The Haunting of Shirley Jackson
Let me start by saying that I really liked The Haunting, a remake of the 1963 movie of the same name, both of which are supposed to be based on The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. In this review I was going to compare this most recent version (starring Liam Neeson, Lili Taylor, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Owen Wilson) to the original black and white version that starred Julie Harris in the lead role of Nell. However, upon seeing this most recent version, I realized there are no comparisons. The 1963 version followed Shirley Jackson's novel so closely as to be almost verbatim. Obviously director Robert Wise knew, just as Shirley Jackson knew, that you didn't need to see that thing hiding in the shadows to be afraid. You didn't need to see who, or what, was knocking on the other side of your bedroom door. All it took was the mere thought that maybe, out of the corner of your eye, you thought the statue, the face in the painting, or the shadow, had moved. One of the most frightening images in the original movie is when Nell (Julie Harris) is running down one of the many vast hallways away from that unseen follower, when she turns a corner and comes face to face with . . . her own reflection. It's just a mirror. But just for that split second, you, along with Nell, are sure you've come face to face with the thing that hides under the bed. And maybe you have.
As I said before, I liked this new version of The Haunting. However, I truly believe they should have given it a different title since the screenwriters rewrote it, twisted it, and changed it until it was nothing at all like Shirley Jackson's original tale of horror. As a writer, I wonder how it would feel to have your work so totally changed. I think she would have liked the movie in and of itself, but I think as a writer she would have been incredibly angry with what they did. Yes, there was one doctor and three 'patients' who went to Hill House. Yes, the house wanted Nell. But that's where the true parallels end. Pointless characters are added and taken away, characters that had a reason for being in the book are never mentioned, and some small but major plot turns are changed for who knows what reason. One being the doctor's reason for bringing his patients to Hill House. In the book (and original movie), the 'patients' were thought to have psychic abilities of different levels. One interesting story about Nell related that when she was a child, stones rained down on her house (and hers alone) for several days a fact documented by the town Sheriff. Dr. Marrow felt sure it had to do with her psychic ability. This was left out of the new version. Another sad change is the way the writers took away Nell's first big move towards independence in the book. Her sister and brother-in-law didn't give Nell the car. She stole away and took it. It was her car and they weren't going to keep her from doing what she wanted with it, or her life.
Despite these changes, it's a good movie. The house is gothic dream (or nightmare, depending on how you look at it), with lots of mirrors, and walls that you think are mirrors or glass, but turn out to be another hallway leading to a revolving ballroom. Statues and reliefs of children abound and make themselves heard, rose windows become eyes to the soul of hell, and I (along with several other people in the audience), were surprised enough to jump more than once. It's a great movie in true gothic form, but please don't go expecting to see Shirley Jackson's The Hauntingof Hill House. It's not there. She didn't just write about human nature, she dove down into the murkiest part of we humans and broke the surface dragging to shore all the things that frightened us, whether the events be real, or just possible (read The Lottery or We Have Always Lived in the Castle). She didn't need special effects to make you afraid of what was breathing on the other side of the door. She knew that the imagination is capable of pulling out its own special effects from its magic bag of tricks that stay hidden in the darkest shadows of your mind. She also knew those effects would be unsurpassed by anything as human as a Hollywood screenwriter. Definitely go to see Haunting, then rent the original. Or better yet, read the book.
Suggested Links