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THE
HAUNTING
review by
Joe Mauceri
A psychologist finds a dark old house to conduct an experiment in fear, disguised as a study in insomnia. Unfortunately, the house is haunted. The restless spirit, Hugh Crain, has lured a participant to Hill House to seek revenge from beyond the grave. Screenwriter David Self took a bit of literary license in modernizing Jackson's classic novel "The Haunting of Hill House." He made Hugh Crain a darker, menacing, more sinister figure. Not wanting to spoil it, Self has transformed Crain into a monster of the industrial revolution. Both drafts I read were sincere attempts to preserve the integrity of the novel while adding touches of jeopardy and peril. Self is a talented screenwriter. His screenplays are almost as intense as the novel. Regardless, Jan De Bont applies his vision and destroys the delicate weave of this remarkably tale. De Bont favors effects over acting and emotion. The story is character driven, but is stifled by editing that places illogical special effect sequences ahead of the plot. There is a scene where Dr. Marrow/Liam Neeson is pulled into a fountain. It is laughable at best, and makes no sense in the grand scheme of the tale. The ghost of the children are just too cute. Even when they are supposed to be terrified they appear to be smiling. De Bont never captures a sense of peril. Even the C.G.I. of Hugh Crain is lacking punch, and is reminiscent of death in Peter Jackson's "The Frighteners." Part of the problem might come from the director over lighting many scenes. He does that so audiences can see the detail of the effects. Therefore, it is never dark enough, which is a shame. Production designer Eugenio Zanetti has done an incredible job of designing the interiors of Hill House, but it always feels like day. There is no play between light-&-shadow. Zanetti's sets could have been as creepy as they are beautiful. The cast never jells, and that is largely due to the changes made in the characters from the novel to the screen. Again, Self tried to preserve that but it was lost in the translation. Lili Taylor admirably attempts to come up with a memorable performance, while the rest of the cast feels like they phoned their performances in. Jerry Goldsmith's score sounds like a compilation of themes from the scores he did for the "Poltergeist" films. There were a couple of times I heard "Carol Ann's Theme" creeping into the score. Speaking of "Poltergeist," I think the problem with De Bont's "THE HAUNTING" is that it is confusing mix of Jackson's novel, the "Poltergeist" films and "The Legend of Hell House." He never attempts to capture one of the more refined, subtle moments of Jackson's novel or Robert Wise's version. The way the house comes to life has more in common with "Legend." When Nell confronts the evil Crain, who feels like the Preacher from "Poltergeist," she must defeat him and lead the lost souls into the light. Self wrote an epilogue into the film, which something Jackson tried to offer. The way the film ends now, it is too similar to the way all three "Poltergeist" films end. Robert Wise's 1952 "The Haunting" tapped into the spirit and mystery of Jackson's novel. It is a very close adaptation. I took my 12-year-old nephew to the De Bont's film, and he laughed. I showed him Wise's black-&-white film and he asked me for a copy. Case closed. CREW: Director/Executive Producer - Jan De Bont; Screenwriter - David Self; Based on "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson; Producers - Susan Arnold, Colin Wilson & Donna Arkoff Roth; Cinematography - Karl Walter Lindenlaub; Composer - Jerry Goldsmith; Production Designer - Eugenio Zanetti; Costume Designer - Ellen Mirojnick; Visual Effects Supervisors - Phil Tippett & Craig Hayes; Sound Designer - Gary Rydstorm. CAST: Dr. David Marrow - Liam Neeson; Theo - Catherine Zeta-Jones; Luke Sanderson - Owen Wilson; Nell - Lili Taylor; Mr. Dudley - Bruce Dern; Mrs. Dudley - Marian Seldes; Jane - Virginia Madsen. OFFICIAL WEB SITE: |
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