The Haunting (1963)

After reading the book by Shirley Jackson I put in Robert Wise's film adaptation into the DVD player to compare this Halloween.  My first question is why take out Hill House from the title?   Don't you want people to know that your film is an adaptation of a known novel?  I love the book's title and the name of the house and think they should have left the title alone.  That said, you have to praise Mr. Wise for taking a very stiff novelistic story and giving it cinematic weight.  There's genuine fear going on here and I greatly enjoyed the spooky sounds and wide angle shots.  The acting is also very strong with Julie Harris' portrayal of Eleanor being so good it's almost like she was possessed by the actual character.   Some of the changes from the book are understandable such as John Markway's wife being a skeptic instead of a ghost hunter herself and the wonderful sequence at the spiral staircase is great.  Yet then you have to ask why change the doctor's last name?  Nelson Gidding did a very good job as a screenwriter tightening the story's structure but he added a bunch of boring dialogue too.  I felt during some scenes like I was watching a play.  Overall it's clear that this is an inventive and stylized horror film that works on many levels.  Grade: B+

A note on the two remakes of this story:  Stephen King's sort of remake called Rose Red is actually the best adaptation of Jackson's novel.  Why he changed the house's name, I'm not sure but all the same events happen (if updated for the modern world).  I'd check it out if you enjoy TV-made miniseries.  But whatever you do avoid the '90s remake of The Haunting with Liam Neelson and Catherine Zeta-Jones.  It's awful with goofy CGI and horrible direction.  It might be one of the worst films I have ever seen.  It's because of that film I avoided Jackson's novel for so long and that alone is a crime.