The Haunting (1963)

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With just a few days before Halloween, I thought I'd leave this Halloween edition of Screening Suggestions with a bang. 'The Haunting' is one of those few legendary black and white horror films that still totally hold up as being at least somewhat scary. In fact, a lot of the creepiness comes from the black and white footage with heavy shadows, odd angles, and various tricks of the camera. Even the very setting of Hill House, itself, is unsettling, as once again the house is just as much a character as the leads. And by the way, yes, I consider this version to be better than the 1999 remake.

The beginning and end of the film is narrated rather poetically by Dr. John Markway (Richard Johnson). It begins with the history of Hill House; constructed by Hugh Crain as a home for his wife, she dies in a carriage crash on the way up to the house. Crain remarries, but the second wife dies with a fall down the stairs. His daughter, Abigail, is left there by Crain while he goes off to England to drown. She lived in the house for the rest of her life, trapping herself in the nursery, eventually dying as well. Her nurse companion she was left with then inherits the house, only to hang herself from the spiral staircase in the library. It was then inherited by a Mrs. Sanderson (Fay Compton), but has been empty for a long time.

In the then-present day, Markway is interested in studying whatever paranormal activity resides within the huge, mysterious house. He's allowed, and goes through a list of several potential "lab rats" for his study, inviting them all to participate. He is, however, left with only three people - Theodora (Claire Bloom), a supposed psychic, Luke (Russ Tamblyn), Mrs. Sanderson's heir; and Eleanor, aka Nell (Julie Harris). If all of these names sound familiar, they should, as they were rearranged to be a family in 'The Haunting of Hill House', which is an awesome reimagining of things and I highly recommend it.

Nell has a bit more of a backstory than the others, being our main character. She has spent eleven years caring for her sick mother, but her recent death has left her feeling guilty. She has also experienced poltergeist activity when she was a child, and seems to be a bit more in touch with the spirit world than the others - although Theodora is psychic, Luke is just skeptic. The group stays several nights in the house for Markway's study, but the women experience heavy paranormal activity through these nights while the guys don't experience much of anything at all. This involves loud banging on the walls, giggling, heavy breathing, and that creepy cliché of the haunted doorknob turning, which I believe this film gets credit for inventing.

While the others are curious, and maybe even a little afraid, there seems to be something about Hill House drawing Eleanor towards staying put. It doesn't help that they find things like writing on the wall saying "Help Eleanor Come Home". In a weird way, the house becomes likewise drawn to her, and seems to want her to stay just as well. Although she often shows fear for the events happening within the house, she also has this sensation of feeling wanted and loved by something, and she eventually becomes seemingly possessed by it. So, if you're more familiar with either the 2017 reboot or the 1999 remake, things aren't entirely different when it comes to the bare bones of the story.

I have to admit that I genuinely enjoy the 2017 Netflix version of this story more, but as the original film with this title, I still give full credit to it. My only real criticism is narrowed down to a lot of the melodrama that comes from Nell. Some of her lines are a bit much, but that's my only real nitpick. The film still had my full attention, and as mentioned before, totally holds up today. It's widely regarded now as one of the all-time best horror films, haunting films, and even influential films. We've had ghost movies before this, but the big deal here was that things actually got scary with a completely invisible force of some sort. 'Paranormal Activity' would probably be the equivalent today as something (whether you thought so or not) successfully scary that uses more subtlety than anything.

Director Robert Wise is no slouch, either. Odds are I could list five films he's sat in the director's chair for, and you've seen one - this, 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture', 'The Sound of Music', 'The Andromeda Strain' and 'The Hindenberg'. Even if you haven't seen any of them, you've probably heard of them at this point. It shows his flexibility in talent,, and I'd be curious to check out some more of the stuff he's directed (aside from a long-ass docking scene in 'Star Trek'). For now though, this is one of his highlights, often dubbed one of the best horror films of all time, and even by today's standards I completely understand why. Despite a bit of melodrama, I absolutely loved this.

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