A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

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Title: The Haunting

Date Viewed: 7/25/99

Details:

Catherine Zeta-Jones

Lili Taylor

Owen Wilson

Score: Jerry Goldsmith

Director: Jan De Bont

Score: +

The Review: A tense and occasionally creepy horror film in the classic mold -- a haunted house with a shrouded past and creaky doors; peculiar and gloomy caretakers who are daytime residents only; a small group who decides to stay for a few nights; a crescendo of odd events until the horrible secrets of the house and its owner are revealed. This is a next generation remake of 1963's The Haunting, itself from the novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. The novel was excellent (to the extent that I can remember it); this version of the movie is full of special effects (SFX) wizardry but is light on psychological drama.

The plot turns on Lili Taylor's character. Fresh from the lingering death of an demanding grandmother, she volunteers for a psychological study on insomnia and thus forms the nucleus of a group of academics and true insomniacs. We know almost from the beginning that the insomnia story is just that, a ruse shielding an equally academic study of fear (run by Liam Neeson). But once assembled, the group of strangers are confronted by a chain of events -- often manifesting differently to each individual -- that drives relentlessly to its climax.

Taylor seems lightweight in her role, and although her character is unconvincing to her compatriots (which is effective since it builds stress on the group), she is also unconvincing to the viewing audience (detracting from her portrayal of gradual obsession and possible madness). The supporting characters are just (barely) that. The SFX are excellent, and aided by the appropriately spooky score by Jerry Goldsmith. The estate used for the outside shots is Harlaxton Manor in Lincolnshire, England. In the words of one of the characters, it is "Charles Foster Kane meets the Munsters." Truer words were never spoken, especially the interior set with a plethora of decorative sculpture on nearly every vertical surface. If you have seen the trailers, then you know what the SFX crew has done with this sculpture; it hightens the anticipation as you wait for some of it to move.

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