What none of them know is that the house really is haunted. Haunted, big time.
The plot is pretty much the traditional, "We're trapped in a big house; strange
things are happening", type thing. Quite well done although a little predictable,
humorously so, towards the end.
The real star of the show was the house. This was an imaginatively designed set,
it really is a classic, an extended version of Kane's fictitious mansion.
With wide, sweeping staircases, huge fireplaces, massive halls, extensive
hallways, corridors and transepts connecting amazingly designed rooms, it
must have been a joy to design and construct.
Without such a superb setting, the film would have lost much of its appeal, but
the reasonable plotline and setting combined to create an atmospheric horror
film with more character than fear.
Huge doors and statues, later to be an important part of the screenplay, gave
the house its final touch. The statue in the bath, in the conservatory, was
an excellent piece of intriguing sculpture although the execution of its
purpose was a little less then surprising when it arrived.
The ending was all happiness and light, well sort of, but what would you have
expected ?
The special effects were generally well done, certainly very well integrated,
although a little less than awe inspiring; a good effort from Dreamworks.
However, the effects in The Haunting had much in common with Industrial
Light and Magic's earlier work, The Mummy; the final
'ghost' being very reminiscent of The Mummy itself.
As a whole it all worked well. There are a few moments of humour, intentionally
and not quite so intentional ( "I'll knock the gate down; I need your
car" ), and it's hard not to make comparisons to The Amityville Horror
and even Poltergeist, "Help me ..."
There wasn't really anything scary ( anyone can throw something at you on a
big screen and make the audience jump ) but, at least during the first half of
the film, the house did a fine job of creating its intended atmosphere of
intrepidation and expectation of far worse things to come.
An enjoyable horror film which wouldn't scare anyone s--tless, managed to avoid
the hack and slay style and never tried to over-reach itself and they
didn't succumb to rolling the credits over the track, Lady Eleanor.
I'm already hedging my bets that it will get the Oscar for Best Set Decoration.
