The Ghostman & Demon Hunter Show

hitchgoonie · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Posts: 41

"What You Don't See Is Far Scarier Than What You Do See"

The Haunting is one of the all time creep fest classics. It tells the tale of an experiment in paranormal research. Eleanor, Luke, Theodora and the good Professor rent out Hill House, a gloomy place full of dark secrets and otherworldly occupants. They start off their expedition in hopes of proving paranormal activity and wind up finding more than they bargained for.
Perhaps, Be Careful What You Wish For?

Director Robert Wise took this chilling work of fiction an made it our very own reality. The Haunting is atmospheric and the cinematography also plays well off of Eleanor's deteriorating psychological state. Being encased in Hill House you build a more intimate relationship to the characters and the drama unfolding. Their pain is yours.
The story is more about Eleanor's state of mind with the ghosts playing as an added catalyst to her descent. Wise displays this brilliantly because you start to wonder if what you're seeing is actually happening.
Is this crazy? Is she crazy? Are WE crazy?
What adds to this story being classic is the fact that in those days of filmmaking, you worked with what you had. There wasn't CGI or insane special effects. They created fear just beyond the camera lens; just beyond your eyesight. Honestly, your imagination is far scarier than what you actually see, so by being limited in their techniques the filmmakers created the perfect injection of terror.
The state of films today is pitiful with the overabundance of raw CGI and complete lack of mental thought by most of today's audience.
It's a WHAM-BAM-thank you ma'am type of world these days. And that's just sad.

The cast was phenomenal, the filmmaking was fantastic and the fear is still firmly supplanted there after all these years.
If you haven't seen this film you NEED to.
SHAUN ALERT!!! In the novel, the character of Theo is hinted as being a lesbian. Wise decided to "up the ante" in the movie and made bold strides to bring that out. Back in that time, it was still taboo. Wise actually cut a scene in the beginning of the film which showed Theo fighting with her girlfriend and writing in lipstick on the mirror I HATE YOU. He felt that her sexual orientation shouldn't be completely obvious and that that particular scene would have given it away.
In the remake of The Haunting, which came out in 1999, Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Theo with as much bisexual gusto as you can get. Really, that's sort of the only reason to see the remake because they completely changed the story and CGI runs rampant throughout the film. Lili Taylor is a great actress so I have to give her a shout out even though the movie was terrible.

There you go Shaun. Lotsa lesbianism seeping through there for you.
So, deadly dears, check out The Haunting (1963) to see classic film at it's best. Only view the remake if you need a Catherine Zeta-Jones fix.

Need to have The Haunting right now?:
http://www.amazon.com/Haunting-Julie-Harris/dp/B00009NHB6

How about the remake?:
http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/product.asp?sku=D15886

Roxy · Joined: 10 May 2007 Posts: 4

God G.G. your writing is so awesome.....we need to get more mainstream so the rest of the planet can see your brilliance