Watch The Haunting (1999), Story, Stars, Reviews & All You Want To Know About A Great Movie
The Haunting (1999)
A study in fear escalates into a heart-stopping nightmare for a professor and three subjects trapped in a mysterious mansion.
The Haunting is a 1999 American horror film directed by Jan de Bont, and starring Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Owen Wilson, and Lili Taylor, with Marian Seldes, Bruce Dern, Todd Field, and Virginia Madsen appearing in supporting roles. Its plot follows a group of people who gather at a sprawling estate in western Massachusetts for an apparent volunteer study on insomnia, only to find themselves plagued by paranormal events connected to the home’s grim history.
Based on the 1959 novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, it is the second feature film adaptation of the source material after Robert Wise’s 1963 film adaptation of the same name.
Development for The Haunting originally began as a collaboration between filmmaker Steven Spielberg and writer Stephen King, who together began writing a new adaptation of Jackson’s novel, largely inspired by Wise’s 1963 film version. After creative differences, the project was aborted, with King retooling his screenplay to form the 2002 miniseries Rose Red.
Spielberg meanwhile commissioned a new screenplay for the project, written by David Self, to be produced under Spielberg’s studio, DreamWorks Pictures. Filming of The Haunting began in the fall of 1998, with some location shoots occurring in England at Harlaxton Manor and Belvoir Castle, though the majority of the film was shot in specially-crafted sets in Los Angeles by esteemed Argentine production designer Eugenio Zanetti.
The Haunting premiered theatrically in North America in July 1999. Though met by largely negative reviews from film critics, it was a financial success, grossing $180 million worldwide.
The Haunting (1999)Â Trailer
The Haunting (1999)Â Reviews
The production design is by Eugenio Zanetti (“What Dreams May Come,” “Restoration”) and he has done a masterful job of creating interiors that seem to be alive with menace. One of the great moments in the film comes when Taylor and Zeta-Jones explore their bedrooms, which are so rich with detail that you want to wallow in them. The great hall of the house features a walk-in fireplace not unlike the one in Citizen Kane’s Xanadu, and indeed when Zeta-Jones first enters Hill House, she murmurs, “It’s like Charles Foster Kane meets the Munsters.”
The horror story itself is based on things that go thump (and bang, and wheeze) in the night. The cavernous halls and ominous corridors reverberate with great groaning echoing noises, as if the house has gas pains. Doors are hammered on. Ghostly manifestations appear. One or two moments are truly scary, including a recycled version of the classic “Carrie” end shot. We enter this space and feel enclosed by it; it’s not like a set, but more like a virtual reality.
Lili Taylor struggles valiantly with her character, the movie’s juiciest, and has some effective scenes, mostly by herself. “I can be a victim or I can be a volunteer,” she tells herself, when the going gets really rough.
The rest of the characters are underwritten, including Catherine Zeta-Jones’ beautiful Theo, who does some bisexual lip-smacking at the outset but never follows up, and spends most of her time running to the rescue. Owen Wilson, as the guy, asks obvious questions and helps tug open doors, etc., but is not made much of, and neither is Liam Neeson’s professor, whose motivations are explained in some flat opening scenes, and who then goes adrift in the plot (“All right, you two! Enough about pharmaceuticals!”).
- Roger Ebert  –  Roger Ebert
- Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.
The Haunting (1999) Credits
The Haunting (1999)
113 minutes
Cast
Bruce Dern as Mr. Dudley
Catherine Zeta-Jones as Theo
Virginia Madsen as Jane
Todd Field as Todd Hackett
Lili Taylor as Nell
Liam Neeson as Dr. David Marrow
Owen Wilson as Luke Sanderson
Marian Seldes as Mrs. Dudley
Based On The Novel by
- Shirley Jackson
Directed by
- Jan de Bont
Written by
- David Self
The Haunting (1999)Â Plot
Eleanor “Nell” Vance, an insomniac, has cared for her invalid mother for 11 years, sharing a Boston apartment with her. After her mother dies, Nell’s sister Jane and her husband Lou inherit the residence. They eject Nell to prepare for a sale. As she faces homelessness, Nell accepts an invitation to participate in an insomnia study by Dr. David Marrow at Hill House, a secluded manor house in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts.
At the house, she meets Mr. and Mrs. Dudley, an eccentric pair of caretakers. Two other participants arrive: Luke Sanderson and the glamorous Theodora (“Theo”), along with Dr. Marrow and his two research assistants. Unknown to the participants, Dr. Marrow’s true purpose is to study the psychological response to fear, intending to expose his subjects to terror.
During their first night, Dr. Marrow relates the story of Hill House: Its original owner, Hugh Crain, a 19th-century textile tycoon, constructed the rambling home for his wife Renee, hoping to populate it with a large family. Unfortunately, all of Crain’s children were stillborns, and Renee, devastated by the multiple losses, killed herself.
Crain became a recluse. Marrow’s assistant is severely wounded in a freak accident and both research assistants leave for the hospital. Supernatural events begin happening, and Nell sees the ghosts of children. A large portrait of Hugh Crain is vandalized with the words “Welcome Home Eleanor” written in blood. Theo and Luke accuse Nell, claiming she is seeking attention.
Nell becomes determined to prove that the house is haunted. She finds Crain’s hidden office and learns that he extensively used child labor in his cotton mills. He tortured and killed several orphans in his home, then burned their bodies in the fireplace. She surmises that these children’s spirits are trapped in the house, providing Crain with an “eternal family”.
Crain had a second wife named Carolyn, from whom Nell is descended. Dr. Marrow is skeptical of Nell’s claims and soon reveals his true fear study to the group, but after a statue tries to drown him, he realizes Hill House is haunted. Nell reveals that she is related to Carolyn Crain and must help the children “move on” to the afterlife.
Dr. Marrow demands that everyone leave Hill House, but Hugh Crain’s ghost traps them inside. Luke defaces a portrait of Crain, enraging his spirit to decapitate Luke. When Crain himself manifests, Dr. Marrow and Theo hide in the house while Nell distracts him. Realizing that he thrived on the fear he created in children, Nell declares she is not afraid of him.
Her declaration weakens the ghost and he is cast into a decorative bronze door depicting distressed children in a purgatory-like scene. He drags Nell with him, but the spirits release her and she dies. Nell’s soul, along with those of the freed children, rise to heaven.
The following morning, Dr. Marrow and Theo meet the Dudleys at the front gate, where Mr. Dudley asks the doctor if he found out what he wanted to know. Dr. Marrow and Theo leave without saying a word, and leave Hill House behind.
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The Haunting (1999)Â Box office
The Haunting opened theatrically in North America on July 23, 1999, screening in 2,808 theaters, and earning $33,435,140 during its opening weekend. The film remained in theatrical release until November 1999.  It ultimately grossed $91,411,151 in North America, and $85,900,000 in international markets, making for a worldwide gross of $177,311,151.Â
The Haunting (1999)Â Critical Response
The Haunting was largely met with unfavorable reviews from film critics, with many citing its weak screenplay, its heavy reliance on horror clichés, and its overdone CGI effects. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a “Rotten” rating of 16% from 100 reviews, with the critical consensus stating “Sophisticated visual effects fail to offset awkward performances and an uneven script”.
Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “C+” on an A+ to F scale. As a result of the negative reviews, it was nominated for five Razzie Awards but lost all five to Wild Wild West.
Roger Ebert, however, gave the film a favorable review, praising the production design in particular: “To my surprise, I find myself recommending The Haunting based on its locations, its sets, its art direction, its sound design, and the overall splendor of its visuals. The story is a mess, but for long periods that hardly matters.
It’s beside the point, as we enter one of the most striking spaces I’ve ever seen in a film.”[6] Similar sentiments were echoed by The New York Times‘s Janet Maslin, who deemed the film “a lavish illustration of how to take a fairly modest black-and-white horror film from 1963 and amplify it so relentlessly that the sight of the flying cow in Twister would not be all that amiss… the film’s spooky tricks are orchestrated by top-notch behind-the-scenes talent, who augment Mr. De Bont’s tireless efforts to keep things moving.”
The Haunting (1999)Â Accolades
| Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Raspberry Awards | Worst Picture | Donna Roth, Colin Wilson and Susan Arthur | Nominated |
| Worst Director | Jan de Bont | Nominated | |
| Worst Actress | Catherine Zeta-Jones (also for Entrapment) | Nominated | |
| Worst Screenplay | David Self | Nominated | |
| Worst Screen Couple | Lili Taylor and Catherine Zeta-Jones | Nominated | |
| Stinkers Bad Movie Awards | Worst Picture (Dishonourable Mentions) | The Haunting | Won |
| Worst Sense of Direction | Jan de Bont | Nominated | |
| Worst Screenplay for a Film Grossing Over $100M Worldwide Using Hollywood Math | David Self | Nominated | |
| Worst Remake | The Haunting | Won | |
| The Remake, Sequel, or Prequel Nobody Was Clamoring For | Nominated | ||
| Least “Special” Special Effects | Nominated |
The Haunting (1999)Â Movie Info
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