Happy 50th anniversary to Hollywood's best ghost movie !
... Julie Harris departed just in time to make the eternal rap party on The Other Side!
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MovieChat Forums > The Haunting (1963) Discussion > Happy 50th anniversary to Hollywood's be...
The Haunting is a ghost story where the fear doesn’t just come from spirits but from the idea that our past could literally come back to haunt us.
it's still a gripping psychological thriller, Gothic story, and character study.
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I place THE INNOCENTS in second place.
Both films were shot in that end-of-the-world/TwlightZone era of the early-'60s when all you had to do was turn a camera on (I often refer to Opie losing his baseball in the haunted murder mansion on the edge of Mayberry, which is ridiculously creep despite being comedic).
But while THE INNOCENTS is beautifully composed and has some of the most effective deep-focus B&W cinematography in the history of movies, that film always feels like a series of brilliantly-realized macabre vignettes strung together, while THE HAUNTING's narrative holds together better.
In other words, THE INNOCENTS creates its atmosphere visually, optically, to a great degree, while THE HAUNTING creates it atmosphere psychologically (although both films do both, to some degree).
I also find Deborah Kerr to be too shrill for my tastes in THE INNOCENTS and I find it a distraction. Many fans insist that Julie Harris is also terribly shrill in THE HAUNTING, and she is, but that seems like the character being shrill, while Miss Kerr seems like it's the actress being shrill.
Anyway, I place THE OTHERS(2001) with Nicole Kidman and THE UNINVITED (1944) with Ray Milland at third and fourth place for best spook/haunted house films.
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Non-sequiturs are delicious.
They couldn't show the incest in THE INNOCENTS. It's implied. WHY did Miles get expelled? For "frightening" the other boys. Or, molesting the other boys as Miles learnt from Quint, in his dealings with Jessel. That's much more freaky, scary, and disturbing than hitting a tree with your car.
THE HAUNTING'S narrative? Annoying actress actually suffering from depression makes all of us suffer too, for it? Gee, thanks, Julie. You certainly deserved Knots Landing, alright.
The Kubrick film IS far superior, in every way.
They couldn't show the incest in THE INNOCENTS. It's implied. WHY did Miles get expelled? For "frightening" the other boys. Or, molesting the other boys as Miles learnt from Quint, in his dealings with Jessel. That's much more freaky, scary, and disturbing than hitting a tree with your car.
What a bogus comparison.
Oh, you're really dreadful. And KNOTS LANDING was actually quite good, for TV.
THE HAUNTING'S narrative? Annoying actress actually suffering from depression makes all of us suffer too, for it? Gee, thanks, Julie. You certainly deserved Knots Landing, alright.
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Non-sequiturs are delicious.
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You have to think, while watching THE INNOCENTS.
You have to plug your ears for THE HAUNTING (1963).
Knots Landing was crap.
Most 70s prime-time soap operas were crap.
What a bogus thread.
I concur with your judgments.
"The Innocents", is exceptionally good on a visual level, but doesn't quite reach the same psychological level as The Haunting. Although having said that, I did prefer Kerr over Harris, even though Harris' character was on the verge of a mental breakdown, and Harris tried to play it that way.
"The Others", was a welcome surprise. Didn't think Nicole Kidman had the depth to play a character like that, but play it she did, and the entire film was a joy to behold. Although I must admit the ending was a bit predictable.
But for me, "The Haunting" still holds the laurels of perhaps the most intense "ghost story" I have seen. From an excellent 10 minute introduction that sets the scene for the rest of the film, to the wonderful cinematography, sparing use of music, some truly shocking/scary moments and some pretty decent acting; The Haunting, is my personal favourite shock/horror film.
"One must first get behind someone, in order to stab them in the back!"
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Eweland's just a silly provocateur.
Life goes on - and not needing your precious approval.
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On top of all of their other poor skills, trolls have extremely bad aim.
"No fate but what we make." -Terminator II
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Eweland didn't want me to get an "alert" so he cowardly tacked his response to your comment instead of mine, in hopes I'd miss it.
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Non-sequiturs are delicious.
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