31 Days of Halloween: The Haunting (1963)

Hello, Bloggers, for today's review, I decided to do another Retro Review and for a film that I consider to be one of the best haunted house movies ever made, if not THE best, and that film is the original 1963 version of The Haunting.

                                     Story:
                            The Haunting is about a man named Dr. Markway (Richard Johnson) who looks to observe paranormal activity at the supposedly haunting mansion known as Hill House and assembles a group of individuals that includes his boss' heir Luke (Russ Tamblyn), a psychic named Theo (Claire Bloom) and a woman named Nell (Julie Harris). When they all stay at Hill House, things begin to become more than they bargained for as the house's hauntings take a toll on them.

                              What I Liked About It:
                           Now, what makes this film so great is how it shows that "less is more". In other words, there are no monsters or ghosts shown, all you see or hear is doors banging, shaking furniture, and footsteps banging from the ceiling. I always like when horror films use that trick because when they do, your mind creates what happened and it possibly makes things scarier than what appears on screen. There's honestly not much else to say about how much I liked about this movie, except the fact that it uses the "less is more" trick, which I really appreciate the film for using. Although I did like the performances from the cast, especially Russ Tamblyn, who plays the wisecracking young heir and Julie Harris, who plays the timid and grief-ridden Nell.

                              What I Didn't Like About It:
                            Nothing.

                              Consensus:
                            Overall, The Haunting is a haunting classic that proves just how less is more and leaves most of the horrors to the imagination. If you want a good old-fashioned haunted house film, I would recommend this. Just hopefully, you'll get a good night sleep after.

Rating: 4.5/5