The Haunting

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The Haunting

G,

1963,

1h 52m,

Horror

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Watchlist

88%

49 Reviews

Tomatometer

75%

10,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

88%

Tomatometer

49 Reviews

75%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

Dr. John Markway, an anthropologist with an interest in psychic phenomena, takes two specially selected women to Hill House, a reportedly haunted mansion. Eleanor (Julie Harris), a lonely, eccentric woman with a supernatural event in her past, and the bold Theodora (Claire Bloom), who has ESP, join John and the mansion's heir, cynical Luke (Russ Tamblyn). They are immediately overwhelmed by strange sounds and events, and Eleanor comes to believe the house is alive and speaking directly to her.

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Critics Consensus

Both psychological and supernatural, The Haunting is a chilling character study.

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Pauline Kael

The New Yorker

Jul 6, 2022

An elegantly sinister scare movie, literate and expensive (though basically a traditional ghost story), with those two fine actresses Claire Bloom and Julie Harris.

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Ian Freer

Empire Magazine

Sep 8, 2020

5/5

Wise brilliantly uses black and white widescreen to strand his characters in odd-shaped rooms or corridors, making the watcher's eye skitter frantically over the letterbox screen to catch every ingeniously rendered detail.

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James Powers

The Hollywood Reporter

Nov 2, 2018

When The Haunting digs into the internals of its story, summons its spirits and lets them play havoc with cold reason, it has a power and fervor unmatched by any film ghost stories.

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Chance Solem-Pfeifer

Willamette Week

Oct 9, 2026

The lasting star of this 63-year-old film is the sound design.

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Grant Watson

Fiction Machine

Sep 9, 2026

It is a brilliant production, and yet another slice of proof that – when it comes to that country’s best film directors – Robert Wise is too good to be ignored.

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Joe Lipsett

Horror Queers Podcast

Mar 1, 2023

4/5

Wise's use of the camera is vital to creating a sense of tension and atmosphere; it's practically its own character. Meanwhile, Theo is a vital LGBT character in horror history: an out woman in a 60s film is a true rarity.

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George W

Mar 2, 2019

The Haunting has an interesting premise and a well written story, but I didn't find the suspense intense neither the character development strong as it could have been.

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Han P

Feb 11, 2019

The Haunting has an interesting premise and a well written story, but I didn't find the suspense intense neither the character development strong as it could have been.

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Albus L

Jan 30, 2019

one horror film that promises you a lot of horror.

Hagrid S

Dec 15, 2018

It's not bad, it just feels very dated. I feel like to watch this film effectively, you have to condition your mind to be in the 60's.

Kylo R

Nov 4, 2018

So many aspects of the movie are very very good, but it just failed to scare. Notable achievements came from the setting, the set pieces, the eerie black and white picture, the direction, the acting, the plot (which I'm sure was very unique at the time). The problem for me is that it failed to scare (the scares didn't age well) (though again, I have to give credit for the scares being original at the time). The other issue I had with it is that the story isn't as engrossing anymore due to it being cliche now... but thats forgivable bc movies have copied it, not vice versa.

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Abraham M

Oct 31, 2018

The Haunting relies more on psychology than the supernatural but it still has a couple scenes that still hold up as a bit creepy today, making for a pretty good psychological horror movie.

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Robert Wise

Director

Julie Harris

Eleanor "Nell" Lance

Claire Bloom

Theodora "Theo"

Richard Johnson

Dr. John Markway

Russ Tamblyn

Luke Sanderson

Lois Maxwell

Grace Markway

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Synopsis

Dr. John Markway, an anthropologist with an interest in psychic phenomena, takes two specially selected women to Hill House, a reportedly haunted mansion. Eleanor (Julie Harris), a lonely, eccentric woman with a supernatural event in her past, and the bold Theodora (Claire Bloom), who has ESP, join John and the mansion's heir, cynical Luke (Russ Tamblyn). They are immediately overwhelmed by strange sounds and events, and Eleanor comes to believe the house is alive and speaking directly to her.

Director: Robert Wise
Producer: Robert Wise
Screenwriter: Nelson Gidding
Production Co: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount Pictures International
Rating: G
Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2009
Runtime: 1h 52m

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