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The Haunting is a 1963 horror film directed and produced by Robert Wise, adapted by Nelson Gidding from Shirley Jackson's 1959 novel The Haunting of Hill House. It stars Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson, and Russ Tamblyn. The film depicts the experiences of a small group of people invited by a paranormal investigator to investigate a purportedly haunted house.
Screenwriter Gidding, who had worked with director Wise on the 1958 film I Want to Live!, began a six-month write of the script after reading the book, which Wise had given to him. He perceived the book to be more about mental breakdown than ghosts, and although he was informed after meeting author Shirley Jackson that it was very much a supernatural novel, elements of mental breakdown were introduced into the film. The film was shot at the MGM-British Studios near London, UK on a budget of US$1.05 million, with exteriors and the grounds shot at Ettington Park (now the Ettington Park Hotel) in the village of Ettington, Warwickshire. Julie Harris was cast by Wise, who found her ideal for the psychologically fragile Eleanor, though during production she suffered from depression and had an uneasy relationship with her co-stars. The interior sets were by Elliot Scott, credited by Wise as instrumental in the making of The Haunting. They were designed to be brightly lit, with no dark corners or recesses, and decorated in a Rococo style; all the rooms had ceilings to create a claustrophobic effect on film. Numerous devices and tricks were used in the filming. Wise used a 30mm anamorphic, wide-angle lens Panavision camera that was not technically ready for use and caused distortions. It was only given to Wise on condition that he sign a memorandum in which he acknowledged that the lens was imperfect. Wise and cinematographer Davis Boulton planned sequences that kept the camera moving, utilizing low-angle takes, and incorporating unusual pans and tracking shots.
The film was released on 18 September 1963. In 2010, The Guardian newspaper ranked it as the 13th-best horror film of all time. Director Martin Scorsese has placed The Haunting first on his list of the 11 scariest horror films of all time. The Haunting was released on DVD in its original screen format with commentary in 2003, and was released on Blu-ray on 15 October 2013. The film was remade in 1999 by director Jan de Bont, starring Liam Neeson, Lili Taylor, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Owen Wilson, but that version was heavily panned by critics and audiences. A streaming television adaptation, The Haunting of Hill House, was released in 2018.
Plot[]
Dr. John Markway narrates the history of the 90-year-old Hill House, which was constructed in Massachusetts by Hugh Crain as a home for his wife. She died when her carriage crashed against a tree as she approached the house for the first time. Crain remarried, but his second wife died in the house from a fall down the stairs. Crain's daughter Abigail lived in the house for the rest of her life, never moving out of the nursery room. She died calling for her nurse-companion. The companion inherited the house, but later hanged herself from a spiral staircase in the library. Hill House was eventually inherited by a Mrs. Sanderson, although it has stood empty for some time.
Markway wishes to study the reported paranormal activity at Hill House and sends invitations for people to join his investigation; however, Mrs. Sanderson demands that Markway allow her heir Luke Sanderson to join. Only two other individuals accept—Theodora, a psychic, and Eleanor Lance, who experienced poltergeist activity as a child. Eleanor spent her adult life caring for her invalid mother, whose recent death has left Eleanor with severe guilt.
The group find the mansion's walls were constructed with angles askew, resulting in off-center perspectives and doors that open and close by themselves. The library contains the ramshackle spiral staircase, from which the previous owner hanged herself. During their first night in the house, Eleanor and Theo are terrified by banging sounds made against the door to Theo's bedroom, and hear the voice of a young girl echoing. Despite this, Eleanor feels a tentative affinity to Hill House. The following day, the group explores the house, discovering a cold spot outside the nursery room. Following another night of loud disturbances, the words "Help Eleanor Come Home" are found scrawled in a chalky substance on a wall the next morning, distressing Eleanor.
That night, Theo moves into Eleanor's room, and they fall asleep in the same bed. Eleanor is awakened by the sounds of a man speaking indistinctly and a woman laughing. Fearful, Eleanor asks Theo to hold her hand and soon she feels a crushing grip. As Eleanor hears the sound of a young girl crying, she shouts at whoever is causing the child pain. Theo awakens to find that Eleanor has moved from the bed to the couch, and Eleanor realizes it was not Theo's hand she held.
The following day Dr. Markway's skeptical wife Grace arrives at Hill House to warn him that a reporter has learned of his investigation there. Grace announces that she plans to join the group for the duration of the investigation, to the consternation of Eleanor, who had begun developing feelings for Markway while unaware that he was married, and demands a room in the nursery despite her husband's warning that it is likely the center of the disturbances. That night in the living room, the group experiences loud banging and an unseen intruder attempting to force its way into the room, causing the door to bulge inward. The banging moves towards the nursery, where sounds of destruction are heard. Eleanor runs towards the source and discovers Grace is missing. The next morning, Eleanor's mental instability worsens as she enters the library and climbs the dilapidated spiral staircase, followed by Markway, who tries to coax her down. At the top, Eleanor suddenly glimpses Grace's face through a trap door. Startled, she nearly falls to her death before being rescued by Markway.
Markway becomes alarmed at Eleanor's obsession with Hill House in spite of its dangers. Eleanor pleads to stay, but Markway insists that she leave. Eleanor drives off and speeds toward the front gates. The steering wheel begins to turn by itself, and Eleanor struggles to regain control before surrendering to the unseen force. A female figure suddenly appears and runs past in front of the car, causing Eleanor to crash into a tree and die. Markway and the others arrive to find that it is Grace, who says the House has been keeping her lost on purpose. She ended up in the attic when she was trying to find a way back to Dr. Markway, and Eleanor saw her. She was unsure of how she found her way outside the house, or got in front of Eleanor's car. Luke observes that Eleanor deliberately aimed the car at the tree, but Markway asserts that something was in the car with her. He notes that the tree was the same one where Mrs. Crain died. Theo remarks that Eleanor got what she wanted—to remain with the house. Convinced at last of the supernatural forces he once scoffed at, Luke says solemnly, "It ought to be burned down ... and the ground sowed with salt." Over a final shot of the house, part of the opening narration is repeated, this time by the voice of Eleanor.