Great Film overall

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Firstly, the house is incredible! The setting in the huge old house in itself is creepy, let alone all the wooden carvings of kids! The house's back story was actually more interesting than the plot itself, which I didn't find convincing enough. I did enjoy the eerie atmosphere and subtle, real scares without the help of overbearing music. The visual effects are simply awesome! The film does become weird towards the end, but nevertheless remains interesting and entertaining.

if you do not know the book and ignore the first adaptation, it could be a decent Gothic story adaptation, who preserves, in large manner, the rules of genre. sure, as opportunity for a generous use of technology. and this is the first great mistake because the story becomes, scene by scene, senseless. the second mistake is the cast. who, except Marian Seldes,remains only a list of names. the third sin - absence of coherence. large parts from the novel are ignored for give more and more fireworks. and this is the bizarre thing - a film who has every chances to be seductive, because propose an old fashion story, becomes a mix of confusion. the only chance is the classic warning - "only for the fans of actors".

It's a depressing affair to watch particularly talented young actors trying their best to toothpick through The Haunting's unintentionally funny script and dog-paddling in a thick soup of special effects. Whilst the film boasts a handful of unsettling moments they bear no excuse for the rest of the film's fatal flaws. Lili Taylor's constant bawl scream is unnecessarily frequent and is quite annoying. The characters are over-baked stereotypes - see Catherina Zeta-Jones playing a bisexual "free-love" artist. I found most of the characters to be so unlikeable that I was waiting for each of them to be killed off as soon as possible.

Because the overall reviews are just so bad i felt compelled to say something. I saw this movie when I was around 15 years old and thought at the time that it was pretty scary, now not so much.I find it to be a Disney horror, if Pixar and Disney were to make a horror movie this is what you would get. you have mystery, action and a feel good ending. I never saw the original and I'm not really someone that likes horror movies so that says enough about the film to know that it really is not that scary. I loved the special effects and build up to the end, although the end is somewhat exaggerated I loved the part when he is defeated and the child ghosts go to heaven.What can I say I love Disney movies.