For the first time on Blu-ray, Paramount has given The Haunting a great treatment, which looks and sounds amazing.
“Widely regarded as one of the finest, and most terrifying ghost stories ever written, Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House serves up sinister source material in this edge-of-your-seat thriller, available for the first time on Blu-ray. For over a century, the foreboding Hill House mansion has sat abandoned… or so it seemed. Intrigued by its past, Dr. Marrow lures three subjects to the site for an experiment. But, from the moment of their arrival, as the night descends, the study goes horrifyingly awry, and Hill House unleashes its supernatural wrath on the unsuspecting subjects. Newly remastered from a 4k film transfer, supervised by director Jan de Bont (SPEED), the blockbuster adaptation features Oscar winner Catherine Zeta-Jones, Liam Neeson, Lili Taylor and Owen Wilson.”
The story of Hill House has had many incarnations over the years, most recently being Mike Flanagan’s Netflix original. Though the details of the story has changed through every iteration, the foreboding and sinister nature of Hill House remains constant, providing the perfect creepy atmosphere.
The Haunting, now 21 years old, holds up in more ways than one. What it is most effective at, which is the case for the other iterations of the story as well, is successfully portraying the house itself as a character itself, alive with spiritual energy, rich with history, and as ornate and grandiose as any house you could possibly imagine. As the film progresses you learn about the owner, Hugh Crain, who built the home in hopes that someday the sounds of children would echo throughout the halls. But, when his wife passes away, he kept on adding to it, for all the children that would never come, an endless maze of empty space. Though the size is definitely daunting, it is the emptiness that sets the tone of the film; what happens at night when no one is there. As you continue to learn the true history of the house and Hugh Crain, the house becomes much more menacing, in ways you can’t possibly imagine.
The film has a fairly diverse cast, all adding their own flair to their respective roles. While the sleep study premise doesn’t lend itself to be a particularly interesting focus on why these people have arrived at the house, there is a bit of a twist toward the end to make it a bit more entertaining. Still, this reasoning for them being there doesn’t allow much in terms of backstory for these characters besides Lili Taylor’s, nor is there much development between all of them except a bit of flirtation, but I guess I’m not sure what I expected from a few nights during a sleep study. That being said, the character interactions and overall relationship development during the course of this film could have been much, much better. Lili Taylor is definitely the focus of the film, as she spends the majority of her time talking to herself in order for us, the audience, to hear her thoughts as she digs deeper through the mystery that is Hill House, trying to convince herself, the others, and us, that she isn’t crazy. Although we have such an amazing supporting cast, they do little to make things interesting as the nights of terror continue, and that is the biggest missed opportunity of them all.
The story provides a mystery that leaves the viewer fairly engaged, but it seems as though the mystery is relied upon much more heavily than any of the supernatural/horror aspects that one might expect from a film named The Haunting. Overall, the story just lacks quite a number of things for it to be considered a ‘haunted house’ film. The culmination of this mystery of why Lili Taylor’s character is drawn to the house just isn’t that original nor rather interesting to base an entire film around, and when you drop the ball at giving the supporting characters anything worthwhile to add to the story, it leaves a very uninspired taste in your mouth.
Video
The video is presented in 1080p High Definition Widescreen 2.35:1 featuring a brand new 4k remaster supervised by the director. Seeing this for the first time on Blu-ray, complete with the new transfer, the film looks astonishingly clear and detailed. Color is rich and vibrant, especially contrasted against the darker and muted colors of the mansion. What really impressed me about the film is how well the special effects have held up since 1999. There are quite a few elaborate ones that take place, especially during the third act, and these all look flawless in this transfer.
Audio
The audio is presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1. The track sounds fantastic. Very well-balanced between the surrounds and center channel. The atmospheric effects, ambient noise and echoing of the large, empty mansion come through particularly well, providing a very creepy tone that works well with the film.
Special Features
This disc has a slipcover identical with previous Paramount Presents releases, opening to reveal the theatrical poster, numbering 10 on the spine for its place in the series. There aren’t too many extras to go through, but they continue the Filmmaker Focus conversation with the director.
- New Filmmaker Focus: Director Jan de Bont on The Haunting
- Behind-the-Scenes Featurette
- Theatrical Teaser Trailer
- Theatrical Trailer
The Haunting tries its best to provide a chilling mystery in this haunted house setting but ultimately falls short of creating something truly memorable. Although there are some impressive sequences that still stand out two decades later, there are so many missed opportunities that could have changed the overall view of the film. I applaud Paramount for releasing this for the first time on Blu-ray for fans of the film, its new treatment, during the perfect time of year, but this is definitely the weakest of the Paramount Presents line so far.
