Ninety years ago, Hugh Crain builds the mansion Hill House in a remote area of New England. When his wife is moving to the mansion, she has an accident and dies, leaving the bitter Hugh Crain and his daughter Abigail alone in Hill House. Hugh Crain marries again and his new wife also dies in Hill House. He moves to England and dies, leaving Abigail alone. When she is an old and invalid woman, she hires a paid companion from the village, but the woman neglects her and she dies. The companion inherits Hill House but the mansion drives her crazy and she commits suicide.
In the present days (1963), Dr. John Markway (Richard Johnson) rents the mansion from the inheritor Mrs. Sanderson (Fay Compton) to study the supernatural and prove the existence of ghosts. He invites the clairvoyant Theodora 'Theo' (Claire Bloom) and the unbalanced and needy psychic Eleanor 'Nell' Lance (Julie Harris) to spend vacation in Hill House, and he goes with the skeptical future inheritor Luke Sanderson (Russ Tamblyn) to the mansion. During the nights, the quartet witness supernatural manifestation in the house and the sanity of Nell is affected by her ghosts.
"The Haunting" is a scary psychological horror film by the magnificent director Robert Wise. The ambiguous story does not have special effects, gore, ghosts, serial-killers or monster, but the viewer startles many times with the camera angles and sounds. The art direction is impressive despite the bad taste, creating an eerie environment. In 1999, this film was remade by Jan de Bont but without the quality of the original film. My vote is eight.
Title (Brazil): "Desafio do Além" ("Challenge from Beyond")
Note: On 26 Sep 2017, I saw this film again on Blu-Ray.
In the present days (1963), Dr. John Markway (Richard Johnson) rents the mansion from the inheritor Mrs. Sanderson (Fay Compton) to study the supernatural and prove the existence of ghosts. He invites the clairvoyant Theodora 'Theo' (Claire Bloom) and the unbalanced and needy psychic Eleanor 'Nell' Lance (Julie Harris) to spend vacation in Hill House, and he goes with the skeptical future inheritor Luke Sanderson (Russ Tamblyn) to the mansion. During the nights, the quartet witness supernatural manifestation in the house and the sanity of Nell is affected by her ghosts.
"The Haunting" is a scary psychological horror film by the magnificent director Robert Wise. The ambiguous story does not have special effects, gore, ghosts, serial-killers or monster, but the viewer startles many times with the camera angles and sounds. The art direction is impressive despite the bad taste, creating an eerie environment. In 1999, this film was remade by Jan de Bont but without the quality of the original film. My vote is eight.
Title (Brazil): "Desafio do Além" ("Challenge from Beyond")
Note: On 26 Sep 2017, I saw this film again on Blu-Ray.