Review Detail

Cinema is a visual medium, they say. And yet, so frequently, filmmakers appear to be mortally afraid of silence (as in lack of words, not as in complete lack of sound effects and ambience) and feel the need to overload everything with dialogue/monologue in case the audience feels bored. The Haunting is one of those cases. Though far from the worst offender ever, and a very good film still, it doesn't seem to totally trust its cast's facial expressions to comunicate certain things and abuses the voiceover. So, I find this in both of its versions a big improvement. Unlike the previous reviewer, dare I say I prefer the completely voiceover-less version. Julie Harris' acting communicates more than enough of what's going on inside her mind, just with her face. Also, this edit fixes another problem I had with this movie just by cutting ONE line. Russ Tamblyn's constant wisecracking used to take me out of the story, but with the worst offender gone ("I'll sell you this house... cheap!", at a moment in which any rational person would be soiling their pants) somehow the rest doesn't bother me at all anymore. One of the most atmospheric haunted house type films ever (second only to The Innocents) is now even better. Thanks, The Scribbling Man, for making this!