The Haunting - film review

If you like stories of the supernatural, then a 1963 film, The Haunting, might be just your cup of tea. Its credentials are impeccable. The director/producer, Robert Wise, won an Oscar for his work on Citizen Kane, and was responsible for West Side Story and The Sound of Music - not exactly a bad CV, and certainly a varied one. The cast includes Richard Johnson, Julie Harris, Russ Tamblyn and the stunning Claire Bloom, each of whom gives a strong performance.

And then there is the writer of the novel on which the story is based. Shirley Jackson's book, The Haunting of Hill House, is much admired, but for me, she is above all the author of  my favourite short story, "The Lottery". All I can say is that if you haven't read "The Lottery", I urge you to do so. Jackson suffered from health problems, and died relatively young, but she possessed a remarkable talent.

As for the film, yes, it is a haunted house movie, and many will be tempted to dismiss it as hokum. But I am keen on stories of the supernatural - I've recently written a story that has undeniably been influenced by extensive recent reading of Robert Aickman - and The Haunting is very well done indeed.

We begin with the concept of an old, sick house, which has many connections with death and disaster. Johnson plays a researcher who wants to explore Hill House's secrets, and persuades Harris and Bloom to assist. Tamblyn, his sidekick, is a sceptic - until, that is, creepy things start to happen. More than half a century after this film was made, it remains entertaining, a first class example of the well-made story of the supernatural.

Blackout

Claustrophobia is a key element in many good mysteries, and what could be more claustrophobic than being trapped in a lift? This is the classic premise of the 2007 film Blackout, which I’ve just seen.

Two men and a woman enter a lift in an apartment block and find themselves trapped. It’s a holiday week-end, and the block is deserted. How can they escape? While they try to adjust to their grim situation, we learn more of their backstories, all of which have elements of the sinister.

The woman, who has asthma, has been involved with a dying relative and is splashed with blood, one of the men had a bust-up with his girlfriend’s father, and the other man is a doctor, whose wife recently died in tragic circumstances. It soon becomes evident that at least one of the characters is not what they seem.

There is some very graphic violence in this movie, but it’s a fairly gripping story, with good performances from Amber Tamblyn (daughter of Russ, who was in West Side Story) and Aiden Gillan. Not for the squeamish, and certainly very dark, but worth watching.