THE HAUNTING is a horror drama about experiences of a small group of people who investigate paranormal phenomena in a haunted house. It is based on the 1959 novel "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson.Dr. Markway narrates the history of the 90-year-old Hill House, which was constructed by Hugh Crain as a home for his wife. His wife and other women who were staying in that house have mysteriously died. The house is shrouded in secrets and mysteries. Dr. Markway wishes to study the reported paranormal activity at Hill House. He has assembled a team of several people, but only two members of the team(two young women) has appeared in the house. There is also a skeptical young man who should inherit the house. During their first night in the house, they are terrified by supernatural occurrences. However, Eleanor, an unhappy spinster, is beginning to feel a strange connection with Hill House...Mr. Wise has tried to cover almost all aspects of a mysterious or paranormal story, such as a scandal, investigation, skepticism and madness. He has blended a paranormal appearance with everyday aspirations and the traumas. The direction is good, but the pace is rather slow. A neo-Gothic scenery fully corresponds with a dark and cold atmosphere. The fear blends into a certain shape of freedom in this film. This is interesting, because the story is basically tragic.Julie Harris as Eleanor "Nell" Lance is a distraught young woman, who is obsessed with an idea to change her life. She has a friend for the first time in her life, next to her is a man who pays attention to her, but she begins to hallucinate and escapes into the unknown. Her scars of the past have attacked her uncertain character. Ms. Harris has offered a good performance.Richard Johnson as Dr. John Markway not fully answered to his task as a guide and calm voice of reason. Claire Bloom as Theodora "Theo" is a good support to Eleanor. However, her character has not developed. She is trapped between her fear and a haunted house. Russ Tamblyn as Luke Sanderson is a skeptical young man who changes his character in relation to plots and culminations.A rich idea has offered a poor product.

Paranormal investigator Dr. John Markway (a fine performance by Richard Johnson) invites fragile repressed psychic Eleanor Lance (well played with touching vulnerability by Julie Harris) and chic clairvoyant Theodora (a winningly sharp portrayal by Claire Bloom) to the legendary "evil" mansion Hill House to clarify if the place is actually haunted. Cocky wisecracking skeptic Luke Sanderson (an excellent and engaging turn by Russ Tamblyn) decides to tag along for the ride.Director Robert Wise relates the compelling story at a steady pace, maintains an elegant quality throughout, and expertly crafts an eerie and unsettling atmosphere that eschews cheap scares and fancy special effects in favor of mood and nuance instead. Better still, Wise and screenwriter Nelson Gidding not only make the creepy and sinister Hill House just as much of a vividly realized character as the human protagonists, but also bring a provocative element of ambiguity that ingeniously keeps viewers on edge and subtly hints that the neurotic Eleanor might possibly be imagining everything that happens to her. Davis Boulton's crisp widescreen black and white cinematography makes the most out of the main location and offers a wealth of striking stylistic flourishes, with especially neat use of dissolves and askew camera angles. Humphrey Searle's shivery score hits the spine-tingling spot. Worthy of its classic status.

Perhaps this is a movie that appeals only to certain people. Perhaps it has to be viewed at a particular moment in life. Perhaps it's just too dated for many to get into it. In any case, it's disappointing to see how many simply find it a waste of time.I saw this under special circumstances. I was about 12 years old and my parents were out for the evening when it came on TV. I didn't know anything about it but considered myself quite the connoisseur of horror and sci-fi shown at the small local theater. I figured it would be along the line of Universal monsters and Roger Corman fare, nothing particularly notable.It scared the absolute daylights out of me. Sitting alone the in house at night with the creepy sounds and images emanating from that little B&W screen got to me badly. Even after my parents were home and I went to bed I found myself looking for faces in the plaster walls of my room and imagining every creak as an approaching but invisible malevolent force.I still get it out every couple of years on a dark dreary night, and though the lines of dialog sound more stilted to my now elderly mind I can still remember the effect it had on me so many decades ago.I had an even more intense reaction from Hitchcock's "The Birds" and I've noticed the commentary about that film to be similar to this. Perhaps you just had to be there.

The Haunting (1963). Adapted from "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson. Hollywood legend Robert Wise directs this disturbing tale of a fragile spinster who joins a paranormal researcher's on-site investigation of a notoriously haunted house. Julie Harris radiates naivete and terror in equal measure. 60s stalwarts Richard Johnson, Russ Tamblyn, and Claire Bloom are her de facto family in a harrowing weekend of closing doors and phantom noises. This film is extremely unsettling and brilliantly filmed. The relationship between Eleanor (Harris) and Theo (Bloom) in The Haunting provides an opportunity for camp to leak in, but Wise keeps everything strictly business. There is not a single frame in The Haunting that does not somehow either enhance the atmosphere or advance the plot. If you watch closely, you will see that they inverted some of the exterior shots from B&W to W&B just to create a more alien feel. The movie is rife with innuendo, but never crosses the line to self-parody.Eleanor is a very tragic figure. Her lone attempt to control her own destiny results in unexpected acceptance and kinship that slowly gives way to fear. Julie Harris plays her as if she stopped maturing at age 10, when the poltergeist experience occurred. Her celibate status is due more to her childish attitude that sex is 'icky' (inferred from her relationships with Theo and Luke), than any lack of sex appeal.The Haunting is set in the early 1960s, but the picture is timeless. The cinematography by Davis Boulton, editing by Ernest Walter, production design by Elliot Scott, and especially the music by Humphrey Searle are all top-quality. Its treatment of ghostly goings-on may not be to everyone's liking, but the synergy of technical elements with casting and script creates a thrilling, memorable experience for the audience. "Whose hand was I holding?"