The Haunting of Hill House is a 1963 haunted house film based on Shirley Jackson’s 1959 novel. The film delivers scares through ambiguity, leaving open whether ghosts are real or whether Eleanor’s mental collapse explains the events. It presents the premise that some houses are “born bad,” while deliberately obscuring the nature and origin of the phenomena that besiege a group of paranormal researchers. The film also relies on an unreliable narrator, which contributes to its lingering uncertainty. It is now regarded as a seminal horror work that continues to influence the genre. It received a new 4K UHD Blu-ray release for modern audiences.
"The film keeps its scares both unseen and ambiguous (are the ghosts real, or is the doomed Eleanor having a complete mental collapse?), and confirms that the most terrifying things are often the ones we can't see."
"Its basic premise - that some houses are just "born bad" - its deliberate obfuscation of both the nature and origin of the events that besiege the party of paranormal researchers, and its use of a very unreliable narrator are all aspects still influencing the horror genre today."
"Like many genre icons of its time, The Haunting is considered a masterpiece now, despite being met with a mixed critical reception and a middling box office in 1963. Audiences were apparently quite spooked, but critics weren't all won over."
"The New York Times' Bosley Crowther said "there is really no point" to the film, while declared that it suffered from "major shortcomings," although the latter acknowledged that the house had a "monstrous personality" and was "decidedly the star of the film.""
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