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Horror Hall of Fame
THE HAUNTING
— 1963 —
This was one of the nominations I was really looking forward to in this Hall of Fame. I have heard of this before quite a few times, and generally it just seemed like my type of horror. I like horror in almost all of its forms, but there is something about the drama-centered and smooth horrors, diving in and out of genre-typical elements without showing too much but undoubtedly making its presence known. This seemed like that type of horror film and it also kind of was. I must admit I expected more from it though, but overall it was a fine watch.
The film opened in this weird way that made it seem like the movie was, in some way, one long prologue. I have experienced this only once before, and that was with Citizen Kane. It is like when a movie opens with a decent beginning, but has this voiceover hovering over it like an introduction to story, which oddly enough ends up being present all the way throughout the film. In the beginning I thought it was just a way to introduce this creepy house and all of its unsettling stories and mysteries, but sadly it just kept going. I want to say I actually love voiceovers in film, but here it didn’t work for me. I guess it really didn’t bring much to the story and it wasn’t as interestingly written as it could have been. Also, the main character was pretty boring and quite annoying and I would have preferred the main focus to be on another character or just leave the voiceover out entirely.
Overall I quite enjoyed a few things in the film. I especially loved the elements of reality and mystery. Like when the professor constantly tried to figure out what was going on and it led up to some really interesting discussions on the phenomenon of haunted houses, and ghosts and spirits in general. I do think these discussions could have been held together by a tighter story with more control, although I do understand that the supernatural kind of just happens, and you aren’t really suppose to “control” it. But I’m also mostly referring to the fact that the story itself just couldn’t hold my attention and it didn’t build up as well as it could have, and didn’t utilize its characters, setting, atmosphere and ideas as well either.
The weirdest thing about this movie, to me, is that it is from 1963. It seriously feels like a film from the 40s or 50s at the latest. My first thought was that it might be intentional to try and capture a certain feel of old school classic horror, but as the movie progressed it kept on feeling too “dated” and low-budget for its own good. I mean, just think of Psycho three years earlier or Rosemary’s Baby five years later. Too hugely acclaimed classics, I know, but still it is only a simple comparison. Both of those films hold up extremely well today and don’t at all feel the same as this movie did. Maybe it just hasn’t aged that well I guess... But as I said, it was often a fun watch and I mostly enjoyed it, but I do think it could have been much better and overall it is just pretty forgettable to me.
THE HAUNTING
— 1963 —
This was one of the nominations I was really looking forward to in this Hall of Fame. I have heard of this before quite a few times, and generally it just seemed like my type of horror. I like horror in almost all of its forms, but there is something about the drama-centered and smooth horrors, diving in and out of genre-typical elements without showing too much but undoubtedly making its presence known. This seemed like that type of horror film and it also kind of was. I must admit I expected more from it though, but overall it was a fine watch.
The film opened in this weird way that made it seem like the movie was, in some way, one long prologue. I have experienced this only once before, and that was with Citizen Kane. It is like when a movie opens with a decent beginning, but has this voiceover hovering over it like an introduction to story, which oddly enough ends up being present all the way throughout the film. In the beginning I thought it was just a way to introduce this creepy house and all of its unsettling stories and mysteries, but sadly it just kept going. I want to say I actually love voiceovers in film, but here it didn’t work for me. I guess it really didn’t bring much to the story and it wasn’t as interestingly written as it could have been. Also, the main character was pretty boring and quite annoying and I would have preferred the main focus to be on another character or just leave the voiceover out entirely.
Overall I quite enjoyed a few things in the film. I especially loved the elements of reality and mystery. Like when the professor constantly tried to figure out what was going on and it led up to some really interesting discussions on the phenomenon of haunted houses, and ghosts and spirits in general. I do think these discussions could have been held together by a tighter story with more control, although I do understand that the supernatural kind of just happens, and you aren’t really suppose to “control” it. But I’m also mostly referring to the fact that the story itself just couldn’t hold my attention and it didn’t build up as well as it could have, and didn’t utilize its characters, setting, atmosphere and ideas as well either.
The weirdest thing about this movie, to me, is that it is from 1963. It seriously feels like a film from the 40s or 50s at the latest. My first thought was that it might be intentional to try and capture a certain feel of old school classic horror, but as the movie progressed it kept on feeling too “dated” and low-budget for its own good. I mean, just think of Psycho three years earlier or Rosemary’s Baby five years later. Too hugely acclaimed classics, I know, but still it is only a simple comparison. Both of those films hold up extremely well today and don’t at all feel the same as this movie did. Maybe it just hasn’t aged that well I guess... But as I said, it was often a fun watch and I mostly enjoyed it, but I do think it could have been much better and overall it is just pretty forgettable to me.