MovieChat Forums > The Haunting (1963) Discussion > This is 1963??

This is 1963??

posted 10 years ago by jv-181-346883
60 replies | jump to latest

When I watched it I thought it was a film from the 40's. Not because it is black and white but because it's so talkative and the acting is quiet bad, really. And it's not scary at all. There are some good scenes toward the end but it's very boring. It really look like a bad William Castle's movie.

And I love old movies, especially suggested terror movie.

The two only good things I found was the pounding sound and the scene at the beginning when the girl was driving the car and we could hear her thinking because I thought Hitchcock copied that in his "Psycho". But then I found out "Psycho" was before!!!

I don't understand how this film is well rated.

[–] xfastfurious15 8 years ago

OP, totally agree. Even for the 1960s this movie looks and the acting was quite dated. Why wasn't it filmed in color. I think Breakfast at Tiffanys came out the same year (1963) and its in color and very modern.
What completely took me out of the film was the main character's annoying voice overs. I get thats how we know she's going slowly insane but dear god the dialogue was so bad and over dramatic. The 60s was the beginning of realistic acting,not the overly dramatic 50s style of acting.

I bet you're wondering what a place like this is doing in a girl like me-The Mummy

[–] kaskait 8 years ago

It wasn't filmed in color because the director wanted to use an experimental (at the time) anamorphic wide angle film lens. Plus he was experimenting with different colored light filters to change the look of the filmed sets. Add to that, infrared film was used for the exterior shots of the house.

Put all that together and a color version would look like a red hot mess.

Incidentally, Kubrick used a wide angle lens for The Shining (perhaps he got the idea from this film). The wide angle lens films interiors very nicely but it makes the faces of the actors look extremely odd and distorted.

[–] AStrangeOldMan 8 years ago

You have to remember that Robert Wise worked on Citizen Kane - and that deep-focus worked well in the film.
One thing about The Haunting (and most Wise films) is that you sometimes feel like you could scoop out a frame with a spoon and eat it like rich pudding.

No fate but what we make. -Terminator II

[–] psmithyyyyy 8 years ago

OP you are delusional. EASILY one of the best ghost movies ever made. the remake in the 90's, while not terrible, is nowhere near as good as this (as usual).

[–] gregrchstr 7 years ago

I remember watching this when I was a child with my folks and it scared the hell out of me. I rewatched it recently and I still found it to be scary. I remember at the time when the film came out my dad mentioning that this was the serious haunted house movie to see, not to be confused with some of the campy stuff that had been done. It was talked about a lot at the time so someone must have liked it. I did and still do.

[–] modica (4169) 4 years ago

I don't understand how you can be so wrong.

[–] modica (4169) 2 years ago

Try and understand or just know that not everything is for you. Some of the movies you like I am sure I would find boring. You are not very good at reviewing, so you had better stop. I found it very boring.