THE HAUNTING

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 2 out of 5

Because of: sensuality, language, violence, thematic elements

Rated:

There has never been such an interest in ghosts as this past season, when three films (The Haunting, The Sixth Sense, and What Lies Beneath) hit the theaters just in time for Halloween. Perhaps it's our longing to escape the ordinary world and be tormented by things that go bump in the night that drives Hollywood to produce these thrills and chills... or perhaps, more accordingly, it's a plan to terrify the general public so much of the occult that they swallow up any remedy to protect themselves.

This particular "thriller" leaves a lot to be desired. A recent remake of the 1963 by the same name, it plays around the lives of four individuals chosen to spend a night in a haunted house. While guaranteed to raise the hairs on your neck more than once, the film more often than not fails to engage a sense of compassion for the people in its wake. The character development is almost completely absent and halfhearted, while the special effects try to steal the show, but only wind up carrying it to the end credits. Critical nitpicks aside, it also opens up a gaping hole in Christian theology, as well as challenges our ideals of modern morals.

Dr. David Marrow, a professor of psychology, is making a study of the effects of fear upon the individual. Unable to persuade any of his students to go along with his ideas, he discloses his true intentions under the pretense that he is making a study of sleeplessness. Choosing three opposites... the quiet, often mousy Nell, the openly bisexual Theo, and the dry-humored Luke... Marrow takes them to the house in question and settles down for the night. Unfortunately, his study of results is never completed, as the house rises in force against them. 

Or rather, the occupants of the house -- the wandering ghosts of murdered and tortured children, as well as the demonic presence of the original home owner, Hugh Crain. As paintings and sculptures come to life, suddenly the ghost stories aren't so funny anymore. Equally less charming to the guests are the playful and often malicious attacks throughout the night. Poltergeists dismantle a staircase as the terrified visitors attempt to climb it. Piano strings snap, nearly putting out an eye. A statue nearly drowns someone by dragging him into the lake. The altogether eerie paintings and other works of art depicting cruelty and horrific scenes only add to the overly creepiness of the house... and the film.

Ghosts are not always invisible, and often are found in heart-stopping places... such as swinging "dead" from the rafters. What follows are dark corridors, exploding windows, bloody footprints, and evil fireplaces, mixed with laughable dialogue, the proper amount of horrified screaming, and general feelings of dread. When one of the four is killed, the natural question that comes to mind is "Have you had enough?" but apparently the remaining three never think about it. Nell, who has been especially "tormented" by the occupants of the household, must comfort these troubled souls and send Crain's spirit "back to hell, where it belongs." It plays heavily off demonic forces and there is never any mention of God, aside from profanity. 

The special effects are the only thing that carries the film across the threshold; everything else is rather heedless and riddled with plot holes and unlikable characters, particularly Theo and her sexual come-ons to not only Marrow, but Luke and Nell as well. One wonders as the credits roll what the characters' lives will be like from this point on. A terrifying and horrific experience such as that would leave me hiding beneath my bed for a month. While The Haunting fails in the area of excellent filmmaking and is often blatantly against Christian beliefs, it does deliver "thrills and chills" as promised. 

There's a natural fear in us of ghosts. They can't hurt us. There is no such thing. So why do we want to know more about them? Maybe our lives just aren't frightening enough. Or maybe, like everyone else, we just like having that feeling that "there's something out to get us!" ... as long as it stays on the silver screen.