Quote:
Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs  The Haunting (1999)
Professor Liam Neeson gathers a group of people (Catherine Zeta Jones, Owen Wilson and Lili Taylor) at a huge estate in Massachusetts for an alleged volunteer study on insomnia, only to find themselves plagued by paranormal events connected to the house's grim history.
Jan De Bont's remake of the 1963 classic is a bit of a strange one. It ramps everything up on the earlier film including the special effects from Phil Tippett which are largely excellent whilst the sound design is magnificent in True HD surround and thankfully all the jump scares are based round natural sounds rather than musical cues. I can't really fault the cast - Taylor is good as the put upon heroine of the piece whilst Zeta Jones vamps it up, even Owen Wilson is watchable. The house itself is the star of the film. Filmed at Harlaxton Manor in Lincolnshire, it's beautifully grand and quintessentially Gothic, a stunning example of Victorian architecture.
And yet it doesn't quite work. Once you've done marveling at the technical aspects you realise the script lacks something and it's not in the least bit scary or thrilling.
Despite all this i enjoyed it when i saw it at the cinema, bought it on dvd and upgraded to Blu-ray so make of that what you will. |
The film does have a good set up of a dark atmosphere and a good death with Owen Wilson and you can tell that the house is haunted whereas the original has you thinking is the house haunted or just more psychological, i'm in the minority of hating the remake.