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Horror This film is of a course a remake of Robert Wise's 1963 film, THE HAUNTING starring Julie Harris. That film was a fairly low budget film with very few effects, but what it did have, terrified audiences mostly because everything happened in the dark. It was mostly what was unseen that terrified the audience. This new version of THE HAUNTING unfortunately seems to take place in well lit corridors and rooms. The horror that darkness brings is missing but it still succeeds for the majority of the movie. Director Jan De Bont seems to feel that horror exists in the light as well as dark and I am sure it does, but, humans have an inborn fear of the dark and the unseen things it brings so more scenes in the dark would have helped. The story as it is told here has to work in the dark because the original owner, textile baron, Hugh Crain built it for his wife and children so it was never designed to be dark. The house on the outside is dark and foreboding but the reverse is so on the inside. The house is an architectural wonder. It is a beautiful home with art, statues of cherubs and even a room that is a well lit, mirrored carrousel. The only spooky things are the paintings of Hugh Grain himself. He looks like such an evil looking man. All this he built for children he would never have. Instead the house is filled with stories of tragedy and eeire tales of ominious deaths. The house was soon left uninhabited and looked after only during the day by caretakers. A century later a Dr. David Marrow (Liam Neeson) has decide to rent the house to use as part of his study in fear. To get volunteers he tells them that he is studying sleep disorders. His guinea pigs are Nell (Lili Taylor), Theo (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Luke (Owen Wilson). Nell seems to be instantly attracted to the house from the moment she walks in and the feeling is frighteningly mutual. Dr. Marrow's stories seem frivilous when the strange things begin to go bump in the night. Ghosts and manifestations appear at first only to Nell who seems to attract their attention. She feels that they want her help but no one believes her until the house becomes manevolent and they all realize that they are in serious trouble. The story has many twists and turns but from the beginning I knew that it was obvious that Nell was somehow related to the house in some way. There are plenty of good scares, chills and in it's favour is that there is a lack of bloodletting. There is one scene that is a bit rough but it is carried so quick that it will not really offend anyone but it does add to the film's terror. The film is good but the ending was too much Hollywood and trite. I don't want to say more because you should see the ending for yourself. The original HAUNTING still maintains it's place as one of the scariest movies made. After you see this version consider renting the video of the original film and decide which is better. Overall it wasn't a bad remake. It's PG rating makes it reasonably safe for children. |
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Starring: Liam Neeson, Lili Taylor, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Owen Wilson Directed by Jan de Bont Written by David Self Produced by Susan Arnold, Donna Roth, Colin Wilson (II) Distributed by DreamWorks Distribution Rating USA... PG-13 Rating Canada... PG Read Another Review Of This Film Read Still Another Review Of This Film |
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vjm@metrocity.com
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