THE
HAUNTING (1999) |
| Starring Lili
Taylor, Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Owen Wilson, Bruce Dern,
Marian Seldes, Alex Koremzay, Todd Field, Virginia Madsen and Michael
Cavanaugh.
Screenplay by David
Self.
Directed by Jan
DeBont.
Distributed by
Dreamworks
Pictures. 113 minutes. Rated PG-13. |
 |
|
It probably isn’t fair to
compare this film to the Shirley Jackson’s great 60s novel The
Haunting of Hill House, which it is based on or even Robert
Wise’s earlier film version of the book, also called The Haunting.
Those works were deep psychological masterpieces that this film can’t
and doesn’t try to keep up with. In fact, the earlier incarnations of
the story where the ghosts were never actually seen but implied
probably couldn't even float with the sensory-mad modern audiences.
But
this Haunting does keep a very real creepy grip on an
audience. A psychiatrist (Liam Neeson) invites three insomniacs (Lili
Taylor, Catherine-Zeta Jones and Owen Wilson) to an old haunted mansion
for an experiment in human response to fear. This isn’t really an
actor’s film though, and the characters are fairly one-dimensional.
For
example, Zeta-Jones’ character, which was equally menacing and
enthralling in the earlier incarnations is now basically just there to
scream, look good and try to get people out of there. Neeson’s
character is a bit of a blank slate. He’s blatantly using these people
and yet he cares for them at least when it is necessary in the
script. Wilson is essentially playing the Jar Jar Binks character
he's only there for unnecessary and annoying comic relief. (At least
here the audience gets to enjoy seeing him meet a grisly end wish we
could say that for Jar Jar.) Indie-film queen Taylor is as always,
terrific in her role as a repressed caregiver who finally finds her
meaning in life.
But the real interesting character here is the house
itself. A beautiful old manor full of spooky rooms, large staircases
and hidden passages, the set is a technical marvel. The funny thing is
that the end, in which director Jan DeBont (Speed, Twister)
pulls out all the SFX stops is not nearly as scary as several earlier,
quieter, scenes. For example, one scene with a skeleton in a fireplace
is the best film jolt since the head floated out of the hole in the
bottom of a boat in Jaws. The Haunting gives you good
the old-fashioned type of chills that I thought were extinct as we hit
the millennium. (7/99)
Dave Strohler
Copyright ©1999
PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved.
Revised:
April 28, 2022 |
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Copyright ©1999
PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved.
Revised: April 28, 2022.
|
