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The Haunting
The Haunting
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The Haunting

The Haunting

1963
Horror
1h 52m
Dr. Markway, doing research to prove the existence of ghosts, investigates Hill House, a large, eerie mansion with a lurid history of violent death and insanity. (imdb)

The Haunting

1963
Horror
1h 52m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 63.08% from 1140 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(1151)
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Rated 05 Feb 2019
100
97th
Probably the definitive haunted house movie. Like its cinematic sibling "The Innocents", it gets a lot of mileage out of its mentally unstable protagonist and the ambiguous nature of its ghosts. Smart, gorgeous, and chilling.
Rated 21 Mar 2014
86
84th
The question comes down to whether you like jump scares or a building sense of dread. I like both. This is the antithesis of A House on Haunted Hill, and I like that movie too. To be honest, I prefer The Innocents to both of these though. And, being perhaps too honest, I got more chills from Legend of Hell House even though it's an inferior ripoff of this movie. Being blatantly and overly frank, I wet my pants during The Changeling.
Rated 19 Apr 2017
82
89th
Beautifully shot, with some very effective setting and set design, this veers between a classic haunted house tale and psychological drama. The cast is very good, even if Harris' character may grate from time-to-time. Despite a couple of slow moments, and a bit of hokeyness creeping in, this is atmospheric and creepy, and quite memorable. Recommended.
Rated 03 Dec 2016
65
47th
Haunting is a great film in the manner that it treats the house as a fundamental element of the movie. It is a desire and dream machine whose "strange" and supernatural acts all correspond to characters' emotional quarrels. Wise takes a Bergmanesque chamber drama & imbues it with stylistic horror w/o de-intellectualizing it. However, the dialogues and motivations of characters seemed too superficial and sketchy to catch up with films masterful form.
Rated 22 Apr 2016
84
89th
An uncanny masterwork of subtle horror. It seems to float right on the mercurial surface that separates the psychological from the supernatural. Some of the ambiguous or subtle elements can be seen as lazy or boring. For the first third or so I was really in the latter camp but the film gradually crept under my skin and really left a strong impression. Stylistically it shows great restraint and measured intent although narrative structure really isn't its strong suit.
Rated 27 Oct 2014
63
61st
Atmospheric & effective horror film whose greatest problem is its failure to externalize the internal monologues of the novella's unreliable, lonely, approval-seeking narrator, instead simply relating the thought process through spoken narration. This objectification of the thought process, unfortunately, disambiguates the subjective and the objective, thereby implicitly privileging one reading (house is actually haunted) over another (Eleanor is crazy). Pleasurably creepy & off-kilter, though.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
99
98th
Is this a haunted house film or a psychological thriller? The beauty is that this film lets you decide. The true horror of The Haunting all takes place in your own mind. The setup for this movie is simple; A college professor studying the paranormal enlists three people to stay with him in a reputedly haunted house to study the phenomena. Before all is said and done, at least one member of this party will not leave.
Rated 07 Jun 2019
72
68th
The fantastic set design and some creepy atmosphere bring to life this "haunted house" ghost story/psychological drama. Although, despite appreciating some of the film's moments of creepy tension, unfortunately the movie's subtle ghost story isn't really something that frightens me exactly. Additionally the grating nature of "Eleanor", as well as aspects of the other characters, kind of lessened my enjoyment in facets of the psychological drama too. A mildly spooky classic still worth the watch.
Rated 14 Sep 2016
83
72nd
This movie actually gave me goosebumps! Eleanor is a fascinating character, easy to sympathize with but also incredibly disturbing. I usually say it's better to just let the story elements progress rather than have the characters analyzing everything, but once you see this movie from start to finish, it instantly becomes worthwhile.
Rated 05 Sep 2013
89
89th
Robert Wise's haunted-house thriller (from Shirley Jackson's acclaimed novel) remains surprisingly fresh 50 years on, thanks to Wise's imaginative direction (aided hugely by Davis Boulton's nervy cinematography) and the superb cast: Julie Harris as the troubled Eleanor, Richard Johnson as the sly Dr. Markway, Claire Bloom as the sardonic psychic Theo, and Russ Tamblyn as the smug Luke are all remarkably good. There are some gaps in the story, but it's too brilliantly crafted to matter much.
Rated 09 Oct 2012
89
82nd
A subtle, ingeniously executed haunted house story. Relies on sound and wonderful camerawork for its scares.
Rated 17 Aug 2012
80
84th
Julie Harris is great in this. The internal monologue and the way her behaviour alternates between spaced-out and slightly manic constantly left me wondering whether it was her or the house that had gone haywire. Comparable to The Innocents in the way it relies on suggestion to create the atmosphere. There are one or two jump-out scares towards the end, but mostly you find yourself freaked out by things that aren't actually there, which is how it should be in a good ghost story.
Rated 06 Dec 2011
95
99th
There will never be a better looking Haunted House movie. The way Theo's glares C their way into, and dominate, the A-B conversations going on in the foreground of scenes is brilliant. The internal monologue comes dangerously close to being cheesy...but overall this was the movie that made me rethink what makes "horror" movies great, and I gotta respect that.
Rated 08 Oct 2011
85
96th
One of the best haunted house movies -- creepy, super atmospheric, and stunning, inventive camerawork.
Rated 01 Nov 2010
78
52nd
Looks great, some interesting turns, but it fails to create the kind of sustained tension needed for the ending to have any real impact. Worth a watch, but only one, I think.
Rated 02 Mar 2010
72
81st
A very tasteful and subtle gothic horror, though rife with 60s psychobabble and with a somewhat irritating lead. it has a very hitchcockian feel, recalling rebecca and vertigo strongly, but with a bit more camp and bit less raw acting power. the best part for me is Theo the lesbian psychic who reveals a lot about the odd status of women in the early 60s, but the film certainly laid the foundation of gothic horror as well, despite not being frightening at all.
Rated 19 Oct 2008
85
79th
Great visual sensibility, extremely disciplined with the camera and with the story, and a 'less is more' approach all make The Haunting an effective ghost story. The line between psychological and supernatural is blurred here to a most creepy and unsettling effect.
Rated 16 Oct 2008
84
92nd
The dead are not quiet in Hill House.
Rated 25 May 2019
60
50th
Well-made and pretty effective. I wasn't crazy about the voice over, and it's a rather slow film, but Wise's direction and the good performances carry it over the finish line.
Rated 06 Nov 2015
86
95th
Great film. I found all of the characters to be extremely charming and fun to watch. All of the random stuff packing every room along with the "off" geometry and the way the rooms are all fully lit up made the film feel disorienting when the tension ratchets up and the camera work becomes more dynamic. I wasn't expecting this to be more of a psychological horror than a ghost film, but I think I found it even more affecting if you think of the film as being from her perspective.
Rated 09 Oct 2012
89
79th
An excellent psychological and creepy haunted house film. Everything you see in this film, as well as everything that you don't see, is handled perfectly.
Rated 11 Mar 2012
65
29th
The Haunting has a creepy atmosphere and set design along with good utilization of voice-over in the vein of Psycho; however, it gets quite dull about halfway through and doesn't quite regain momentum.
Rated 08 Feb 2012
75
42nd
An intensely eerie film, helped by the black-and-white cinematography, interesting characters, and experimental effects. It's not without it's flaws, namely the grating nature of Eleanor and the abrupt ending, but it achieves it's title as a milestone horror movie by being relatively smart and overwhelmingly frightening.
Rated 26 Sep 2010
85
80th
Beautifully filmed and extremely creepy English thriller/horror. Recommended viewing.
Rated 04 May 2009
95
96th
I needed a hug and reassurance that it was only a movie afterward... I was 20
Rated 29 Feb 2008
95
98th
I rewatched this by myself in my darkened basement late at night and I must admit that I was afraid to move at times. If you're on this film's wavelength it'll give you shivers.
Rated 22 Mar 2007
100
95th
In all likelihood the most terrifying film ever made. I want to rate this higher than 100, please
Rated 25 Oct 2022
60
47th
Beautiful to look at but difficult to connect to. Some of these characters don't seem to have real motives so it takes me out of feeling like I'm right there in the movie with them. That's difficult for horror since it stops being scary at that point. But I was entertained the entire way through and enjoyed the Miss Moneypenny cameo!
Rated 22 Jul 2022
48
43rd
It's not quite as funny as "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken"... I find this a bit too hokey to be actually scary. The first 25 minutes are excruciating, until Claire Bloom (followed by the rest of the main cast) finally shows up. The score is terrible, the sort of 60's crap that gives modern music a bad name, and there's WAY too much of it. And the incessant voiceover narrating Julie Harris's thoughts...so very annoying. One of the few movies about which I disagree with Pauline Kael (she likes it).
Rated 23 Jun 2022
85
90th
Remarkably effective for a film so old - but then again, it's only doing what all of the best horror does: simplicity & restraint. The mind is more frightening than anything produced via VFX, which is why paranoia is such a powerful theme and works so well here; that grouped with loneliness, misplaced purpose, guilt, fear of the unknown... And what better way to keep the unknown frightening than to keep it out of sight? The monologue is overused, but restrained enough to keep things effective.
Rated 04 May 2021
75
80th
Everbody has the right to run away. Pretty good-looking and still effective -- oh, the vibes of that first hour, Eleanor arriving and sensing that Hill House is staring at her -- gothic horror on trauma, loneliness and suicide entirely built on stuff we all recognise in any flick today -- things bumping at night, banging at your door, an invisible hand holding yours, cold spots, weird architecture with "wrong" angles, darkness laughing and crying -- but that still can make us chill.
Rated 06 Apr 2020
70
52nd
As someone spooked by the sudden slam of the door, this had me cowering behind my blanket.
Rated 24 Aug 2019
71
79th
good movie
Rated 13 Jun 2019
63
61st
Interesting characters, good camerawork. The internal monologue ruined the realism a bit but other than that an enjoyable film. Big up the fashionable lesbian though.
Rated 24 Sep 2018
99
90th
The Haunting is nothing short of brilliant film making. The story leave just enough ambiguous to be far more interesting than modern horror movies. The acting is perfectly in keeping with the times. The camerawork is to a standard that would not be invented for years to come. It balances bombast and subtlety perfectly and exists as one of the scariest movies of all time.
Rated 14 Jan 2017
90
93rd
I've seen scarier movies, but this is genuinely creepy and psychological. It has outstanding cinematography.
Rated 26 Oct 2015
5
42nd
Inferior to its contemporaries. For a superior haunted house film, look to THE INNOCENTS (1961). For a superior psychological thriller, look to REPULSION (1965). THE HAUNTING is an uncharacteristically restrained and subtle horror story, which is kind of a double edged sword: You appreciate its less is more approach while simultaneously wanting more. The problem? Well, it's dull. Too many dead areas, too much teasing, and not anywhere near as satisfying as it wants to be.
Rated 08 Mar 2014
91
94th
very good atmosphere. some interesting camerawork. without spoilers -- the moment with the door doing the weird thing was unexpected and well done. loved the cast.
Rated 06 Apr 2013
65
33rd
Most likely much scarier back in the 60s. Today though, this is totally unremarkable. It isn't scary and nothing else really stands out.
Rated 26 Nov 2012
80
78th
It takes awhile to get going due to some hokey exposition, but once the crew is settled in Hill House, it becomes a solid psychological thriller. There are some truly gripping moments in the final act all done in a refreshingly low-key manner.
Rated 07 Nov 2012
61
55th
Julie Harris (and her inner voice) is terrible annoying and she is almost in every single scene. It begins really well but ends rather boring despite a creepy atmosphere throughout.
Rated 11 Aug 2012
75
71st
The first act is spooky and atmospheric, leading to a slightly disappointing middle section, before picking up again for a riveting finale. The photography is stunning throughout and really creates the tone while the actors, especially Johnson and Tamblyn, give fine performances. 'The Haunting' is essential viewing for fans of psychological horror .
Rated 16 Mar 2012
100
84th
I DON'T like horror movies. Gave score for the quality of this film. This is the scariest movie I have ever seen. Ever. Almost no special effects, and you can never be sure if any of it happens at all. Still scares me to this day.
Rated 14 May 2011
64
23rd
What I like about this film is that it never relies on fake scares. It jumps right into the real stuff. There are a few spooky moments and some sense of atmosphere. But much of it is dull. The film doesn't have enough plot to fill its running time, so we get a lot of Julie Harris (an intensely annoying and tiresome performance) fretting over this and that. The stretches between the scary parts are so uninteresting. I did enjoy some of it, but I wish it had a more consistent air of tension.
Rated 12 Nov 2009
85
81st
Really gets under your skin with the creepy photography and sound. It features some really creative shots and shadows and it's never quite clear where things are going, which helps with the suspense. The only real issue is a somewhat unlikeable lead, but the supporting cast makes up for it.
Rated 27 Jun 2009
89
85th
Oh, it got me (you know the part I mean). I can't remember the last time I was so scared during a movie.
Rated 25 Jun 2008
92
90th
scary and suspenseful without showing much
Rated 25 Sep 2007
60
21st
That never quite worked for me (any more than did the book). Tamblyn seemed miscast...and how were we expected to put up with a full two hours of Julie Harris?
Rated 16 Nov 2024
77
52nd
Looks great and manages to make a menacing character of a house. Some characters feel as stock, but some are interesting.
Rated 10 Jan 2024
20
12th
It's not because it's old. "Psycho" came out 3 years before. This is a crushing bore.
Rated 21 Oct 2023
68
71st
The lack of a real plot and an over-reliance on long-winded exposition does hurt The Haunting but it is exactly what you would expect from an early-60's haunted house movie and more. The film-making is excellent and it perfectly maintains the aura of creepiness while not overselling the paranormal.
Rated 27 May 2023
74
36th
Camerawork, sound design & editing are truly impressive. The big problem is the script's increasingly awful characterization. Characters work far better as cutouts for Far Left “academics” to write essays about in feminist/LGBTQ journals than characters that make sense. What exactly is going on w/ the lead is left unclear & all the characters are literally terrified one minute & blase' the next. The doctor consistently refuses supernatural explanations, but is then terrified of a nursery
Rated 15 Feb 2023
90
87th
This film is a masterclass in not showing much and still making a really creepy and effective horror film. In several sequences, Wise uses not much more than sound and a static shot to produce profoundly disturbing scenes. This works so well partly because the film sets up a subdued, creepy tone right from the start, and because of the really amazing design of the house and David Boulton's deep focus cinematography.
Rated 07 Oct 2022
76
62nd
Saw this the day after I saw the similar The Innocents and while there's lots to like, I didn't find it as effective as that film. I didn't find it as atmospheric or creepy. The VO device of Eleanor, giving us her thoughts, is overused-Harris's performance got these ideas across without the need for the VO more often than not. Tamblyn's performance (or character) is a bit annoying. The set design is top notch and there's some cool stuff happening with the camera. Good but a tad disappointing.
Rated 29 Apr 2022
85
83rd
Watching this for the first time in 2022, this ~60-year-old horror film is surprisingly excellent and has aged well. We see much of the film through the eyes of a protagonist richly portrayed by Julie Harris. The film's lesbian undertones and depiction of mental illness make this as much about alienation and the struggle with identity as it is about the supernatural. A psychological horror story in a *truly* scary haunted house, this is horror done right!
Rated 03 Feb 2022
81
75th
As someone with mental illness, I gotta say, this is a *painfully* accurate portrayal of how it feels. And I note, this isn't "oh is the haunting real or is it all in her head"; this is "she's mentally ill and at the end of her rope and then *also* has to deal with a genuinely haunted house", which, honestly, feels much more compelling, especially with the fraught queer barely-even-subtext. Difficult to watch, so much that I might've given it a higher score if it was less accurate, but worth it.
Rated 13 Oct 2021
73
66th
It's a good ol' horror movie with a genuinely creepy mood and an amazing setting with the house itself. There are some neat camera tricks there as well (like the shot through the mirror) and a lot of tension is achieved by the use of different shots themselves. I can appreciate that when a lot of the modern horror relies so much on cheap jump scares.
Rated 28 Nov 2020
80
66th
Great performance by Julie Harris. Good visuals, good storytelling. Unfortunately I was a little drowsy watching it.
Rated 11 Oct 2019
44
44th
A supernatural story crying out to be a psychological one. Why isn't it all in the mind?
Rated 22 Jan 2019
90
52nd
I had high expectations for this one, and that probably hurt it a little for me. Still, a very good haunted house movie with great lighting and an overall very creepy vibe. It is light on the scares however.
Rated 11 Jan 2019
66
53rd
The film is pretty good but it can't convince or affect me since I don't believe in supernatural bullshit. I would enjoy it more if it didn't force viewers to believe ghosts are real. Because I believe everything is about craziness not ghosts...
Rated 14 Aug 2016
70
64th
Another one from the 1001 Movies You Must Watch Before You Die list. This one is based on Shirley Jackson's 1959 novel The Haunting of Hill House. For a film that's now 50+ years old it's still a worthwhile watch. The interesting camera work and use of mirrors within the allegedly haunted house really sets the mood. I haven't read the novel yet but it's certainly on my to-read shelf. #1001Movies
Rated 04 Dec 2015
69
49th
It has a handful of slow moments, but it's great at building tension in a lot of ways. It's hard to tell whether that tension is drawn more from the environment of the "haunted house" or just from the characters themselves, and the movie uses that well.
Rated 13 Jan 2014
70
67th
The direction in this film was pretty incredible, I have to say. And the cinematography was very nice, with lots of great shadows. It also had several really good, suspenseful scenes. However, overall, I didn't enjoy it all that much. The length and pacing of the film just didn't work for me, and I found myself slightly bored during the normal scenes. It also just didn't really deliver in the climax after all the set-up. Absolutely worth a watch if you're a horror enthusiast.
Rated 04 Jan 2014
75
65th
Beautifully unsettling and unique in its ability to evoke your desire to be receptive to the horror rather than tuned out to it
Rated 26 Aug 2013
75
67th
lanetli ev, doktor, deney
Rated 12 Feb 2013
70
53rd
The acting or just the "style" of acting doesn't work as good with the realistic tone of the film. It's just too cinematic for it's own good. However, if you managed to looked past that, it's a near perfect horror film.
Rated 03 Jan 2013
82
71st
81.500
Rated 28 Oct 2012
70
34th
Richard Johnson is no Vincent Price, that's for damn sure.
Rated 07 May 2012
62
42nd
This makes me hate that fucking remake even more than I already do, which is a lot.
Rated 26 Jun 2011
73
64th
A good ghost\psychological thriller that leaves it up to you to decide what really went on.
Rated 30 Apr 2011
75
51st
Some genuinely spooky moments and it definitely creates an unsettling atmosphere. Some really fantastic camera shots and the script and plot are great. It was however, a little boring and uneventful, probably could of lost about 20 minutes of its running time to make it better.
Rated 26 Apr 2011
81
73rd
I love creaking door/spooky house movies and this is probably the godfather of that genre. No serial killers, no torture porn, no buckets of bloods just a lot a shadows and ambiance. Unfortunately after 30 minutes I got bored and desperately wanted something to happen. Even the ending seemed a little anticlimactic.
Rated 15 Jan 2011
73
61st
The attention whore was a blast.
Rated 30 Dec 2010
80
66th
80.375
Rated 21 Nov 2010
67
50th
Was quite good apart from the constant internal monologue.
Rated 10 Jun 2010
50
21st
10-6-2010 proper acting and characters, but the story couldn't entertain me
Rated 03 Jun 2010
79
46th
The lead isn't half as interesting as the supporting cast, but it looks great, and there are some genuinely creepy moments.
Rated 08 Dec 2009
60
68th
3/5
Rated 12 Aug 2009
90
98th
Moj ulubiony klasyk grozy. Do dzis moze zrobic wrazenie!
Rated 10 Apr 2009
25
43rd
Quite frightening but exhausting and humourless melodrama with a lot of suspense and not enough plot for its length. The wide screen is a disadvantage.
Rated 23 Mar 2009
70
54th
Deeply manipulative, and manages to make some genuine chills out of nothing at all -- just smoke and mirrors. Beautifully shot and acted, with Julie Harris giving it her considerable all. This is one of the very few movies that is better than the novel it is based upon.
Rated 22 Mar 2009
75
54th
This gothic horror, adapted by Val Lewton protege Wise from Jackson's _The Haunting of Hill House_, may be somewhat overrated but still supplies ample atmosphere, subtle chills galore, and an excellent turn by Harris as a raging neurotic.
Rated 21 Sep 2008
25
7th
Too boring and dull. I had to stop this film.
Rated 08 Feb 2008
81
68th
More is less. This is proof. If you can make it through some of the rather dull set-up, you'll be rewarded with a tremendously tense final at, I swear.
Rated 23 May 2007
75
75th
Chilling and spooky, without any cheap "startle" scares.
Rated 26 Feb 2007
60
62nd
Not bad.
Rated 21 Jan 2007
90
87th
My ★★★★½ review of The Haunting on Letterboxd https://boxd.it/4XinDp
Rated 17 Jan 2007
80
43rd
The film eventually begins to drag, but the camera work is perfect in establishing the tone of the film and creating a real sense of unease

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