39 - The Haunting

    I first saw this early in freshman year of high school, and never since then.  I remembered it as being very effective, even if the dialogue was a bit clunky.

    Two men and two women stay in a haunted house as paranormal investigators.  Strange things happen.

    The story has been borrowed from in a variety of other works, including Krubrick's version of The Shining, I suspect.  The pacing is a bit dated.  Hearing the main character's voiceover thoughts seemed more dated than usual.

    While it didn't scare me this time, I was struck by how clever Robert Wise's direction was.  There are a whole lot of very interesting shots, and he keeps on switching up his style to keep the audience on edge.  I'd really like to see this in a theater, since the movie relies on the audience paying attention.