Blog Directory CineVerse: Hinting at "The Haunting"

Hinting at "The Haunting"

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Few horror films are as rich in content, craftsmanship and subtext as "The Haunting" (the 1963 original version, that is). Last night's CineVerse foray into the macabre, and the last of our Shocktober Theater series, proved to be an insightful one. Here is what we learned from this flick:

HOW IS “THE HAUNTING” DIFFERENT AND DISTINCTIVE FROM OTHER HORROR FILMS, ESPECIALLY MOVIES OF THIS TIME PERIOD IN THE EARLY 1960s?
·       It’s a movie that relies on psychological subtext and suggestion instead of monster/ghost manifestation: it’s what we don’t see that scares us the most in this film, as opposed to showing horrifying monster makeup and special effects.
o   This is in keeping with the Val Lewton formula for horror; director Robert Wise was part of the Lewton horror unit at RKO in the 1940s, and he learned how to exploit the audiences’ fears of the unknown and show less rather than more.
·       Nearly everything in the film can be explained as a figment of Eleanor’s unhinged imagination; we’re not shown any concrete proof of ghosts or hauntings here, although the scene with the booming sound and bulging door definitely suggests the supernatural. Keep in mind, however, that the film is told through Eleanor’s disturbed point of view, so we could be seeing and hearing things that the others in her group do not.
·       The film is one of the first to feature a lesbian character, especially one who is depicted as feminine instead of predatory.
·       The film is shot in black and white at a time when that was no longer in vogue.
·       The sound design employed functions as a character unto itself: it’s often what we hear, and not what we see, that unnerves us so much; moments of stillness are suddenly disturbed by unsettling noises, from booming walls and doors to eerie chanting and child cries.
·       It’s arguably the first picture made about a serious scientific investigation of a house that is haunted, which became a subgenre in itself that continues today.

WHAT ARE SOME RECURRENT MOTIFS, PATTERNS AND THEMES FOUND IN “THE HAUNTING”?
·       Psychological persecution: Eleanor feels closed in upon and her psyche is fragile, ready to break at any time.
·       Alienation: The group in the house form a bond of sorts, but Eleanor is continually separated and alienated from the others.
·       Mirrors, reflecting the duality of a character and suggesting characters who second-guess what they see or their own natures.
·       Statues—silent stone figures placed around the environment as if they’re eerily watching the proceedings with cold impartiality, yet with an insinuation that they could come to life at any moment.
·       Lights that turn off and on, seen both from the interior and exterior, implying perhaps that supernatural forces are at work, or that the sleuths are sometimes in the dark before and during their investigation of the house.
·       According to one writer (found at http://www.the-haunting.com/haunting_themovie.html), “clean deaths that don’t involve blood or gore, but can also be easily explained instead of chalked up to the supernatural.”
·       The same writer also posited: “Life leaving a character is suggested by a falling object:
o   (the death of) Hugh Crain’s young wife…is represented by her bracelet sliding along her wrist.
o   The second Mrs. Crain’s death is resprented by her keys that fall and that she cannot hold/grip anymore.
o   Abigail Crain’s death is represented by the stick that falls because she cannot hold it anymore.
o   The companion’s death is represented by one shoe that falls in the void.
o   Eleanor’s death is represented by her wrist that lies with no life.



WHAT DO THE FILMMAKERS DO VISUALLY TO INCREASE THE SUSPENSE AND CREATE INTERESTING SHOTS AND IMAGES THAT FIT THE TONE AND TENSION OF THE STORY?
·       As is common in many horror, suspense and film noir movies shot in black and white, the movie employs high-contrast, low key lighting the emphasize shadows, character complexity and things that cannot be seen in the darkness.
·       Some of the haunted home’s exteriors were shot with infrared film to give it a weirder look.
·       Many shots are filmed from low angles and lit from below for a more horrifying cinematography approach and to accentuate ceilings, which suggests a claustrophobic feeling.
·       The film features an unusual number of moving camera shots (such as the camera following along the spiral staircase), creepy tracking shots, unconventional pans (camera moving from left to right or vice versa), and shots using distorted lenses to evoke a warped, bent look.
·       As critic Glenn Erickson put it: “The compositions stress the location over the people, dwarfing them in wide shots or ornate rooms, or leaving them off-balance in tilted angles, which necessitates constant reorientation.
o   Also, notice how Nell and Theo in one scene are placed in the middle of the frame, either collectively or separately. But eventually, shots progress throughout this scene that show them drifting apart, coming back together, then drifting further apart.
o   There are also other scenes where the characters are visually shown growing farther apart from each other, ultimately leaving Eleanor completely alone and isolated.

WHAT’S INTERESTING ABOUT EACH OF THE 4 MAIN CHARACTERS, AND HOW DO THEY COMPARE AND CONTRAST?
·       Eleanor is fragile, unstable and an untrustworthy narrator because we can’t know for certain that what she’s experiencing is happening in reality.
·       Theodora is cunning and manipulative.
·       Dr. Markway is a trustworthy source on the supernatural, but perhaps too clinical in his approach.
·       Luke serves as a surrogate for the audience because he’s the most skeptical, grounded in common sense, and a type we’re most likely to meet on the street, perhaps.

OTHER FILMS THAT COME TO MIND AFTER WATCHING “THE HAUNTING”
·       The Uninvited
·       The Innocents
·       The Legend of Hell House
·       Ghost Story
·       Poltergeist
·       The Conjuring

OTHER MOVIES DIRECTED BY ROBERT WISE
·       The Body Snatcher
·       The Day the Earth Stood Still
·       I Want to Live
·       Run Silent, Run Deep
·       West Side Story
·       The Sound of Music
·       The Sand Pebbles
·       Star Trek: The Motion Picture

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