31 Days of Horror: Day 2 - The Haunting (1963)

I’m ashamed to admit that before tonight I’d never seen Robert Wise’s “The Haunting.”  Released in 1963, this genuinely creepy haunted house film brings its four main characters to Hill House as part of an experiment by Dr. Markway, an anthropologist seeking evidence of the supernatural.  Hill House was built by Hugh Crain, a misanthrope who wanted to isolate himself and his family from the rest of the world, and over the years, the inhabitants of the house have died mysterious deaths, starting with Crain’s first wife, who died in a carriage accident as she approached the house for the first time.  Dr. Markway invites guests who have had prior encounters with the supernatural to spend a weekend with him in Hill House and document their experiences.

 

Unexplained phenomena begin happening almost immediately.  Doors close on their own, and it’s never clear whether this is due to a supernatural presence or the fact that there’s not a right angle anywhere in the house.  The spiral staircase, from which one of the house’s previous inhabitants hanged herself, wobbles precariously when anyone climbs it.  What might be the ghost of a dog runs through the garden on the guests’ first night in the house.  A cold draft marks what Dr. Markway identifies as the heart of the house.    

Free of gore and violent death, “The Haunting” is brutal in more subtle ways.  Hill House targets the character Nell with most of its horrors.  Poor Nell has recently lost her mother, and her weekend in the house is her first getaway in years, so she views her stay as a true vacation despite the fact that she has to endure bumps (and loud bangs) in the night, spooky laughter and voices, bad smells, writing on the wall demanding that she return home, and a throbbing door.  Even when it’s clear to everyone that the house is after her, Nell refuses to leave.

I’m rarely one to criticize a horror movie for gratuitous violence, but it’s still a nice change to see one that relies on atmosphere instead.  It's even better when accompanied by two bowls of Booberry.