinging Sixties” and Mary Quants clothes were classed as very chic. The only thing is that Claire Bloom got on with everyone, but for some unknown reason Julie Harris was giving Claire Bloom the cold shoulder and most of the time would not talk to her, but at the end of the shoot, Julie Harris arrived at Claire Blooms home and presented her with a beautiful embroidered cushion, and the reason Julie Harris would not talk to Claire Bloom throughout the shoot was because of her character, and had to keep up the act of being cold towards Claire Bloom, and in-between shoots, because if Julie Harris had become friendly, then Julie Harris would not of been able to play her character, and Claire Bloom was very grateful to her honest answer and of course they both ended well on good terms. Robert Wise talks about the lesbian aspect of the film and there was a scene that was shot in the film where Julie Harris writes on a mirror with lipstick “I Hate You,” but decided to delete the scene as it spoilt the flow of the film. Robert Wise also talks about why he wanted to film in black-and-white, as he felt it added to the atmosphere of the film and on top of all that Robert Wise wanted a lens to give a lot of distortion in his shots, as he felt the 35mm lens image was not right or the film, so he telephoned Robert Gottschalk at the Panavision Headquarters’ in London who was involved in the making of these types of distorted lenses and Robert Wise enquired about a specific wide angle lens and Robert Gottschalk was actually working on a special 28mm lens at the time, but was very reluctant to allow Robert Wise acquire it, but if Robert Wise signed a letter that he would not take any legal action against Robert Gottschalk in complaining about the excessive image distortion when viewing the rushes, and of course Robert Wise assured him he would not do that, typed a letter, signed and gave it to Robert Gottschalk and in turn Robert Wise finally received the 28mm lens and was extremely happy with the results he viewed. Richard Jonson comes back and says that a film in black-and-white adds and amazing atmosphere to the film, and especially nowadays people do not seem to work in black-and-white, only colour, because black-and-white again is very appropriate to this type of ghostly horror film, and Richard Johnson thinks having this film in black-and-white enhances greatly to the cinematography, especially with the depths of the shadows, and the darkness is impressive and you could not get that type of image if it had been filmed in colour and would not of been the same type of film in colour, and to prove Richard Johnson suggest you see the ghastly 1999 remake of ‘THE HAUNTING’ and of course mentions it was not a success, especially with his wry sarcastic laugh in his voice. Richard Johnson also talks about the different styles of acting when it comes to films and theatre, and how props are very important, he also says that although it was a small group of actors with this film, that they really got on well together, and really appreciated each other, and could not remember any negative atmosphere or very strong disagreements, and he feels the director Robert Wise was reluctant to overplay the scenes in the film, or even underplay the scenes, and added greatly to the suspense of the film. Next up to put in his pennies worth input towards this audio commentary is Russ Tamblyn and mentions he did not like his part in the film, and felt slightly like a total jerk, and it was not until he finally viewed the film and realised what a power film it was, and showed his character to be a non-believer, and while filming, he wanted it to be a comedy, and at the end of the film, his character says that the house should be burnt down, and then realises the house is actually haunted, and again after watching the film, why the heck didn’t he take the film much more serious. Even when he was sent the script, Russ Tamblyn initially turned it down, because he did not realise the significant of the film, but was under contract with M-G-M Hollywood, and could not turn the part down as otherwise he would have been put on suspension. Russ Tamblyn felt that Julie Harris was a very depressed person, but felt maybe she was trying to get into her character her own way, and seem to be very distance with herself from everyone, whereas Russ Tamblyn tended to hang out with Claire Bloom and Richard Johnson on a regular basis and especially all going to dinner at night. To help the actors to get into what the director wanted to perform to the camera, at appropriate times the ghostly sounds we hear in the film, the actors also heard sound recordings that would be played at the same time, so they could react to what they heard, and to make the film more realistic and especially from what the audiences viewed watching the film, in making it look totally realistic, and made the actors react how Robert Wise was trying to achieve. Robert Wise comes back again, especially at the point in the film where loud banging sound effect noises are heard and also explains why he did it so the actors could relate to what they were hearing and achieve what Robert Wise wanted the dramatic reactions from the actors. Richard Johnson felt director Robert Wise had really great skills and especially with the sound effects produced while filming certain scenes, and also helped when it came to editing the film, as the editor Ernest Walter had worked on most of Orson Welles films, which helped him learn his professional skills. Richard Johnson also gives great praise towards the director Robert Wise, who was also a very nice kind person, and knew how to shoot a scene with great precision, as early on in his career he was an film editor, and on top of all that he had no ego, whereas not like other film directors Richard Johnson has worked with and on top of all that, Richard Johnson feels the film has stood the test of time and makes you think you are seeing things that are not actually there. At some point in talking about filming in general, Richard Johnson talks about the characters, especially as he had not done a lot of film acting early on in his career, and asked Robert Wise for some tips about acting in front of the camera, and one of those tips was not to blink a lot, especially when the camera does a lot of close-ups, as when a film is blown up onto a 40 feet screen, the blinking will be very noticeable, also with another close up with another actor, one must look into the one eye of the actor opposite, then you will not have to blink, because if you see a lot of blinks of the eyes, audiences will think that the actor was nervous while filming. Also if you are talking to the other actor and you are in the shot as well, again only look at one eye of that actor opposite you, but also while looking at the actor opposite, do not change looking at one eye to another eye. Richard Johnson also comments that when acting on the theatre stage, that actor is on the stage and some distance from the audience, so at times you will not notice the acting is blinking. Russ Tamblyn mentions that when they arrived at the house to film, the grass was overgrown and all the tombstones were not in very good condition and some had been damaged, but now it is a 5 star hotel, but at the time he was informed it was haunted which of course he was very sceptical, but one night because he could not sleep, decided to have a walk around the property, even though it was pitch black and at one point felt like someone had put some ice on the back of his neck, and for a brief moment froze in shock and did not inform anyone about this incident. Richard Johnson says although the film was set in America, but of course it was filmed in England and gives great praise towards all the technical people involved with the film, and even though in England the budget is always lower than what the budget you would get to make a film in America, because the population in America is that much greater and this is also the exact comment Robert Wise made. Richard Johnson also praised Claire Bloom and says how beautiful she was, and they both went onto to make another film together that was about a plague. Richard Johnson also comments on how nice and peaceful it was on the set while filming, because they had a small group of actors and crew, whereas today when making a film you get a lot of people hanging about and also a lot of sponsors for the film, that he feels really spoils the atmosphere when filming on the set. Richard Johnson also reflects about working with frank Sinatra, who could not understand why Richard Johnson would always want to do lots of rehearsals, and one day Frank Sinatra pulled him to one side and said to ask Richard Johnson not to do endless rehearsals before a take, as Frank Sinatra just wants to capture the moment, as otherwise Frank Sinatra forgets what he was supposed to do in a scene and his lines, and that is why Richard Johnson feels there is a great difference between film actors and stage actors. When Lois Maxwell arrives at the house late at night, Richard Johnson informs us that she was his wife in the film, and of course became famous as Miss Moneypenny in several of the James Bond film franchise and Richard Johnson also informs us that he was originally offered the part as James Bond and turned it down, because he did not feel right for the part and feels Sean Connery was the perfect for the part, as his character in the films was a very manly actor and not part of the establishment. Robert Wise informs us that he likes to view the daily rushes, but insists on viewing them on a big screen as you can see if the lighting is right or a scene has been shot right, but sometimes he cannot be offered a screening room with a big screen and says he would offer to pay for a screening in a cinema to see his daily rushes, as he hates viewing the rushes on a small screen on a moviola machine. Richard Johnson says about the film ‘THE HAUNTING,’ that it has a big appeal across a wide spectrum of movie goers, enthusiasts and also appeals to a group of cult film enthusiast of this genre, who have it in their video library collection and get it out now and again and discuss it frame by frame, and it also has an audience who likes to have a scary experience, and Richard Johnson does know of cult fan groups that can be a bit extreme about these types of films who live to watching these types of films, hour after hour, say in and day out, and he has received some very peculiar fan mail, and feels this film is not a horror film, but much more of a psychological, paranormal and supernatural film, instead of a schlock horror film, whereas the film ‘THE HAUNTING’ is about people and their reaction to circumstances, especially to one another. Richard Johnson says that the film did quite well at the box office and eventually came into profit for M-G-M in England, and its reviews at the time were pretty good, and of course it has gained it reputation as a true cult classic film over the years and feels it has not dated, whereas other films he has appeared in have dated, and the reason for that is because it is was all down to director Robert Wise who is a true artist for this particular genre film. People have said to Robert Wise, you have made the most scariest film, how did you do it, and he replied back that it is mainly by suggestion, and we do not show any horrific effects, and especially with a few noises outside a door, it is that simple and Robert Wise had a lot of fun making the film, than other genre films, especially with lighting and angles of the camera, as well as the sound effects and of course the composed music, and was fun conjuring up all these things and it was one of his best directorial job ever and came together very well. So ends a really excellent and fascinating audio commentary, that gave out a lot of fascinating in-depth information about the film and its process and is definitely not one to miss and definitely gest a five star rating from me. Each audio commentator was recorded separately, and the comments were expertly edited together.
Theatrical Trailer [1963] [480i] [2.35:1] [2:30] This is the Original Theatrical Trailer for the film ‘THE HAUNTING.’ It is narrated by Dr. John Markway and the trailer makes good use of some of Robert Wise's disorienting camera angles.
BONUS: Replica of ‘THE HAUNTING’ film poster.
Finally, ‘THE HAUNTING’ is considered by some to be the best-haunted house film ever and I totally agree, whereas the remake was a total disaster and should have never been allowed to be made, as it is an insult to the original 1963 film. Whatever your opinion, it’s a superbly filmed ghost story by a somewhat unsung master director Robert Wise who never quite got the credibility he deserved as an auteur because Robert Wise didn’t put a distinct style into every film he made. In a way this makes him a much more interesting filmmaker, because his output was so diverse. ‘THE HAUNTING’ has a just claim for scariest film ever made; it is also a classic of the psychological horror genre. Director Robert Wise skilfully handles the source material, whilst screenwriter Nelson Gidding layers in ideas on insanity that meld so esoterically that the film becomes a maelstrom of terror. It never fails to chill, even now, over fifty years since its initial release and when compared to the modern horror and its penchant for jump scares and gore, shows just how good simple framing, dark shadows and a terrifying story, well told, can trump any amount of splatter. With outstanding cinematography, a wonderful score, excellent performances and a story that entices and terrorises, ‘THE HAUNTING’ definitely towers above its peers both contemporary and modern. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
