31 Days of Halloween Day 6: The Haunting (1963)
October 9th 2010 00:14
Day 6 - I'm aware I'm posting on the night of the 8th (and it will probably publish shortly after midnight on the 9th), but I did technically watch this on the 6th, so it totally counts. I just had to rewatch it again today because I kept falling asleep the first time. No reflection on the movie, just my temporary low blood sugar, long, lunchless days at work, and a cat with 24-hour night terrors.
The Haunting (1963), directed by Robert Wise, has been touted as one of the best horror movies of all time. I can't remember where I read this, or if it was just implied by its inclusion on several "best" lists and a Scorcese plug cited on Wikipedia, because my blood sugar level is still fairly low after plopping 4 sugars each in two cups of tea today. Anyway, this film was a refreshing change from the mindless, poser gore I saw the previous night, and reminded me why I am such a dork for old-timey movies.
Set in New England, our story begins with a rather ominous narration over an equally ominous silhouetted shot of Hill House (the unequivocal star of the film). Three deaths (all of which are actually quite disturbing) occur in this prologue, which is spoken with the kind of wry, intimate, eerie tone expected from a radio drama serial. It transpires that this is being spoken by Dr Markway (Richard Johnson), a college professor who is fascinated by the paranormal, and sets up an experiment using two willing volunteers to try to prove the existence of ghosts and paranormal phenomena.
Eleanor (Julie Harris), after stealing her selfish, bitchy sister's car (which is half hers), is the first to arrive on site, arguing with the caretaker (a muddled Boston Irish-accented extra leftover from a Steinbeck adaptation) that the professor is expecting her. Instead of just letting her in, he makes a few ambiguous comments and displays some odd body language, basically telling her she'd be sorry she ever arrived.
After Dood Guy's warm welcome, Eleanor ambles up the long, creepy driveway, and here we get some excellent shots of Hill House. The filming and lighting techniques are spot-on, with the building shot with a slight fish-eye effect, and the shots not fixed in place so as to give the impression that the house is almost expanding and retracting, or curving into itself. Very disquieting, and very effective.
Creepier still is Eleanor's first meeting with the caretaker's wife, Mrs. Dudley, who was played by Londoner Rosalie Crutchley, and as such seeks to remind us that her character is truly from Boston by saying the work "dahk" several times to refer to the time of day when she ain't gonna be around to hear people scream. It made me really miss Salem, and I really wanted to say the words "yard" or "coffee", but she only stayed to up the creep factor and introduce Theodora (Claire Bloom), who instantly takes a shine to Eleanor.
Her lesbianism is only hinted at, unlike in contemporary movies, which would just seek to exploit it. She also brings a rather down-to-earth tone to the group, despite her function as a psychic in the experiment.
The fourth member of the group is Luke (Russ Tamblyn), who is supposed to inherit the house, but isn't entirely fussed and goes along with the whole thing anyway so he has someone to make martinis for.
The first act of the film does a lot of character building, to the point where it truly feels like the hypothesis/introduction for a psychological experiment itself. There's a delicious irony in Theo's being a gifted psychic with exceptional ESP powers, but who is also a closed, unreadable, snarky little mystery who barely talks about herself. Theo's character is a key one - as the house's only practising psychic, she is instrumental in certain scenes that require us to know that something is "up", but need to be told by someone other than Eleanor.
Who is, essentially, a bit uncorked, but a truly compelling character. Much of her backstory is simply hinted at (watch for a quite unsettling revelation near the beginning of the third act), so the distracted (or exhausted) viewer might miss a few pieces of exposition as they are shown in her interactions with others, especially her boorish brother-in-law. But the payoff is worth it; we witness a fairly unstable, immature and impressionable loner try to fit in with a group of her contemporaries, but slowly finds herself more enticed and more at home within a house that she thinks will kill her if she leaves.
Understanding her state of mind is key to sympathising with her character, but it changes with every situation, much like that of a child enjoying an abusive relationship just because there is no alternative. In one scene, she declares upon just meeting Theo that they will be "great friends", but a few scenes later calls Theo a "monster". Similarly, she has a love-hate relationship with the house, at times loathing it and at others, admitting that she never wants to leave. Her character is tragic, because all she wants to do is belong, and as her sanity begins to unravel, we realize it becomes difficult to differentiate the house from her, and how she is already behaving like a ghost: completely dissociated from society and professing her disdain of people, and actively choosing to remain in/with a house rather than in the company of potential friends - people.
Johnson (Clark Gable dressed as Gomez Addams), plays Dr Markus in a rather charming, uncle sort of way, and possesses a wicked sense of humour - declaring one room the "operating room", and, upon seeing the women's horrified reactions, clarifies with a smirk that he meant "centre of operations".
Luke is possibly the weakest character of the four, as his intentions and reactions are purely one-dimensional and played for muted, dull laughs. It's a shame his character is not fully fleshed-out, as a modern incarnation of his character type would have been dispatched early on in the movie for some cheap spills.
Most horror movies of this time period (at least, the ones that endured) relied more on subtleties rather than overblown shock gore-pieces, but the one showy facet of this type of movie is the over the top score, with "OMG" crescendoes being forced out at any possible moment where the audience might be close to wetting themselves. Still, it's effective, and probably the reason why I can't watch it at night (because the dialogue-to-music volume ratio is too off-balance).
I can't tell if this was a possible intention, but in terms of the opening deaths, I noted something interesting - that seem to have sin/Biblical undertones; greed - the original owner of the house, sloth - the owner's daughter appearing to have stayed in the same room her whole life and lust (the daughter's companion after "fooling around" with some local talent). The main characters could round these out with gluttony (Luke's thirst for alcohol); pride (Theo's attitude); wrath & envy (Eleanor's fits of anger and bouts of jealousy).
Based on a novel, the movie tends to fall into the trap of over-relying on narrations and internal monologues, the latter of which does serve to show how cramped Eleanor feels, and how the house (or any house) is simply too big for her, but the pacing often sags under "too much telling, not enough showing".
The scares start out a bit suddenly, with odd feelings and panicky scenes coming out of nowhere and tad clunkily directed, but as the film progresses, the tension begins to build up steadily, with some rather chilling moments indeed ("oh god...oh god...whose hand was I holding?!").
Ultimately, this is definitely worth watching, but best bear in mind the ending feels a bit tacked-on, with a few coincidences to validate what we've just seen, and the penultimate scene in the library could have been handled with a firmer hand in the editing room. But, teeny complaints aside, it's a well-crafted old timey horror, and if it's good enough for a crappy remake, it's good enough for me.
The Haunting (1963), directed by Robert Wise, has been touted as one of the best horror movies of all time. I can't remember where I read this, or if it was just implied by its inclusion on several "best" lists and a Scorcese plug cited on Wikipedia, because my blood sugar level is still fairly low after plopping 4 sugars each in two cups of tea today. Anyway, this film was a refreshing change from the mindless, poser gore I saw the previous night, and reminded me why I am such a dork for old-timey movies.
Set in New England, our story begins with a rather ominous narration over an equally ominous silhouetted shot of Hill House (the unequivocal star of the film). Three deaths (all of which are actually quite disturbing) occur in this prologue, which is spoken with the kind of wry, intimate, eerie tone expected from a radio drama serial. It transpires that this is being spoken by Dr Markway (Richard Johnson), a college professor who is fascinated by the paranormal, and sets up an experiment using two willing volunteers to try to prove the existence of ghosts and paranormal phenomena.
Eleanor (Julie Harris), after stealing her selfish, bitchy sister's car (which is half hers), is the first to arrive on site, arguing with the caretaker (a muddled Boston Irish-accented extra leftover from a Steinbeck adaptation) that the professor is expecting her. Instead of just letting her in, he makes a few ambiguous comments and displays some odd body language, basically telling her she'd be sorry she ever arrived.
After Dood Guy's warm welcome, Eleanor ambles up the long, creepy driveway, and here we get some excellent shots of Hill House. The filming and lighting techniques are spot-on, with the building shot with a slight fish-eye effect, and the shots not fixed in place so as to give the impression that the house is almost expanding and retracting, or curving into itself. Very disquieting, and very effective.
Creepier still is Eleanor's first meeting with the caretaker's wife, Mrs. Dudley, who was played by Londoner Rosalie Crutchley, and as such seeks to remind us that her character is truly from Boston by saying the work "dahk" several times to refer to the time of day when she ain't gonna be around to hear people scream. It made me really miss Salem, and I really wanted to say the words "yard" or "coffee", but she only stayed to up the creep factor and introduce Theodora (Claire Bloom), who instantly takes a shine to Eleanor.
Her lesbianism is only hinted at, unlike in contemporary movies, which would just seek to exploit it. She also brings a rather down-to-earth tone to the group, despite her function as a psychic in the experiment.
The fourth member of the group is Luke (Russ Tamblyn), who is supposed to inherit the house, but isn't entirely fussed and goes along with the whole thing anyway so he has someone to make martinis for.
The first act of the film does a lot of character building, to the point where it truly feels like the hypothesis/introduction for a psychological experiment itself. There's a delicious irony in Theo's being a gifted psychic with exceptional ESP powers, but who is also a closed, unreadable, snarky little mystery who barely talks about herself. Theo's character is a key one - as the house's only practising psychic, she is instrumental in certain scenes that require us to know that something is "up", but need to be told by someone other than Eleanor.
Who is, essentially, a bit uncorked, but a truly compelling character. Much of her backstory is simply hinted at (watch for a quite unsettling revelation near the beginning of the third act), so the distracted (or exhausted) viewer might miss a few pieces of exposition as they are shown in her interactions with others, especially her boorish brother-in-law. But the payoff is worth it; we witness a fairly unstable, immature and impressionable loner try to fit in with a group of her contemporaries, but slowly finds herself more enticed and more at home within a house that she thinks will kill her if she leaves.
Understanding her state of mind is key to sympathising with her character, but it changes with every situation, much like that of a child enjoying an abusive relationship just because there is no alternative. In one scene, she declares upon just meeting Theo that they will be "great friends", but a few scenes later calls Theo a "monster". Similarly, she has a love-hate relationship with the house, at times loathing it and at others, admitting that she never wants to leave. Her character is tragic, because all she wants to do is belong, and as her sanity begins to unravel, we realize it becomes difficult to differentiate the house from her, and how she is already behaving like a ghost: completely dissociated from society and professing her disdain of people, and actively choosing to remain in/with a house rather than in the company of potential friends - people.
Johnson (Clark Gable dressed as Gomez Addams), plays Dr Markus in a rather charming, uncle sort of way, and possesses a wicked sense of humour - declaring one room the "operating room", and, upon seeing the women's horrified reactions, clarifies with a smirk that he meant "centre of operations".
Luke is possibly the weakest character of the four, as his intentions and reactions are purely one-dimensional and played for muted, dull laughs. It's a shame his character is not fully fleshed-out, as a modern incarnation of his character type would have been dispatched early on in the movie for some cheap spills.
Most horror movies of this time period (at least, the ones that endured) relied more on subtleties rather than overblown shock gore-pieces, but the one showy facet of this type of movie is the over the top score, with "OMG" crescendoes being forced out at any possible moment where the audience might be close to wetting themselves. Still, it's effective, and probably the reason why I can't watch it at night (because the dialogue-to-music volume ratio is too off-balance).
I can't tell if this was a possible intention, but in terms of the opening deaths, I noted something interesting - that seem to have sin/Biblical undertones; greed - the original owner of the house, sloth - the owner's daughter appearing to have stayed in the same room her whole life and lust (the daughter's companion after "fooling around" with some local talent). The main characters could round these out with gluttony (Luke's thirst for alcohol); pride (Theo's attitude); wrath & envy (Eleanor's fits of anger and bouts of jealousy).
Based on a novel, the movie tends to fall into the trap of over-relying on narrations and internal monologues, the latter of which does serve to show how cramped Eleanor feels, and how the house (or any house) is simply too big for her, but the pacing often sags under "too much telling, not enough showing".
The scares start out a bit suddenly, with odd feelings and panicky scenes coming out of nowhere and tad clunkily directed, but as the film progresses, the tension begins to build up steadily, with some rather chilling moments indeed ("oh god...oh god...whose hand was I holding?!").
Ultimately, this is definitely worth watching, but best bear in mind the ending feels a bit tacked-on, with a few coincidences to validate what we've just seen, and the penultimate scene in the library could have been handled with a firmer hand in the editing room. But, teeny complaints aside, it's a well-crafted old timey horror, and if it's good enough for a crappy remake, it's good enough for me.
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