The Haunting

People stare about in terror and squeak: 'The house, it's alive!' The picture, it's dead.

The artful cinematic strokes of director Robert Wise and staff are not quite enough to override the major shortcomings of Nelson Gidding's screenplay.

Pretty effective when it came out; it may be a little stiff in the joints by now, but it's still a much better scare show than the recent stinker remake.

What makes the film so effective is not so much the slightly sinister characterisation of the generally neurotic group, but the fact that [director] Wise makes the house itself the central character, a beautifully designed and highly atmospheric entity.

Makes more goose pimples than sense.

...one of the most fascinating aspects of The Haunting is the multiple interpretations available for many events, which might be supernatural, or might be the product of a disturbed mind or distorted perceptions.

This is one of the best supernatural chillers ever made.

Borderline perfect... Strip away all of its frightening elements, and the film remains a sophisticated, complex, and tremendously subtle character study.

The horror remains admirably attuned to the sense of solitude in a premature spinster

A dark brooding atmosphere, disturbing psychological insights and a handful of suddenly executed surprises make this old horror as fresh and vital as the day it was made.

Properly creepy, unlike like the dodgy remake.

An undeniably effective adaptation of the Shirley Jackson novel and remains one of the best haunted-house movies.