The Haunting DVD

Advantages: Some good CGI, quite atmospheric, somewhat different from run of the mill horror stories
Disadvantages: Not that scary, slow in parts, not keen on Jones' acting

...that I hadn't seen and the basic story sounded interesting, so I thought I had to give it a go. I watched it a week ago so I apologise if I'm slightly vague in parts but this review should give you at least a basic overview of the movie itself and let you decide whether its something that would interest you or not. I was going to post a review on this sooner, only I was spurred on to stop reviewing and rate more to up my stats, I didn't rate much ...
...really do! anyway back to the review... - Main Credits (non-actors, which are mentioned further on in the review) - Source:- IMDB (see:- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0171363/fullcredits) Director - Jan de Bont Writer - Shirley Jackson (novel "The Haunting of Hill House") Screenplay - David Self Producers - Susan Arnold, Donna Roth, Colin Wilson Executive Producers - Jan De Bont, Samuel Z. Arkoff, Steven Spielberg Associate Producer - Marty ... Read review

Advantages: It's quite entertaining
Disadvantages: Not scary, not original

...a quite weird plot! The Haunting was surprisingly directed by Jan De Bont, the man behind Speed and Twister. Speed was a good film, Twister was ok, and he has just gone downhill with The Haunting. What surprised me the most though was the budget, $80m and they came up with a mediocre film. Ok, the special effects are quite good, but where’s the scary stuff?! It took $91m in the US and £5.6m over here in the UK. However, having watched the ...
...to see this’ feel to the film. If I had saw the trailer in the cinema I would have wanted to see the film. It scored a mighty (cough) 4.7 on the IMDb website a pretty poor score to say the least especially when you see that the twister got 5.9. It’s quite entertaining and I watched it all the way through, but it would never make my personal DVD collection! It all starts off with the viewer witnessing a women getting told she has to leave ... Read review

Advantages: The mansion is very atmospheric, umm Zeta Jones makes nice eye candy(OK so I'm reaching for advantages!)
Disadvantages: The plot, the acting, the script, the screenplay, the ludicrous special effects, the hilarious deus ex machina concluding plot cheat...and so on.

The Haunting is yet another of the seemingly endless stream of Hollywood remakes of usually far better movies released a number of years ago. The original version of The Haunting was apparently an atmospheric horror movie which worked rather well at raising the hackles on the back of the viewer's neck whilst this Jan de Bont remake is a pile of special effects driven tripe capable of causing eyes to roll but leaving neck hairs perfectly coiffured. ...
...of a financial risk to the studio but seeing as most of them end up turning out being crap and being compared unfavourably to their predecessors you have to wonder how much benefit this practice really is! Err yeah, anyway, this is a remake and you'll be better off watching the original apparently, I wish I had. The Haunting is basically your typical haunted house story with a little extra plot fluff thrown in to distinguish it from all the others. ... Read review

Advantages: Some good special effects, Acting is ok but nothing great
Disadvantages: Not particularly scary (which, correct me if I'm wrong, is the whole point in a horror?), Not much gore (which could be classed as an advantage depending on your point of view!)

Having seen “The Haunting” the other night on TV I thought I’d review it for you all seen as I’ve not already done so. I guess by the name of the film you’ll be able to hazard a guess as to its content. Go on, take a wild guess. What’s that I hear? Goldfish? No you plonker, its about ghosts, get it? Anyway, as with all horrors I was expecting to be sitting on the edge of the seat and/or hiding behind the nearest ...
...myself distinctly not hiding behind the nearest cusion/teddy bear/pillow. Or sitting on the edge of the seat. Alas this film is another horror that didn’t exactly leave me scared of going into the shower or scared of going downstairs with no light on. (Ok, so no more scared than I normally am, after all, you never know who might be hiding behind the shower curtain!) You see I’m always drawn to horror films. I really don’t know why ... Read review

Advantages: Great effects, good plot
Disadvantages: Shallow character depth, and could've been scarier

The Haunting stars Catherine Zeta Jones, Liam Nelson, Owen Nelson and Lili Taylor. At the beginning of the film, we find Elanor, a young woman who has just lost her house, as her Mum died and left the property to her sister. After a huge argument with her sister, Elanor recieves a strange phonecall. It tells her to look at an advert in the paper. '$900 a week insomnia experiment, room included'. With nowhere else to go, Elanor accepts this, and travels ...
...When she arrives, the caretaker takes her to her room, and explains that she leaves after dark, locks the gate, goes to town which is 9 miles away and adds 'We won't be able to hear you scream, no-one will, no-one will come closer than town, not in the dark'. Elanor takes this as a twisted joke, but will soon find out that it is far from it. However, what none of the insomniacs realise is that this experiment has nothing to do with insomnia. Dr.Marrow ... Read review

Advantages: Has many twists that keep you guessing.
Disadvantages: None.

...This is one of the first DVD's I purchased and had to watch via my PC originally as at this time I didn't own a standard DVD player. As it turned out it was the better option as the disc has a mini game built in and other links to stuff around the inter net. The film is a remake of an old classic but is brought to life with the superb special effects of modern filming and obviously more entertaining actors/actresses. It begins with old footage of a hospital for the insane back in 1931, which we find is actually the house from the title, originally run by a mad surgeon. The inmates escape and a mass killing and mutilation spree follow. This is how and where the rumours of ghostly goings on come from. But are they just rumours? Enter the real cast starting with Price, a man with the need for speed so to speak. He runs... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: is based upon the hit tv series
Disadvantages: is a dvd game which slows it down

...Most Haunted interactive is a team game based upon the long running series. Yvette guides you through the game of which you first pick a haunted location from around the uk. You have to take part in rounds where you give information on what you see or here from the investigation that was carried out when they were there at the location. You want to win so you can get the full information on the location that you chose. There are many locations to choose from so the game has a reasonable amount of lastability and not one that you can only play once or twice before its starts to repeat itself. The game is ok but it is a little slow. The game is not scary but for true most haunted fans they will love it.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: scary gorey good story good looking girls get nude
Disadvantages: non

...available in hd dvd my out of 10 sound effects 10-10 surround sound 10-10 cast 9-10 story 9-10 gore 15-10 its gorey as hell nudity 10-10 scare 9-10 visual effects 15-10 nudity quality 10-10 actors 9-10 cast Amanda Righetti ... Ariel Wolfe Cerina Vincent ... Michelle Erik Palladino ... Desmond Tom Riley ... Paul Andrew Lee Potts ... Kyle Jeffrey Combs ... Dr. Richard Benjamin Vannacutt Steven Pacey ... Richard Clyta Rainford ... Harue Gil Kolirin ... Norris Andrew Pleavin ... Samuel Chucky Venice ... Warren Tatina de Marinis ... Ariel's assistant Rated R for strong bloody horror violence, language and brief sexuality/nudity George Zlatarev Stilyana Mitkova ... Sara's Ghost Laia Gonzàlez ... Nurse Ghost Oksana Borbat ... Beautiful Woman ghost Xeniya Ferenko ... Beautiful Woman Ghost... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful