The Haunting is a 1963 supernatural horror film directed and produced by Robert Wise, adapted by Nelson Gidding from Shirley Jackson's 1959 novel The Haunting of Hill House. It stars Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson, and Russ Tamblyn. The film depicts the experiences of a small group of people invited by a paranormal investigator to investigate a purportedly haunted house.
Screenwriter Gidding, who had worked with director Wise on the 1958 film I Want to Live!, began a six-month write of the script after reading the book, which Wise had given to him. He perceived the book to be more about mental breakdown than ghosts, and although he was informed after meeting author Shirley Jackson that it was very much a supernatural novel, elements of mental breakdown were introduced into the film. The film was shot in the UK, at the MGM-British Studios near London on a budget of US$1.05 million, with exteriors and the grounds shot at Ettington Park (now the Ettington Park Hotel) in the village of Ettington, Warwickshire. Julie Harris was cast by Wise, who found her ideal for the psychologically fragile Eleanor, though during production she suffered from depression and had an uneasy relationship with her co-stars. The interior sets were by Elliot Scott, credited by Wise as instrumental in the making of The Haunting. They were designed to be brightly lit, with no dark corners or recesses; all the rooms had ceilings to create a claustrophobic effect on film. Numerous devices and tricks were used in the filming. Wise used a 30mm anamorphic, wide-angle lens Panavision camera that was not technically ready for use and caused distortions. It was only given to Wise on condition that he sign a memorandum in which he acknowledged that the lens was imperfect. Wise and cinematographer Davis Boulton planned sequences that kept the camera moving, utilising low-angle takes, and incorporating unusual pans and tracking shots.
The film was released on 18 September 1963. Despite initially receiving mixed reviews, retrospective critics have been much more positive; with the film being praised for its atmosphere, psychological depth, and the acting of its two female leads. In 2010, The Guardian newspaper ranked it as the 13th-best horror film of all time. Director Martin Scorsese placed The Haunting first on his list of the 11 scariest horror films of all time. The Haunting was released on DVD in its original screen format with commentary in 2003, and was released on Blu-ray on 15 October 2013. The film received a remake in 1999 from director Jan de Bont, starring Liam Neeson, Lili Taylor, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Owen Wilson, which was met with a widespread negative critical response.
Plot Dr John Markway narrates the history of the 90-year-old Hill House, which was constructed in Massachusetts, United States, by Hugh Crain for his wife. She died when her carriage crashed against a tree as she approached the house for the first time. Crain remarried, but his second wife died in the house from a fall down the stairs. Crain's daughter Abigail lived in the house for the rest of her life, never moving out of the nursery room. She died calling for her nurse-companion. The companion inherited the house, but hanged herself from a spiral staircase in the library. Hill House was inherited by Mrs Sannerson, a distant relative of the companion, although the house has stood empty for some time.
Markway wishes to study the reported paranormal activity at Hill House and sends invitations for people to join his investigation; Mrs Sannerson demands that Markway allow her heir Luke Sannerson to join. Only two other individuals accept—Theodora, a psychic, and Eleanor Lance, who experienced poltergeist activity as a child. Eleanor has spent her adult life caring for her invalid mother, whose recent death has left Eleanor with severe guilt.
The group find the mansion's walls were constructed with angles askew, resulting in off-centre perspectives and doors that open and close by themselves. During their first night in the house, Eleanor and Theo are terrified by banging sounds made against the door, and hear menacing laughter. Luke and the doctor, however, report the house had been silent for them. In the morning, the words "Help Eleanor come home" are found scrawled on a wall, distressing Eleanor. The group explores the house, discovering a huge marble composite statue, supposedly of St Francis curing lepers, which seems to echo the string of characters who have lived in the house (Hugh Crain, Abigail and the companion), but also resemble Dr Markway, Luke, Theo and Eleanor.
The doctor, Luke and Theodora explore the library with the treacherous spiral staircase, but Eleanor has a severe reaction that prevents her from entering. Leaning over the veranda to look at the library's tower, she becomes dizzy and is caught by Markway, who speculates that he should send her home, but Eleanor protests. Dr Markway discovers a cold spot outside the nursery room. Despite these occurrences, Eleanor feels an affinity to Hill House.
That night, on Markway's insistence, Theo moves into Eleanor's room, and they fall asleep in the twin beds pushed together. Eleanor is awakened by the voice of a man speaking and a woman laughing. Fearful, she asks Theo to hold her hand. As she hears the sound of a girl crying, she shouts. Theo awakens to find that Eleanor has moved from the bed to the couch, and Eleanor realises it was not Theo's hand she held.
The following day, Theo confronts Eleanor about her feelings for Dr Markway, and Eleanor lashes back at Theo for being "unnatural," implying either Theo's psychic ability to know what Eleanor is thinking or her attraction to Eleanor. Dr Markway's sceptical wife Grace arrives with plans to join the group for the duration of the investigation, to the consternation of Eleanor, who had begun developing feelings for Markway while unaware that he was married. Grace demands a room in the nursery despite her husband's warning that it is likely the centre of the disturbances. That night in the living room, the group experiences loud banging and an unseen intruder attempting to force its way into the room, causing the door to bulge inward. The banging moves toward the nursery, and Dr Markway pursues it as does Eleanor by using a different exit from the living room. Mrs Markway has disappeared and then Eleanor splits off from the group. Her instability worsens as she enters the library and climbs the spiral staircase, followed by Markway, who tries to coax her down despite the stairwell coming loose from the wall. At the top, Eleanor nearly falls to her death whilst glimpsing Grace above her. Markway grabs her and saves her. No one believes she saw Grace.
Markway insists Eleanor leave but she pleads to stay, convinced the house wants her. If she leaves she thinks Grace will take her place. Eleanor drives off toward the front gates. The steering wheel begins to turn by itself, and she surrenders to the unseen force. A female figure suddenly appears in front of the car, causing Eleanor to crash into a tree and die. Markway and the others arrive to find that the figure is Grace, who says she woke in fear and tried to find her husband but the house kept her lost. She ended up in the attic when she was trying to find a way back, and Eleanor saw her through a trapdoor hatch. She is unsure of how she found her way outside. Luke observes that Eleanor deliberately aimed the car at the tree, but Markway asserts that something was in the car with her. He notes that the tree was the same one where Mrs Crain died. Theo remarks that Eleanor got what she wanted—to remain with the house. Convinced of the supernatural forces he once scoffed at, Luke says about the house, "It ought to be burned down and the ground sowed with salt."
Cast
Production Robert Wise was in pre-production (Wise would misremember this as 'post-production') on West Side Story when he read a review in Time magazine of author Shirley Jackson's novel, The Haunting of Hill House. Wise read the book and found it frightening; he passed it to screenwriter colleague Nelson Gidding, with whom he had worked on the film I Want to Live! (1958). Gidding did a full story treatment for Wise before proceeding to work on the adaptation. As Gidding crafted the screenplay, he came to believe that the novel was not a ghost story at all, but rather a compilation of the insane thoughts of the lead character, Eleanor Vance. He theorised that Vance was having a nervous breakdown, envisaging a scenario in which Hill House is the hospital where she is held, Markway is her psychiatrist, the cold, banging, and violence are the results of shock treatment, and the opening and closing of doors reflected the opening and closing of hospital doors.Gidding and Weaver 2001, p. 64. Wise and Gidding travelled to Bennington, Vermont, United States, to meet Jackson, who told them that it was a good idea but that the novel was definitely about the supernatural.Gidding and Weaver 2001, pp. 64-65. Nonetheless, elements of the insanity concept remained in the script, so that the audience was left wondering whether the supernatural events in the film were in Eleanor's mind or whether they were real.Gidding and Weaver 2001, p. 65. It was also during their visit to speak with Jackson that Wise and Gidding chose the title for the film. As they did not want to keep the book title, they asked Jackson if she had considered an alternative title. She suggested The Haunting, which Wise and Gidding immediately adopted.Sloane 1995, p. 22.
Script Writing the screenplay took about six months. During this period, Gidding worked alone, and although he passed some of his work to Wise to show him that work on the screenplay was progressing well, he and Wise did not otherwise collaborate on the screenplay. The screenplay made other changes to the story. The number of characters was cut down, the backstory was significantly shortened, most of the supernatural events depicted in the novel were kept off-screen, and the greater part of the action was set inside the house to heighten the audience's feeling of claustrophobia. Eleanor's role as an outcast was also emphasised. The character of Theodora was given a sharper, slightly more cruel sense of humour in order to make her a foil for Eleanor but also to heighten Eleanor's outsider status. The role of Luke became more flippant, and Dr Markway (Montague in the novel) was made a more confident character. The screenplay was finished just after Wise completed work on West Side Story.
Wise approached United Artists with the project, but after much delay they turned him down. Wise's agent then suggested that, since Wise owed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) a film under an old contract, Wise should take the project there. MGM agreed, but would only give Wise a $1 million budget. Wise knew he could not do the film at MGM's Culver City Studios (now the Sony Pictures Studios), so he took it to England, as the Eady Levy gave tax breaks and financing to films made there as a way of subsidising and promoting the British film industry. Someone suggested to Wise that he approach MGM's Borehamwood Studios subsidiary. Wise had been asked to come to the United Kingdom for a Royal Command Performance of West Side Story, and during the trip made the financing pitch to MGM Borehamwood. They offered a budget of $1.050 million. With the Eady Levy support, this allowed the film to go forward with production in the United Kingdom.
Casting Actor Role