Val Lewton Inspired Haunted House Movie Still Packs A Punch

When  the original version of THE HAUNTING came out in 1963, it received good critical reviews and did lukewarm box office business although most people who saw it thought it was the scariest movie they had ever seen.  That’s because it had been carefully crafted to have that effect on an audience. Director Robert Wise had gotten his start under RKO producer Val Lewton in the 1940s. Lewton was responsible for a series of low budget, B movie horror films that became famous for what they DIDN’T show.  Movies like CAT PEOPLE (1942) and THE LEOPARD MAN (1943) frightened audiences through their clever use of editing and a skilful use of sound.

Shirley Jackson’s novel THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE had been written in 1959. Wise read it and saw in it an ideal opportunity to pay tribute to Val Lewton by making a movie using his techniques but this time with an A picture budget. His first directing credit had been THE BODY SNATCHER with Boris Karloff in 1945. That had been shot for $150,000. The budget for THE HAUNTING was 10 times that. The methods would be the same. Use very specific editing and a creative use of sound cues. Wise had begun his movie career as a film editor and worked on Orson Welles’ CITIZEN KANE and THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS so he knew just what to do.

The plot involves a psychic researcher (Richard Johnson) and his two hand picked assistants, both women, who plan to spend time in what is reputed to be a truly haunted house. He  plans to keep a record of whatever occurs in the hopes of experiencing paranormal/supernatural events. One of the assistants, a neurotic spinster (Julie Harris), who had a paranormal experience when she was a child, is the narrator of the events while the other woman (Claire Bloom) is experienced in ESP and is sensitive to atmosphere. They are joined by a relative of the house’s owners (Russ Tamblyn) who wants to examine what will be his inheritance.

Jackson’s book takes place in a series of locations but the movie takes place primarily in the house which helps to increase the tension by creating a sense of claustrophobia. The Victorian mansion chosen for exteriors was in Shakespeare’s home town of Stratford-Upon-Avon and is known as Ettington Park. Director Wise shot the house through an ultra red filter to darken the film’s contrast and make it look more menacing. Today it’s a Grand Hotel with a 4 star rating. The dissonant soundtrack was by the Modern British composer Humphrey Searle and it also helped to put the audience on edge.

Although American financed, THE HAUNTING was shot in England to keep costs down and to take advantage of the top tier British technicians available. British regulations required that 2 of the 4 stars had to be Brits which is why Richard Johnson and Claire Bloom are in the cast joining Americans Julie Harris and Russ Tamblyn. Johnson, Bloom and especially Tamblyn, in, in what starts out as a thankless role, are fine. Julie Harris, as the narrator/central figure Eleanor, is another matter. Harris is a fine stage actress but after a while, her overly theatrical performance starts to grate which may have been the director’s intention.

Although followed by the more overt THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE (1973) and THE AMITYVILLE HORROR (1979) as well as such low budget offerings as THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN CORPSES (1974) and THE EVIL (1978) along with the over-the-top remake from 1999, Robert Wise’s THE HAUNTING remains the quintessential old school haunted house movie. Only 1979’s THE CHANGELING with George C. Scott and Nicole Kidman’s THE OTHERS from 2001 attempted to scare audiences with the less-is-more approach.  THE HAUNTING is available in every format including streaming, Watch it late at night with the lights out for maximum effect.