The Haunting (1999) Thriller / Suspense / Horror Lili Taylor, Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Owen Wilson Directed by Jan De Bont 1 hour, 52 minutes Rated PG-13 for profanity, a few violent scenes, mature themes, intense special effects, suggestive dialogue, scares Wide-screen aspect ratio: 2.35:1 Rating (0 - 100): _42_ *This review contains moderate to major spoilers for "The Haunting"
Some movies are born bad. This is one of them. "The Haunting" echoes with the mind-numbing stupidity of your average summer CGI-piloted flick, brimming with special effects in every nook and cranny, which do their fair share of overshadowing what's really important here: the story which it blatantly lacks. The premise is interesting: a psychologist lures three insomniacs into a deserted, sprawling mansion under the pretense of helping them achieve a good night's sleep. What he is really doing is setting them up for a bizarre experiment in the elements of fear, paranoia, and dread. Dr. Marrow (Liam Neeson, in a silly role that the screenwriter probably concocted while passing a kidney stone) comes upon Hill House, an immense, beautiful estate which sits nine miles from any civilization.
And three people come upon Dr. Marrow's ad for the "insomnia research project," promising handsome pay and a cure for their sleeplessness. The first to arrive at the spooky mansion is central character Nell (Lili Taylor, who absolutely shines), a fragile woman grieving over her mother's death. She meets the creepy caretakers and then meets Theo (Catherine Zeta-Jones), a bisexual tempest with a love for exotic fashion (she enters the film in knee-high Prada boots and in later scenes sports sensual evening wear and a fur coat). Then they both run into (literally) Luke (Owen Wilson of "Armageddon"), the film's most enjoyable yet wasted character who makes wisecracks and subtle advances at Theo, and is also the first of the three to figure out that Dr. Marrow has something up his sleeve.
I have to admit that I liked the way that the picture started out. The characters are interesting, if underdeveloped, and are played very well. Early jumpy moments provide oomph for the plot to get going, because it does take some time before the sleep-deprived trio begin wandering Hill House's halls and find things that go bump in the night.
But two girls, a guy, and a spooky place is all that it really becomes, when Nell digs into the house's sinister history and slowly becomes sucked into its dark past. Hill House, we learn, was built by a man named Crane, who operated mills and murdered children in his spare time (Nell finds bones beneath a fireplace as well as a list of the deceased in one of his old ledgers). From there, it goes downhill - fast. The others think that Nell is going nuts, which forces Dr. Marrow to reveal the true nature of his experiment. Gasp. That's what they try to make you do in "The Haunting," but all you do is laugh - at multiple unintentionally funny moments. The people in the row behind me cackled to themselves frequently, as did myself, as did many people in the theater. I wish I could go into these over-the-top moments, but I can only talk about movies this bad for so long. Ultimately, Nell thinks that the house "wants her" and that it is full of the lost souls of the murdered children put to work in Crane's mills. There are several mentions of purgatory (a state in which a soul exists in neither heaven nor hell) in the film, suggesting that this is where the souls of the children (as well as Crane himself) exist. Actually, they're in a really shitty script, but purgatory is fine too. The movie builds to such a laughably silly climax that you will suddenly find the texture of your shoelaces to be strangely interesting.
The evil soul of Mr. Crane is unleased and Nell battles him to both of their ends, as he is sent to hell and she winds up dead herself. Dr. Marrow and Theo (Luke was sadly decapitated in an earlier scene by a chimney flue) look on as her spirit exits her body and begins to the guide the spirits of the children, emerging from every corner of Hill House, and they all ascend to heaven. Thus, the film ends. The bottom line is that "The Haunting" is not a scary movie. Nevermind that it blows, it could at least pack a few frights, but I only jumped once. An interesting new face in the film is Lili Taylor, from "I Shot Andy Warhol" and "Ransom." She was also nominated for an Emmy in a guest role on an X-Files episode. She sloshes through flat dialogue (her final line in the film may go down as one of the worst uttered in film history), but she performs the character very well. I hope we will see more of her. The special effects are first-rate, but I think that in the case of this movie they are put to bad use. The sets of the film however, are jaw-dropping. If you are a fan of films that are interesting in concept but ludicrous in climax, containing good actors and abundant eye-candy, "The Haunting" may be worth a viewing. But don't get to immersed in it. You might never want to see a horror film again.
~Paul Dearing ICQ #1857079 AOL IM - pauld1121 neptune@neosoft.com
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