The Haunting (1963)

When I was a kid, I liked stories about things that went bump in the night i.e. ghost stories.  I wanted to believe that when a human being died, they might return to their loved ones from the after world to either haunt or watch over them.  I had an English relative I visited in Kent, England after college.  Aunt Margaret swore that ghosts were real. She told me she had seen both her deceased neighbor and her dead cat buried in her garden both come back from beyond the grave to visit her.  She believed that where ghosts are often reported (castles, towers, abbeys), some terrible act of violence occurred. Her theory was that violent act became like a photographic imprint at that location, replaying their demise and anguish repeatedly all over Great Britain for those people with the knack to see it.  But like UFOs, Bigfoot, and the Loch Ness Monster, proof of supernatural apparitions have been hard to come by. 

My love of ghost stories in my youth did not carry over to films.  I prefer vampires and werewolves to wraiths and phantasms.  There have been some ghost themed films that I have enjoyed. Peter Medak's THE CHANGELING (1981) had some scary moments including a deceased child's possessed wheel chair. Tobe Hooper's POLTERGEIST (1982) produced by Steven Spielberg was probably one of the most fun, ghostly thrill rides of recent memory.  I have a fondness for movies about mortals falling in love with a ghost in films like Joseph Mankiewicz's THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR (1948) or Jerry Zucker's aptly titled GHOST (1990) with the spirit of Patrick Swayze trying to protect his human lover Demi Moore.  Cable television has developed a cottage industry of paranormal detectives and ghost whisperers who try to convince us that spirits from beyond the grave do exist and talk to us.  Moviegoers still like to be frightened by dark presences in recent film like PARANORMAL ACTIVITY (2007) and James Wan's THE CONJURING (2013) with both films spawning multiple sequels. 

Two artistic films in the early 1960s, both made by quality directors, revitalized the ghost and haunted house genre.  Both were filmed in England, perhaps the birthplace of ghost and haunted tales (like the ones my Aunt Margaret told me). Recently, I saw THE INNOCENTS (1961) directed by Jack Clayton (a cinematographer turned director) and based on the Henry James story The Turn of the Screw starring Deborah Kerr as a governess to two young children in a seemingly haunted mansion. But THE HAUNTING (1963) directed by Robert Wise (better know for musicals like WEST SIDE STORY and THE SOUND OF MUSIC) I had not seen yet.  Wise, who started as an editor working on Orson Welles CITIZEN KANE (1941) began his directing career with psychological horror films for producer Val Lewton in the 1940s including THE CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE (1944) and THE BODY SNATCHER (1945) with Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi.   THE HAUNTING is well known for Wise's mastery with using sound, editing, and innovative camerawork to invoke suspense and horror without showing the audience much. 

Based on the novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, adapted for the screen by Nelson Gidding, and directed by Wise, THE HAUNTING tells the haunted house story of Hill House, an estate built in New England 90 years earlier in the 19th Century surrounded by scandal, insanity, suicide, and mysterious deaths.  The original builder and owner Hugh Crain hated people. Crain's first and second wives both died of strange circumstances (a carriage accident outside the estate for Wife # 1 and a fall down some stairs for Wife # 2).  The last owner, a woman who had cared for Crain's daughter Abigail, hanged herself.  Hill House was inherited by Mrs. Sanderson (Fay Compton) who allows Dr. John Markway (Richard Johnson) to investigate its supernatural tendencies and possibly disprove Hill House's bad reputation. Markway plans to bring several assistants to aid with his research but most drop out when they learn its Hill House they'll be studying. Only three join Markway for his ghost hunt: Eleanor Lance (Julie Harris), a fragile young woman who has had a previous poltergeist encounter; Theodora aka Theo (Claire Bloom) who's gifted with ESP (extra sensory perception); and Luke Sanderson (Russ Tamblyn), Mrs. Sanderson's nephew and possible heir to the massive Hill House property. 

Eleanor arrives first to the massive estate, having to deal with Hill House's creepy caretakers Mr. Dudley (Valentine Dyall) and Mrs. Dudley (Rosalie Crutchley). Theodora shows up next followed by Dr. Markway and Luke. Eleanor and Theo share a room the first night and hear loud banging at the end of the hall and a sudden drop in temperature in their room. The next morning, Luke shows the group a message written in chalk on the house's wall: 'Help Eleanor, come home." The team take a tour of the eccentric Hill House, discovering sculptures and busts and cherubs as well as quirky doorways all over the expansive house. They visit the library with its dangerously rickety iron spiral staircase leading to the top balcony where Hill House's previous owner hung herself. Eleanor feels the house speaking to her. Markway's concerned she may be headed for a mental breakdown.

Markway discovers a cold spot in the middle of the house, "the heart of Hill House." Another night arrives and the haunted house turns up the terror. Eleanor hears a man mumbling, a woman laughing, and a baby crying outside their room.  Eleanor's terrified and believes Theo's squeezing her hand for comfort in the dark.  But when she awakens, Eleanor finds Theodore asleep on a couch across from her.  Who was squeezing her hand so tightly? Markway shows Eleanor a harp that he's heard playing by itself. Eleanor becomes more and more unsettled. Markway tries to comfort her and they have a brief moment but the harp intervenes with a twang.

Dr. Markway's wife Grace Markway (Lois Maxwell) shows up, adding an uneasy dynamic to the team. She's arrived to protect her husband's reputation, warning him a reporter is snooping around about his investigation. Grace does not approve of his scientific studies nor does she believe in ghosts. The only place to put Grace up is the nursery but it's locked. But when the group returns inside, the nursery door is wide open. Grace takes the room. The rest of the team move into the parlor to sleep. The loud banging begins again. Markway shuts the parlor door but the door expands inward as Hill House grows malevolent toward the ghost hunters.  Eleanor fears the spirits want her. The team goes to the nursery to check on Grace but she's vanished. Eleanor flees to the library, climbing the treacherous staircase. The last night at Hill House, on the anniversary of the death of Crain's first wife, will come to a head with one of the group meeting an unfortunate demise. 

THE HAUNTING is a psychological horror film but one of its strengths is the depth of character of the four paranormal investigators. Dr. Markway is the father figure, nurturing and protective of the three younger members. But the film suggests that all is not perfect with the good doctor. He tells Mrs. Sanderson his wife Grace disapproves of his interest in the supernatural.  This comment reveals itself literally when Grace shows up at Hill House on the last night, pleading for Markway to give up his ghost hunt.  Grace also shows disdain for the two young female assistants that are working with her husband.  Has Dr. Markway strayed from his wife with previous female assistants? Markway and Eleanor almost had a romantic moment when Eleanor was at her most vulnerable. The haunted house will unexpectedly play a part in strengthening the Markway's marriage when Grace goes missing on the team's final night in the house. 

The fragile Eleanor is the key character in THE HAUNTING.  Despondent and guilt stricken after the recent death of her mother, Markway's invitation to join his team gives her a new purpose, a chance to escape her oppressive sister in Boston.  But her delicate mental state will be taken advantage of as Hill House preys upon her psyche.  At times, she feels the house wants her to leave and other times that the spirits want her to join them. We hear Eleanor's psychological state thru inner monologues she has with herself. Because of Eleanor's unbalanced nature, director Wise makes us question whether the things Eleanor is hearing, seeing, and feeling are real ghostly phenomena or all in her head. Eleanor will become more unstable as the film proceeds to its terrifying conclusion.

Maybe I would have figured it out but the Turner Classic Movie hosts Dave Krager and horror film author David J. Skal pointed it out for me that the character of Theodora in THE HAUNTING is one of the first fully developed lesbian characters in film history.  The best dresser of the group (think London Mod), Theo is confident and a little aggressive around  Eleanor.  She promises to protect her fellow "sister" and later refers to Eleanor as her "new companion" as they hunt for ghosts but with her ESP, Theo also pokes and prods at Eleanor's state of mind at times, leading Eleanor to call Theo one of "nature's mistakes."  Theodora and Eleanor share a bed for protection from the unseen supernatural forces but does Theo have an alterior motive?  THE HAUNTING only suggests. Luke Sanderson is the comic relief of THE HAUNTING.  He doesn't believe in ghosts.  He just wants to make sure his possible future investment/inheritance can shed its bad reputation.  But by the film's conclusion, Luke has been converted, suggesting the best thing is for Hill House "to be burned down...and the ground sowed with salt." 

THE HAUNTING is psychological horror at its finest. Robert Wise began his directing career with psychological horror films for producer Val Lewton in the 1940s.  Lewton's films suggested horrific possibilities but never really showed anything outright, leaving it to the moviegoer's mind if they saw something or not. Filmmakers today would show much more and audiences would expect it. With psychological horror, we wonder if the images and sounds are really happening or made up in a character's head.  Eleanor played by Julie Harris in THE HAUNTING is that character.  Eleanor's already a mess with her personal life. The events that happen to her in Hill House could be caused by actual ghosts or it could be all happening in her unstable mind.  What's unusual is Dr. Markway, Theodora, and Luke all encounter unexplained supernatural phenomena.  They are more stable than Eleanor. But Wise leaves it a little more ambiguous with Eleanor.   Is she really connecting with the spirits or is it just her overworked imagination?

Director Wise pays homage to both Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles in THE HAUNTING. A scene with Julie Harris driving to Hill House is shot similarly to Janet Leigh's drive to the Bates Motel in Hitchcock's PSYCHO (1960). Composer Humphrey Searle's score even turns Bernard Herrmann PSYCHO like with screeching violins briefly on Harris's drive, an ominous introduction for her to Hill House. Hill House is a character itself in THE HAUNTING like the Bates's Victorian house in PSYCHO or Charles Foster Kane's mysterious Xanadu compound in CITIZEN KANE. It's large, imposing, and foreboding. Wise's shots of the exterior of Hill House's were done with infrared film to give it a more sinister quality with white clouds behind it.  Wise and cinematographer Davis Boulton also shoot interesting low angle close ups of the actors during the parlor haunting sequence that reminded me of Welles low angle shots in CITIZEN KANE and Hitchcock's low angle close ups during the house siege in THE BIRDS (1963). In all those films, the ceilings are visible, giving an impression of claustrophobia. Lastly, like CITIZEN KANE and PSYCHO, Wise chose to film THE HAUNTING in black and white, possibly a homage to his black and white Val Lewton horror films as well. 

THE HAUNTING is the first film I can recall to create the blueprint that would be passed on to future ghost hunting teams in television and movies.  In THE HAUNTING, we have Markway the scientist, Theodora the mind reader, Eleanor who may be able to commune with spirits, and Luke the skeptic.  THE HAUNTING will pave the way for future ghost hunting teams from Hanna and Barbera's classic Saturday cartoon series SCOOBY DOO, WHERE ARE YOU? (Scooby, Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, and Velma as the ghost sleuths) to Ivan Reitman's GHOSTBUSTERS (1984) with Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd, Harold Ramis, and Ernie Hudson to most recently THE CONJURING about real life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga.  

Wise's THE HAUNTING would be remade in 1999 directed by cinematographer turned director Jan De Bont with a stellar cast including Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Owen Wilson but by all accounts, it does not live up to the original.  In 2018 a ten episode horror series for Netflix called THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE based on Jackson's novel expands her ghost story focusing on a modern day Crain Family. Russ Tamblyn who plays Luke in the original has a cameo in this series.

A strong actress was needed for the role of Eleanor and the filmmakers wisely cast Julie Harris, a titan on the theater stage (Harris won five Tony Awards) to play the psychologically distressed young woman.  Harris displays a rollercoaster of emotions in the film as she battles not only Hill House's other worldly forces but her fellow researchers perceptions of her. Besides THE HAUNTING, Harris's most famous film role would be as James Dean's girlfriend Abra in Elia Kazan's EAST OF EDEN (1955) based on the John Steinbeck novel. Not to be outdone is Claire Bloom who plays the bohemian and ESP gifted Theodora. I had forgotten what a beautiful and talented actress Bloom was in the late 50s and 60s. Bloom can be found in some excellent films like Laurence Oliver's RICHARD III (1955), Richard Brooks' THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV (1958), Tony Richardson's LOOK BACK IN ANGER (1959) and Martin Ritt's THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD (1965) the last two films Bloom co-starring with her former lover Richard Burton.

Richard Johnson who plays anthropologist Dr. John Markway is the one actor in THE HAUNTING I was not familiar with. With his eloquent diction, good looks, and scholarly/scientific curiosity, Johnson's Markway is the archetype for future film ghost hunters. Johnson would go on to appear in Jack Clayton's THE PUMPKIN EATER (1964) with Anne Bancroft and Peter Finch; the historical epic KHARTOUM (1966) with Charleton Heston and Laurence Olivier; and later play another doctor in the Italian horror cult classic ZOMBIE (1979). Russ Tamblyn who plays Luke Sanderson, possible heir to Hill House, had worked with Robert Wise in WEST SIDE STORY (1961) as Riff, leader of the Jets gang.  I much prefer Tamblyn in SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS (1954) and as Luke in THE HAUNTING where Tamblyn displays his boyish charm.  Tamblyn's Luke brings some lightness to the dark story but it's also his transformation from cynic to believer that brings a chill to the film.  And for those of you who thought actress Lois Maxwell only played Miss Moneypenny in the JAMES BOND films, Maxwell shows us a more dramatic side as Markway's wife Grace, who's arrival at Hill House plays a pivotal role in THE HAUNTING'S third act. 

Robert Wise may be one of the more acclaimed directors you've never heard of.  He was not idolized by French critics like Alfred Hitchcock or Howard Hawks.  He wasn't secretive like Stanley Kubrick or distant like Woody Allen. Wise was well respected by Hollywood and made quality films, tipping his toes in every genre. Besides exploring psychological horror in THE CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE and THE HAUNTING, Wise directed the western BLOOD ON THE MOON (1948) with Robert Mitchum; the boxing film noir THE SET-UP (1949) with Robert Ryan; the science fiction classic THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951) and later THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN (1971) based on Michael Crichton's novel; two of the best musicals ever put on film in WEST SIDE STORY (co-directed with Jerome Robbins) and THE SOUND OF MUSIC; the war film THE DESERT RATS (1953) with Richard Burton and James Mason; the historical epic  THE SAND PEBBLES (1966) with Steve McQueen; and even a disaster film I saw as a teenager THE HINDENBURG (1975) with George C. Scott based on the actual event.

A few final HAUNTING trivia tidbits.  The actual building used for Hill House was not a set but the Ettington Park Hotel located in Warwickshire, England (birthplace of William Shakespeare). Some of the cast and crew even stayed in the spooky looking hotel during filming.  Director Wise and cinematographer Davis Boulton shot most of THE HAUNTING with various wide angle lenses to give the film an eerie quality and make the house seem larger .  They even used a special 30mm anamorphic wide-angle lens that Panavision hadn't perfected yet because Wise liked the distorted quality the lens provided.  Wise uses it in several scenes that give the audience a jolt as if ghosts are rushing down the hallway or at characters. 

For today's audiences, THE HAUNTING might not seem like such a big deal.  We expect big special effects and gore in the modern horror film.  But THE HAUNTING is a big deal.  It is artistically well crafted with a successful director and top notch actors. It takes itself seriously but in a good way.  THE HAUNTING just wants to haunt you for a couple of hours.  And it will.