The Haunting (1999)
Where the original 1963 film was a grand exercise in subtle terror and creepy atmosphere, director Jan De Bont’s remake can be summed up as being about as subtle as a megaton fart. Plot wise, things are relatively the same save for some subtle differences in story and the characters. These changes will only bother fanatical fans of the book and first film, but what pissed me off was De Bont’s complete and utter insult to any fan of supernatural filmmaking. As I’ve stressed many times before, the key to a true scare in horror films can be summed up as “what you don’t see will scare you”. That very phrase completely embodies the original film where here, nothing could be farther from the truth.
Before I begin to tear this one apart however, let me point out the one or two positives. First off, this one sports some absolutely killer set design. Hill House is one bad, brooding beast, and the attention to detail from the walls to the creepy ass sculptures that adorn them is pure art. A shame De Bont has no clue how to make them actually scary. I also was impressed by the films sound effects, which came through absolutely killer on my home surround sound. Cool stuff. Alas, that’s about where it ends. With weak acting, and De Bont being absolutely clueless as how to make use of the wonderful sets she’s been given, she proceeds to try and make you forget she’s a terrible director by literally raping the viewer with loads upon loads of CGI effects. I refuse to call em’ special because they simply are not. Initially the CGI is used to good effect, with the scene of a ghost crawling around on a curtain being somewhat creepy, but after that it’s all downhill. Everything and more is shown to the viewer as each scene is almost shot as if to say “lets see how many CGI ghosts we can get into this frame”. The result is boring, unimaginative and definitely not scary. Jesus, De Bont even wastes Catherine Zeta Jones for chrissakes…how can one possibly do that? The 1999 version of “The Haunting” is a simply terrible picture, and a complete and utter disgrace to director Robert Wise’s original film. Avoid.