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The Haunting
Price: $23.98 Prices subject to change.
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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780783246697
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DTS Surround Sound, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 0783246692
Label: Dreamworks Video
Languages: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Manufacturer: Dreamworks Video
Number Of Items: 1
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen
Publisher: Dreamworks Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: August 29, 2000
Running Time: 113 minutes
Studio: Dreamworks Video
Theatrical Release Date: July 23, 1999
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Editorial Review:
Suffering from the extreme bad luck of being released at the same time as the low-budget The Blair Witch Project, this adaptation of The Haunting of Hill House attempts to update Shirley Jackson's psychologically terrifying ghost story to the era of big-budget, computerized special effects. Does it work? Well, let's just say that showing isn't exactly the same as telling. A prime example of bloated studio filmmaking, The Haunting telegraphs all its frights so blatantly that it forsakes any of Jackson's subtle horrors for the remedial scares of a clunky carnival ride. The story remains basically the same, with four people called to an old mansion for experiments in the supernatural, but instead of getting inside the heads of its main characters (as the 1963 adaptation by Robert Wise did so well), Jan DeBont's film deserts character development for the huge, glorious set design provided by Eugenio Zanetti (Restoration). Thus, instead of a well-drawn story you get... a well-drawn house, one that four very talented and underutilized actors--Lili Taylor, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Liam Neeson, and Owen Wilson--wander around in endlessly (as Zeta-Jones puts it, the house is "sort of Charles Foster Kane meets the Munsters"). Taylor, as the hypersensitive Nell, is the unknowing lynchpin in the battle between good and bad ghosts and gets saddled with most of the expository dialogue of the mansion's gothic backstory. Zeta-Jones (showing some spark) and Neeson (showing none) are sadly reduced to providing reactionary shots of the film's disastrous climax, which mixes hapless new-age affirmations with computer-generated effects of ghosts and exploding windows, walls, doors, etc. For this haunted-house story, take a quick tour of the breathtaking rooms, but definitely don't stay the night. --Mark Englehart
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Microwaved horror
Hollywood reheats a classic, but this cheap serving is hardly very appetizing. This remake throws some heavy morsels of CGI down your throat and will give you indigestion.
Same basic story, some people volunteer to stay in an extravagant mansion. This time they aren't told about the house's dark past. They believe they are part of a study on insomnia. The truth is they are part of a controlled experiment on group fear.
Now I thought this was a nice alteration to the story. But ... Read More
Rating:  - I've seen scarier episodes of Scooby Doo.
"I'm not afraid of you Grandpa!!!"
That's nice.
Easily in the top twenty of worst horror movies EVER!!!
I never saw the original nor do I want to.
YET another movie I paid to see in the theater. I figured, if Liam Neeson is in it, it might be pretty good. WRONG!!!
A Hollyturd if there ever was one, The Haunting succeeds only at scaring me with it's utter worthlessness.
Dreadful acting, a story line that couldn't scare a toddler, lame direction......
Bad....JUST ... Read More
Rating:  - Not bad
I bought this to replace the VHS version I had that had seen better days. This movie won't win any awards but as horror movies go it wasn't bad. It has a talented cast and I enjoy watching it from time to time.
Rating: - A super fun spooky thriller!
The Film: The Haunting
Year Made: 1999
Overview: A group of strangers are brought to a spooky house with a promise of money if they are willing to take part in a innocent experiment. All seems innocent enough, until they arrive at Hill House. What they soon realize is there is a reason that nobody stays after dark!
The Package: 4 Stars. The holder is nice, with cool eerie shot of Hill House on the cover. When you open the holder, the CD is held nicely inside the case. ... Read More
Rating: - Not Scary and Very Slow, But Worth Seeing
I was expecting a fast paced movie, what I got was a slow movie with a lot of plot holes. Some of it just didn't make sense. There is a scene when Theo is helping Nell get to bed. She says, "Goodnight. I'll be right back to bring you some tea." What? And then she never brings her tea... And what about when they decide that Nell shouldn't be alone, so Luke says he'll take the first shift to stay with her. In the next scene trouble happens in the room and Luke isn't even in there, he's out walking around. What? ... Read More
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