The Haunting (film)
"The Haunting" is a British psychological horror film released in 1963, directed by Robert Wise. Set in the ominous Hill House, a nineteenth-century mansion in New England with a dark history of tragic deaths, the film follows anthropologist Dr. John Markway as he leads a group of paranormal researchers to investigate the house's supernatural phenomena. The cast includes Eleanor "Nell" Lance, who has a troubled past, Theodora, a woman with extrasensory perception, and Luke Sanderson, who is skeptical of the supernatural. Throughout their stay, the group experiences eerie occurrences, such as unexplained noises and moving objects, which heighten the psychological tension without ever showing a ghost.
Notably, the film distinguishes itself from traditional horror by eschewing graphic violence or monsters, instead relying on atmospheric cinematography and sound design to evoke fear. The use of innovative camera techniques, including distorted angles and quick cuts, contributes to its unsettling ambiance. "The Haunting" has been acclaimed as a classic of the haunted-house genre, notable for its exploration of the characters' psychological states against the backdrop of the mansion's chilling legacy. It received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Director, solidifying its impact in the realm of horror cinema.
The Haunting (film)
- Release Date: 1963
- Director(s): Robert Wise
- Writer(s): Nelson Gidding
- Principal Actors and Roles: Claire Bloom (Theodora "Theo"); Julie Harris (Eleanor Lance); Richard Johnson (Dr. John Markway); Russ Tamblyn (Luke Sanderson)
The Haunting is a British psychological horror film. The black-and-white film begins with a narration to provide the history of the unfortunate deaths that have transpired at a haunted mansion called Hill House. It then focuses on a ghost hunter’s mission to prove that ghosts do exist, using the mansion and a group of people he has selected. Essentially the mansion is his research subject, as are the people he has selected in the group to see how they react to the house and the house responses to them. Through basic but thoughtful cinematographic techniques and an eerie musical score, The Haunting became a landmark horror film and is still a classic haunted-house film today, all without ever actually showing a ghost on screen.
Plot
The film is set in New England at an eerie-looking nineteenth-century mansion called Hill House. Anthropologist Dr. John Markway rents the mansion to engage in experiments to see if it is haunted. The house intrigues Dr. Markway because he has heard that it has supernatural powers. He temporarily leaves teaching at a university to pursue his research.
The house on the hill is known to have been the setting for murders and deaths. The first death was the wife of the builder of the mansion, Hugh Crain, who had an accident there and died. Crain remarries and his second wife also dies there. Crain leaves the house and moves to England. His daughter, who remains in the house after he leaves, dies in the mansion. The woman who was hired to care for her inherits the mansion, yet she commits suicide after going insane in the house.
The group of paranormal researchers, led by Dr. Markway, stays at the haunted mansion for several weeks. The group includes: Eleanor (Nell) Lance, a woman who had a supernatural experience as a child and feels much guilt since her mother’s passing; Theodora (Theo), a woman with exceptional sensory perception (ESP) whom Eleanor befriends; and the homeowner’s son, Luke Sanderson, who does not believe in supernatural powers. Later on, Dr. Markway’s wife Grace comes to the mansion in hopes of convincing her husband to come home.
During their stay at the house, the group hears creaks, scary noises, unexplained screams and voices, and experience shut doors (when they were left open), shaking staircases, and cold spots.
Different rooms and moments in the mansion haunt each character, but Eleanor is the one character who is drawn to the house more than the others. Her sanity is also most affected during her stay. Yet she finds a sense of belonging in the home, as she continues to wonder if she caused her mother’s death. She also begins to fancy Dr. Markway and forms a sisterly relationship with Theodora. When Grace comes to the mansion to try to persuade her husband to leave, it is the beginning of the end for the ghost-hunting group. After Dr. Markway is unable to find his wife in the house, the group members go searching for her. Eleanor takes a risk as she is drawn to the balcony in the library. She ignores Dr. Markway’s pleas to get to safety and to be more cautious. He orders her to leave the house. On her way down the driveway she is distracted and crashes into a tree, where the first accident at the mansion happened decades earlier. The other group members and Dr. Markway leave the mansion and discuss whether Eleanor caused her own death or if Eleanor’s death was caused by the house. Based on the group’s experiences, Luke is no longer interested in inheriting the house.
Significance
What separates The Haunting from other horror films is that there is no monster. There is no blood. There is no violence. There is movement of objects in the house and there is buckling, both imagined to be the work of ghosts, yet no ghosts are seen. The film is essentially a ghost story, and Director Robert Wise used different techniques to make it scary and suspenseful. The Haunting was shot mostly at Ettington Hall (now the Ettington Park Hotel), an old house near Stratford-upon-Avon, England, as well as at the MGM studio. The mansion’s gate and cemetery contributed to its sinister presence. Cinematographer Davis Boulton used a Panavision camera to take disturbing high and low shots and used a variety of angles. With a wide lens he was able to produce shots with distorted images, which helped add atmosphere to the psychological thriller.
Wise also relied on his audience’s imaginations to manufacture horror. Some critics compared the quick cuts and pans, which often add tension, to those used by Alfred Hitchcock in Vertigo (1958). The film was noted for its suspenseful edge while also maintaining its place as a psychological thriller.
Even though some critics supported the use of Dr. Markway’s narration to give the backstory of the earlier happenings at the haunted mansion (which was part of the screenplay) and thought that it contributed to the spookiness of the film, others noted that it was distracting. Yet the house’s chilling history sets the stage for the story that is about to be told.
The Haunting was Robert Wise’s first thriller horror film. He also directed The Day the Earth Stood Still, a 1951 science fiction classic that made a bold statement about the international use of nuclear weapons and technology. Wise won the Academy Award for best director for West Side Story while he was working on The Haunting.
Awards and nominations
Nominated
- Golden Globe (1963) Best Director: Robert Wise
Bibliography
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