The Haunting

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Tyler

Recently caught up with the original. But This was the one I saw first. And although I never found it scary as a kid, I did watch it a few times because I was a fan Jan De Bont and Twister and I loved looking at the CG effects and the sound design in the cinema was awesome.

But now I've seen the original and probably know it better than this version I can only see just how horrifically off the mark it is. It's like a total mis-reading of what made the first one so great. Here they remove any ambiguity, suspense or mystery adopt to show everything in bright detail. And it just doesn't work at all.

The late 90's a filled with examples of films that, now they have the technology, decide to show everything, and failed miserably. And now thankfully the backlash to that has past and filmmakers realised that it's always more effective to let the audience do some of the work.

I always liked Lili Taylor, she's far less annoying and more sympathetic a lead than Julie Harris. Even though she's never billed or in any of the advertising. But it's the first time I remember seeing her in a lead role for a mainstream picture. The rest of the cast do what they can. The look like they're having fun in the amazing sets. I like the score too.

As a haunted house film this is a real failure, unless you've never seen a good one. I guess it's a good place to start out if you're really young though, it's goofy but kinda fun. I still have fond memories of going to see it at the cinema. But ultimately it's just a completely hamfisted attempt to be scary.