# Haunting, The (1999)

### reviewed by
Mark O'Hara

    The Haunting (1999)

    A Film Review by Mark O'Hara

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If you've read Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery," you know the woman can spin a tale. Her 1959 novel THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE is the basis for Jan De Bont's film, a mostly successful adaptation with state-of-the-art special effects and even some of the psychology handed down from Jackson's disturbing narrative.

The opening sequence brings us into the apartment and the life of Eleanor Vance (Lili Taylor), an early middle-aged woman whose mother has just died. Eleanor had cared for the woman for the last several years, and Eleanor's sister, her husband and bratty son are now making sure Eleanor gets the short end of the stick. She will inherit her mother's old Gremlin automobile, and get evicted from the apartment. Because she has not much to lose, Eleanor decides to take a break of sorts, and after a telephone solicitation, decides to take part in a study of sleep disorders.

Dr. Jeffrey Marrow - an excellent name - is running the study. Marrow (Liam Neeson) is in fact a behavioral scientist seeking to assemble a controlled study group, for the purpose of examining his subjects' reactions to fear. That his actions are unethical doesn't motivate him to inform the sleep deprived trio of the true nature of the study. He says, "You don't tell the rats they're really in a maze."

Thus we sit through the convention of the group assembling at a remote country house - Hill House - the estate of the textile magnate Hugh Crane. The three insomniacs arrive separately, a nice way for director De Bont to characterize them. After Eleanor is shown to her room by the mysterious, taciturn wife of the caretaker, we meet the second of the group, Theo (Catherine Zeta-Jones). Then Luke Sanderson (Owen Wilson) comes in, and we get to see more of the house. Although this exposition goes rather slowly for modern audiences, it is backed up well by the old house itself. In reality a school in England, the mansion seems to be overdecorated in every room, gothic touches and rococo flares everywhere. Eleanor's bedroom has the feel of a deconsecrated chapel, filigreed trim leaking from the ceilings and walls. A definite motif is the statues of children, their carved likenesses covering mantels throughout the house. Marrow later explains that the builder of the house was childless, his wife having had many stillborn children before her suicide.

Where does the haunting come in? Well, the interesting premise is that Dr. Marrow believes he is witnessing fictions and myths latent in the imaginations of his subjects. Let their minds work in the night, he figures, and they will fall victim to fears they themselves haven woven. So it is not until far into Eleanor's ordeals with the supernatural that Marrow begins to lend any credence to her behaviors.

It turns out of course that the long-dead Crane took a terrible secret to his grave, a secret still kept prisoner in the house. The rest of the narrative follows Eleanor's quest to expose the momentous truth and to free the restless souls held captive.

The biggest performance here is Lili Taylor's. This actress casts an amazing emotive truth upon her expressions, shedding tears or grimacing or acting blankly shocked, just this side of insanity. An Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress might be in order here.

Catherine Zeta-Jones does a nice job in a rather different role for her. Here Theodora is full of zest and guts, a switch-hitting and aggressive female who dares you to tell her she dresses sluttishly. (At only one point does Zeta-Jones' Scottish accent, unfamiliar to most American movie-goers, slip through, when she shouts in anger at Dr. Marrow for his scientific remoteness.) Theo makes for a nice contrast with the plainer Eleanor, without seeming superior. And she's a great foil for Owen Wilson's fast-talking, rather hypochondriacal Luke. Wilson lends the most comic relief to the story, appearing sometimes like a spacey clown; nevertheless, he is protective of Eleanor when she begins to make claims about the horrendous history of the house.

Always reliable, Liam Neeson has a way in this film of making his presence strong yet quiet. He's the doctor in charge of the study, watching from the background and recording his observations on a mini-recorder that Eleanor actually finds and plays once. But Neeson is also careful not to overact, especially during one sequence in which he convinces his superior that it is necessary to set up the study by keeping the subjects in ignorance. After a few more movies, Neeson will have the reputation of being as consistent and reliable as the best actors in the history of film. Traces of slight brogue are just enough to fascinate American fans, giving the big man an edge over actors with more familiar dialects.

The bottom line is that "The Haunting" is solid but not outstanding. Three stars out of four, a B+ -- whatever your rating, the film will supply you with some nifty visual thrills, and best of all, some delicious psychological ones. Long after her death, Shirley Jackson is still an American writer with a talent for the fright-tale.

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