The Haunting (1963)-History of Hill House

[cbdebill4]

Can anyone tell me if that's Frances De La Tour in the sequence where Abigail is shown in bed growing up and growing old? She's seen for just a few seconds (presumable as a teen-aged Abigail). I've watched this movie countless times. One of my all time favorites.

[cowboys448]

this version is better than the remake

[HiddenRoom1974]

Never seen this, but it looks like a real classic. Visual effects pretty good for 1963.

[SpitfirePunx]

The remake is utter shyte, this film lets the spectator frighten themselves instad of using crappy CGI tricks etc... check this film out at home....alone....!!!

[Poet2916]

I will get this on DVD for Christmas and post it for you to we don't have to suffer through that poo of a remake. =D

[Poet2916]

are these the exact words from the novel?! *squeals*

[TomWeideman]

i saw this as a child and have never forgotten it. it still scares me and i have seen it many many times.

[martdelcat]

The original is more faithful to the novel.....

[mixer14316]

People. Think about it. It was made in 1963. One of the best made, at least from a factual standpoint, ghost movies ever made. The best ever, as far as I'm concerned. More expensive and elaborate ones made since this? Yes, but none better or frankly, more frightening. Unreal.

[GeonTheDayDreamer]

I showed this movie to my Mom on halloween. She said she prefers the remake is better... -__-;

[spiritualCAPTAIN1]

@GeonTheDayDreamer Tsk, tsk, tsk

[GeonTheDayDreamer]

@spiritualCAPTAIN1 I know right? She's like 13 years old when this movie came out.

[afroman255]

i just watched in.... i not going to sleep well

[elainebmack]

I never noticed the evil face at 3:10 until I read these comments. It's kinda like seeing faces in a cracked wall. Once you see them you never forget them. There is a scene later in the film in which Eleanor does see faces in the wall and hears voices too. This movie is SOOOOOO creepy.

[elainebmack]

I happened to tune into this movie by accident when I was about 10 years old, and it scared the mess outta me! I never forgot it, and to this day I still think it is the scariest horror movie ever. I am not into blood and uts. It's the psychological things that make this truly creepy. It is also far better than that silly remake.

[KehnoK]

This movie provides that nothing is as scary as the audience own mind, perfect work of camera and use of athmosphere ^^

[lovemusic315]

i watched this in 1st grade along with all the horrible horror movies from the "old times," but this one was so scary that I had bad dreams for years! (bad decision on my parents part.) This is not just some campy old horror film ... its actually scary!

[dorkandproudofit]

If you liked this movie, try out "The Innocents" with Deborah Kerr. It's based on another legendary horror classic, indeed the novel that can easily claim to have started the "old dark house" story--Henry James' novel, "The Turn of the Screw".

[batilyo123]

this shit made my balls shrunk ... damn .. no other horror movies made me feared like this before.. not even from th 2000 up to 2010 horror movies ever..

[HarrisonOdell]

Compared with much of what film scores I've heard from the 60s, this score was actually very original, and VERY scary. The music really makes this film what it is.

[BPFanatico]

You can allegely see a face at exactly 3:00, somebody pointed this out. Please kindly point it to me because I can see it clearly.

[jackolantyrn356]

man1 havent watched this in forever! Man! I remember sneeking to watch this movie when I was a kid my mother had a shit fit bout it

[yodhe]

Sundaynight....mom and dad said sure go ahead and watch it......ok sure!!!!!

[8dexter42]

What the fuck is going on here?

[MsSuzannedavis]

as an old,,very old lady who has loved horrors for many years and am no longer frightened by the blood and gore...Hill house still gives me the creeps..

Thank you I am watching it this afternoon in full sun!

[cawleym1]

The House in this film is Ettington Hall, it's now a hotel. We are booked in for three nights in July.

[TheWelliesDog]

I have to work in the house and it's fun at night :) well very creepy :P

[buutich]

This was the scariest movie I ever saw. The remake was terrible and not scary at all, in comparison.

[halbie71]

@buutich - Ditto!!!

[HoosierLine]

I've seen this movie & million times & read the book. I wish someone would make a decent remake of this movie unlike the last one that pales in comparison. This original movie follows most of the book with a lot of good scenes in the book that were left out. With the special effects & technology of today this would make for a very good movie. And stay more true to the Shirley Jackson novel (Haunting of Hill House) that the remake (we have now) never did

[VictrolaJazz]

"With the special effects & technology of today this would make for a very good movie"

The absence of such things is exactly what makes it so scary--it's the power of suggestion, you create the terror in your own imagination. Nothing ever materializes.

I saw it with three friends at the Joy Drive- In in Waco, TX in a 1949 Chrysler Town & Country convertible.

[prkendora]

@VictrolaJazz Exactly. Ghost stories with creaking doors, shadows, recollections of the houses' history by town residents, are more effective than decapitated heads, and seeing people torn in half. I would hate to have to work in a house like this either in the day, or the night time.

[andremonteiro2008]

who is the writer of the book?

and what´s the name of the book?

thanks

[HoosierLine]

"The Haunting of Hill House" written by Shirley Jackson. Originally publishing was in 1959 but the book has been re-issued over the years. It's a great read and the first movie (B&W) follows the book more closely than the newer colored version which has little to do with the book at all. The colored version gives lesbian overtones to Theo & Eleanor and makes the main ghost (Hugh Crain) look to be a pedifile which nether of those things are in the book. Track the book down and enjoy the read.

[aimee945269]

This looks like a good movie, but it just seems hard to imagine a Shirley Jackson story as a film. So much of her writing is about the interior world of her protagonists' minds, and you really need a book for that.

[YellowTurtle13]

There seems to be numerous faces... Its like an army of evil things in the trees smiling at her as she dies!

[MrXfromPlanetX]

I own this film on VHS. I need to convert it to DVD. It is truly my favorite horror flick. "The Innocents " is my second favorite.

[YellowTurtle13]

Where's the face behind the broken wheel at 3:01?

[almostboards117]

it is right below where the spoke is cracked

directly to the right of the hand

[YellowTurtle13]

I think I see it... its sort of a shape made by the trees?

this is officially the creepiest movie ever made :) and one of my favorites

[almostboards117]

you are correct

[kkraut]

I have been wanting to see this for a while since it's considered a great moody movie. Shirley Jackson is one of my favorite authors and I found her Hill House novel to be very clever and subliminal.

[YellowTurtle13]

It is terrific.

[catchersmitt0]

I sooo love it when they write "I do not own the rights to this film," as if explaining that somehow excuses them from liability for violating copyright.

[BPFanatico]

Pause at 3:06, just under the broken spoke. You can allegedly see a face of man, somebody pointed this out to me!

[mouse264]

Aaaaah!

[BPFanatico]

Can you se it clearly, because I can't.

[summerandsmoke]

I can see it too! It looks like a sinister man grinning. The face kinda reminds me of the ghost of Peter Quint in the classic 1961 film "The Innocents."

[BPFanatico]

Point it out, because I can't see it clearly.

[demboys18]

If someone could post this entire movie that would be awesome, or if it's already up could someon point it out?

[Glr31]

Yes type in : The haunting part 1 You should then see all parts, thats the way I did it

[demboys18]

Yep, I actually saw if about a minuete after I asked. I was like "Doa!" Appreciate it though.

[12dave9]

I like the way you see just the feet of the companion drop when she hangs herself,very effective.

[wolfey7]

I remember a particularly disturbing Disney flick at the age of 4 where a boy gets mauled by a predatory bird he is fighting off of his dying dog. THAT has stayed with me, mostly because I was not ready for it. The Haunting, on the other hand, I knew ahead of time would be spooky and had my internal defenses ready to meet it, even if one of those defenses was my sis sleeping with me that night!

[shivaboyd]

And to me, the "innocence" is what seemingly makes a real horror movie endure. It is the slow and methodical, the deaings of the supernatural or with the mind that are really the most terrifying things of all. It's what you DON'T see, as opposed to what you DO see. And that makes all the difference in the world. Just look at 1960's "Psycho," which I consider to be one of the best horror movies of all time. Another excellent example is 1990's "Misery" and 1980's "The Shining."

[unclexeres]

I too saw this movie on an old B&W as a small child with my mother in Flagstaff around 66 or 67. I still have nightmares about big empty old houses with scary dark places where you cannot run away. Scary to this day! Holy Shit that was a good movie. The remake was weak, very weak.

[agnesmoorhead]

This is one of the best of this genre. Loved that it was black and white, and the performances, especially Julie Harris, were stellar. Thanks for posting.

[tenterden16]

Wolfey7 What were you doing watching this film at four years of age. I know the film played on the mind and nothing much was seen but this film could be terrifying to an open mind of any age.

[wolfey7]

Well, I did make my sister sleep in bed with me after watching it. I don't feel it traumatized me the way that (surprisingly) a couple of Walt Disney movies actually did at that time. I guess we all have different tolerances.

[shivaboyd]

I don't know about you, but the most harrowing and terrifying experience of my childhood occurred as a result of watching The Black Cauldron, probably Disney's scariest movie of all time. (And I literally mean this...not like the scary in which people say it is just for the sake of disturbing them because it was seemingly funny or disgusting!)

[Locke217]

This movie took a classic tale of a cursed house and executed it marvolously...

[demboys18]

If anyone has this movie, would they be so kind as to post it? I REALLY want to see this origional version. I've heard it's the closest version there is to the novel.

[kartowskiromgirl]

great movie..very scary...i like the end..you still don't know what really is in that house..

[12dave9]

I like the way we never see what caused the door to open and the 2nd Mrs.Crain was afraid of before she fell.

[hypnoboy3]

one of the best, in the dark..in the night!

[mohanicus]

this is one of the scariest movies ive ever seen.

wathched it late one night with my mother.

the part where the constant banging starts still scares$ the shit out of me.

was an excellant film and still is.

hate all the shite we have now.

saw,hostel,new texas chainsaw,hills have eyes.

all the same shit.

this film is a masterpiece of horror.

still gives me goosebumps.

the innocents is a fuckin great atmospheric scary film aswell if you havent seen it.

[wolfey7]

I was 4 years old when I saw this movie on TV. I saw it on an old black/white Zenith with my brother and parents. My older sister was too scared to see it and retreated to the back room to watch "The Muppets" on my brother's tv instead. What a classic! Still scares me silly to this day!

[eartopsy]

yeah - this probably is the scariest thing ever made. No CGI, no violence, no sex and no cursing of any kind. I think it's so scary because it touches so close to that terror you can feel in nightmares. The stairway, the face on the wall, the voices, the booming. I also love the "Haunting Waltz". They need to make a GOOD sequel, not a remake like the 1999 piece o' garbage. It could start out "The house has stood for 140 years..." Besides, all the main actors are still alive. The possibilities...

[Nakis25]

so true, one key fear is fear of the unknown, where mind paints a picture of something horrible.

[Brekky57]

Dude this is one of the scariest movies ever made. And you never even see anything! That's what so many other "horror" movies don't get. It's not what you see that scares you, it's what you DONT see...

[carrotjuse]

@Brekky57 Exactly. The unknown Is far scarier.

[2glenside]

This film scared the shit out of me 30 year ago and it still scares the shit out of me in 2008!!!

[linebackertwo]

Forget the torture porn crap like the Hostel movies. You don't need sadism and blood to make a scary movie and believe me..this movie WILL scare you so don't watch it alone.

[rigatone]

Definitely one of the scariest movies I've ever seen. Also attended a wedding where it was filmed, Harlaxton Manor. Beautiful building and not a place I'd like to be in alone at night. Only other film that gets close to it is The Innocents, or at a push The Legend of Hell House

[skylur44]

Saw this when I was in high school, when it came out, and it scared the crap out of all of us; the theater was mostly 16 17 year olds and we were weak from fright at the end of it...no monsters, no blood, no nothing just incredible fear, terror and blind fright, even the book scares me to death.

[EnronD]

The part when Eleanor sees the evil face in the wall paper still terrorizes me. Also, so is the part when they all see that the door to the nursery is...OPEN!

[calledartist]

the part where the camera goes fast down the stairs scared the shit out of me

[originaltbyrd]

i consider this the best horror movie ever made - or at least it's my favorite. does anybody have the outtakes? there is a scene where Theo has an argument with her lover and then gets a letter from Dr. Markway and decides to go to Hill House...and some other scenes. i'd love to see them!

[calledartist]

I love this movie, even if it scares the shit out of me

[kingbee63]

This is my all-time favorite horror movie.

[Jurassic343]

I completely agree this is the BEST!!!!

[djstickland]

This has to be the grand daddy of Haunted House movies. The Haunting has no special effects no gore no colour photography but what the Haunting does have is a script so believeable with acting so convincing and beautiful black and white Panavision photography. Nothing else is needed apart from your own imagination and the skys the limit.This film will have you hiding behind the sofa. If you have not seen it then get the DVD.

[MsJeepers]

thanks for posting this .Ghost stories do not get any better than this.