Frequently Bought Together
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Product details
|
Reviews
Special Features
Region 2
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A remake that has the cgi as the star,
By
This review is from: Haunting [DVD] [1999] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] (DVD)
If you saw the original, beware... The plot bears no resemblance to Shirley Jackson's psychological horror story. The sub-plots make no sense and dead-ends. There's lots of CGI and special effects, which are well done and are the star of the movie.
The sets for the house were the best part and are worth seeing. Liam Neeson must be sorry he made this film, and Owen Wilson, seems to be the comic relief, Zeta-Jones certainly looks good but isn't given anything to do except wander around looking colorfully tarty. Bruce Dern and Marian Seldes were probably just happy they had such small parts. This doesn't make it as a "good" bad movie, and it wouldn't really worth the trouble hating, except that it butchered a book that was both scary and intelligent.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
scooby-do is scarier,
By
This review is from: Haunting, The [DVD] [1999] (DVD)
If Robert Wise were alive today, he would turn in his grave! I too am jaded, having been terrified by the '63 version(The face in the wallpaper - brrrr) and very recently the book. I can forgive the references to teletubbies, but the bloody footprints, secret passages, and magic mirror are just too much. Sadly this film gives away all its secrets in one blurb. In the book I did not know the real truth until the last chapter. In this one very large hints seem to be dropped at regular intervals as to the (super)nature of things. The screenplay seems to have been subordinated to the special effects crew. Did not the directors realise that the things we cant see but are hinted at are the scariest. Fear comes though imagination. In this film you don't need one!
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Lacking in subtlety,
By
This review is from: Haunting, The [DVD] [1999] (DVD)
I must begin by saying that I saw the original years before I saw this version so its hard not to make comparisons.The first thing in the film's favour is that it takes what was a scary story anyway and tells it quite well. Secondly, there are a few spine chilling moments in the film - all borrowed from the 1963 film. Unfortunately all this is undone by unsubtle effects and horror moments. I came away with the impression that Jan de Bont felt that the audience would be unsatisfied if they didn't see anything so threw in an effects driven finale...which spoils the ethos of the film. Lines have been added to the story which are tainted with the usual Hollywood belief that audiences are esseentially stupid and points have to be reinforced. The cast manage to make a good job of the material but at the end of the day Jan de Bont should not have been let near this. Its interesting to note in the accompanying featurette that the producers felt that the things you imagine can be much more powerful than what you see. I can only presume that this was why they wanted to make the film but somewhere along the line this idea was subverted. In recent years, ghost story films have all been given "happier" endings, aiming for a redemption concept that tends to undermine the power of the story. This is no exception. On a plus side, the transfer is excellent - the picture quality is clear and sharp. The sound is excellent even if some of the effects lack subtlety. The features are rather sparse comprising a short documentary and two trailers. My advice - track down the 1963 original, expertly directed by Robert Wise. It is far superior. The 1999 remake is entertaining and has a few spooky moments but is disappointing overall.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews |
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
