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DVD Review HTF Review: The Haunting (1963) (1 Viewer)

Gordon McMurphy

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Aug 3, 2002
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Thanks, Herb! Looking forward to reading your reviews! :)

Great to see that the HTF reviews are coming back with a vengeance!


Gordy
 

Alfonso_M

Second Unit
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Sep 25, 2000
Messages
399
Great Review! Jack, My kind of horror flick, I will pick it up now that you revived hidden memories of this film again

(Any South Floridians remember Nite Owl Movies with Big Wilson?)
Yes, I remember Big Old Wilson and his stuffed owl companion, used to watch him all the time, nothing beats those lazy nights, milk and cookies at hand and a good old black and white on the tube…
 

StevenW

Second Unit
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Jul 4, 2000
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I have never seen this film, so I cannot wait to see what all the hoopla over this movie is :D
 

Brian W.

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Thanks for the review, Jack. I've always wanted to see this film. Looks like it might be a blind buy.
 

Karl_Luph

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Apr 5, 2002
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Very good job on the review Jack. If I wasn't already going to get this one, your review would certainly make me want to get purchase it or at least rent it. Keep up the great work sir!
 

Steve Christou

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Where are the friggin' SCREENSHOTS!!! That's an injoke between me and Jack.;)
Excellent review Jack, more please! The Haunting is one of my two favorite ghost stories of the 50's-60's, along with Jack Clayton's superb The Innocents.
The remake with all it's noise and visual effects was far less effective, it's one of the creepiest ghost stories ever and you don't see any ghosts! Great film.:emoji_thumbsup:
 

Tony Aguila

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Joined
Jun 30, 1997
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Steve, you just barely beat me to it. I was going to bring up The Innocents as I was getting down to the end of this thread and was surprised nobody had mentioned it. I'm just afraid that my laserdisc copy might start to rot, and there's no hint of it ever coming to DVD. :frowning:
 

Walter Kittel

Senior HTF Member
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Dec 28, 1998
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9,770
I'll chime in also with a 'good show', Jack. Always a pleasure to read an enthusiastic review of a cherished title. Glad to hear that the film has received a nice release. Certainly the first title I'll be watching the week it streets.

- Walter.
 

Gordon McMurphy

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Aug 3, 2002
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Fox are good listeners, and The Innocents has been mentioned many times. I wouldn't be surprised if they release next year at some point. While they are at it, they could release a nice DVD of The Entity. :)


Gordy
 

Pete L

Agent
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Oct 5, 2002
Messages
46
Nice review, Jack. This has been one of my most eagerly awaited DVDs, and I'm especially gratified to see that one of the techniques referred to in the review is the use of voice-over. Whenever I hear people criticize the use of voice-over in general (and there are many instances of its misuse), I have always thought of The Haunting as a sterling example of how this technique can not only enhance the narrative, but can even make the overall impact of the film almost unthinkable without it.

This, plus the dark/stark cinematography and odd, leering camera angles, make The Haunting one of the three most atmospheric and truly creepy films of all time--the other two being The Changeling and Carnival Of Souls. (The Innocents is excellent as well, as is The Uninvited, though I found the latter to be badly hampered by the inappropriately lush, "romantic" score.)
 

Michael Reuben

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I finally had a chance to sit down with this last night, and the disc more than lives up to Jack's excellent review. I never saw this in theaters, so I remember what a revelation the widescreen LD was, with its uncropped rendering of the detailed production design. But with this DVD, I felt like I was seeing it all anew, because now you can see all the details. I don't think I ever realized how many mirrors there are in Hill House, and how much they contribute to the unsettling visual atmosphere. And I would love to know more about how Wise achieved some of the deep focus shots using anamorphic lenses (some of them obviously use diopters, but not all of them). It's a great disc of a classic film -- arguably the best haunted house film ever made.

M.
 

Jeff_HR

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Jun 15, 2001
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3,593
I was on the fence about this one, largely due to the disappointment that was the 1999 remake
Judging an original based on a remake is not a good idea usually. This DVD is the best that I've seen the film look. I liked the commentary too. I can now retire my P&S Laserdisc and my WS Laserdisc of "The Haunting". Nice review!
 

Jack Briggs

Senior HTF Member
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Jun 3, 1999
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16,805
Thank you everyone for the kind remarks.

May I ask if anyone else noticed the (ever so) slight softness for about the first fourth to third of the disc? Even though I also own the commercially released version of the disc, I have yet to remove the shrinkwrap.

Another thing I noticed on the screener copy is that when Eleanor goes into introspection mode, her voiced-over "thoughts" are nearly inaudible for about a second before they stabilize.

Also of interest, Susan King, who writes about DVD for the Los Angeles Times, waxed rhapsodic about this release and about the film in yesterday's edition. She praised the look of this film in widescreen.
 

Xenia Stathakopoulou

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Your copy is just fine, i found that mine looks like that for a good portion of the film too. Plus every review on the net says, it looks soft for a good portion of the film as well.:)
 

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