49. THE HAUNTING
49. THE HAUNTING
(1963)
Directed by Robert Wise
Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House" retains it's well deserved status as one of the greatest haunted house novels ever and it was given a fitting treatment in this film version. As a matter of well reasoned opinion, this flick stands as one of the best novel to screen adaptations ever, capturing the creeping unease and moody atmospherics that Jackson brought to life with her prose. She was one helluva writer who lived in New England, apparently had a huge collection of occult books and claimed to be a witch. Next time you're in the library and in need of good dark reading get your paws on some Shirley Jackson. And the next time you're in the video store you might want to give the movie version a shot. The only reason it isn't higher on my list is that for some reason Julie Harris's voiceover has a tendency to annoy me a bit. Too whiney (oh, that tastes like blasphemy on my tongue but fuck it). Much has been made of the less than subtle lesbian tension between her character and the character played by the alluring and slightly wicked Claire Bloom but not enough has been made of Russ Tamblyn who also graced the screen in 1950's juvenile delinquent movies (the greatest I've ever seen, "High School Confidential" (1958)), 1960's biker movies (especially "Satan's Sadists"(1969)) and on David Lynch's "Twin Peaks"(1990). He plays a good skeptical smart aleck in "The Haunting", a movie that just might be the best haunted house tale to ever shiver across the flickers.
(1963)
Directed by Robert Wise
Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House" retains it's well deserved status as one of the greatest haunted house novels ever and it was given a fitting treatment in this film version. As a matter of well reasoned opinion, this flick stands as one of the best novel to screen adaptations ever, capturing the creeping unease and moody atmospherics that Jackson brought to life with her prose. She was one helluva writer who lived in New England, apparently had a huge collection of occult books and claimed to be a witch. Next time you're in the library and in need of good dark reading get your paws on some Shirley Jackson. And the next time you're in the video store you might want to give the movie version a shot. The only reason it isn't higher on my list is that for some reason Julie Harris's voiceover has a tendency to annoy me a bit. Too whiney (oh, that tastes like blasphemy on my tongue but fuck it). Much has been made of the less than subtle lesbian tension between her character and the character played by the alluring and slightly wicked Claire Bloom but not enough has been made of Russ Tamblyn who also graced the screen in 1950's juvenile delinquent movies (the greatest I've ever seen, "High School Confidential" (1958)), 1960's biker movies (especially "Satan's Sadists"(1969)) and on David Lynch's "Twin Peaks"(1990). He plays a good skeptical smart aleck in "The Haunting", a movie that just might be the best haunted house tale to ever shiver across the flickers.
posted by scottra at 12:00 AM
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