The Haunting, a remake of the classic 1963 movie of the same name, tries its best to be scary, but most of the time you're just bored. The marketing of this film was brilliant. They first released a trailer with an old ladie's voice reciting a nursery rhyme and all they showed was the house. There was no mention of actors, no preview of the special effects, nothing but an eerie voice and house. The next trailer they released really got you into the movie, they showed you the inside of the house, how creepy - yet interesting - the house was, and they introduced us to the actors. Then on the news you hear how Jan de Bont (director) actually scared the actors and recorded their reactions - the sound effects weren't added later, but they were filmed and he was able to capture the genuine emotions of the actors. The hype has been huge leading up to this movie. And then 1 hour and 57 minutes later, you feel a little let down, a little discontented, and really disappointed.

Starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Liam Neeson, Lili Taylor and Owen Wilson, I thought it couldn't be that bad. But unfortunately, I sat there bored throughout most of the movie almost to the point of walking out. Gathered under the pretense of an insomnia study, Eleanor (Taylor), Luke (Wilson), and Theo (Zeta-Jones) are brought to Hill House, a supposedly hauted mansion with no one living within 9 miles. Dr. Marrow (Neeson) subtely implants within the participants fear and they begin to manifest their own fright within the house at night. When things start to go wrong, Dr. Marrow decides to abandon the study. Unfortunately, there's no way to leave the house until morning. And then the real star of the movie emerges - Hill House. With beautifully designed sets, Hill House appears to take on a life of its own, but unfortunately, nothing at this point can save the movie. The script is predictable and downright laughable with only one truly scary scene. The rest of the time, I was just sitting there thinking, what made them think this would work? With The Haunting, you're left trying to decide whether this movie was really a horror movie or just a thriller, unfortunately, it was neither. Despite the strong marketing and star power of this film, it will have a short-lived life at the box office. It will probably take #1 this weekend then plummit when real competetion (other than Drop Dead Gorgeous and Inspector Gadget) move in. Definitely a movie to pass on this weekend.

Genres: Thriller, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
Rated: PG-13 - haunting.gif
Runtime: 112 minutes
Talk back in the discussion boards!