The Haunting is a 1999 remake of the 1963 horror film of the same name. Both films are based on the novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, published in 1959. The Haunting was directed by Jan de Bont and stars Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Owen Wilson and Lili Taylor. It was released in the United States on July 20, 1999.
Synopsis
When her invalid mother dies and her sister (Virginia Madsen) evicts her, Eleanor “Nell” Vance (Taylor) receives a phone call, telling her about an ad for an insomnia study run by Doctor David Marrow (Neeson) at Hill House – a secluded manor in Massachusetts. Upon arrival, Nell meets Mr. Dudley (Bruce Dern) and Mrs. Dudley (Marian Seldes), a strange pair of caretakers who do not stay on the property after dark, and then two other participants in the study, wild Theo (Zeta-Jones) and “bad sleeper” Luke Sanderson (Wilson).
Unknown to the participants, Doctor Marrow’s true purpose is to study the psychological response to fear. Each night, the caretakers chain the gate outside Hill House, preventing anyone from getting in or out until morning, when the caretakers open the lock. There are no working telephones inside Hill House and cell phone service is unavailable there. The house was chosen because of its isolation from the outside world.
On their first night at the mansion, Doctor Marrow relates the legend of Hugh Crain – an Industrial Revolution tycoon who built Hill House. According to Doctor Marrow’s telling of the legend, Crain’s wife killed herself before the house was finished, which drove Crain insane. As he tells the story, an accident causes Marrow’s research assistants to leave the house, leaving the doctor alone with the study participants for the duration of the study.
The first night, Theo and Nell begin to experience strange phenomenon within the house, including odd noises and inexplicable temperature changes. Doctor Marrow placates Theo with explanations centered around the old house’s plumbing, but Nell remains unconvinced. Her experiences intensify. Eventually, she sees apparitions, but everyone else in the house believes that she’s making up stories for attention. Nell is confronted after the main hallway is vandalized with the words “Welcome Home, Eleanor”, and becomes extremely distraught, setting out to prove that the house is haunted by the souls of those victimized by Crain’s cruelty. She learns that Crain built his fortune by exploiting kidnapped children for slave labor and murdering them when they were of no more use to him. She also learns that Crain had a second wife named Carolyn, of whom Nell is descended.
When Doctor Marrow reveals the dual nature of his study, Theo and Luke believe the pressures of being confined to the house are causing Nell to suffer a nervous breakdown. Doctor Marrow finally comes to his senses and decides they must leave. At that moment, a statue in a nearby fountain comes to life and attempts to drown him. After experiencing more terrifying phenomena, the four flee the house but they are trapped on the property. During that time, Nell asks Doctor Marrow how he knew the house wanted her (referring to phone call she received earlier). He does not know about any call and says the first time he spoke to Nell was at the house. When Luke tries to crash the gate with Nell’s Gremlin, he fails and is trapped in the car. The car is leaking gasoline and Doctor Marrow and Theo free Luke from the car. While they are helping Luke, Nell goes back into the house, knowing that she cannot leave the children to be hurt by Crain. Luke, Theo, and Doctor Marrow go in search of Nell. Once they find her, she reveals her relation to Carolyn and how she must stay and help the children. The other three try to run but Hugh Crain’s evil spirit seals up the house, trapping them inside.
Theo, Luke and Doctor Marrow try to break windows to get out, but have no success and eventually, Doctor Marrow cuts his hand. While Nell and Theo tend to Marrow, Luke destroys a portrait of Hugh Crain, out of frustration with a candlestick and against Nell’s warnings. Crain’s spirit, then, drags Luke to the fireplace where he is decapitated by a lion-headed flue.
Nell tells Doctor Marrow and Theo they have to hide. When Nell runs to try and hide, she realizes that she must avenge the souls of Crain’s victims and invokes Crain’s spirit to manifest and is able to lead him towards a huge iron door with the inscription “All Ye Who Stand Before These Doors Shall Be Judged” engraved on it. An avenging wind howls throughout the room and demons from the gates of hell pull Crain’s spirit into it. Nell is thrown into the door and dies with her arms outstretched as a Christ figure, while her spirit floats from her body and rises up to heaven with the spirits of Crain’s victims. After witnessing Nell’s death, Theo and Doctor Marrow wait by the gate outside till the Dudleys come in the morning.
When Mr. Dudley asks Doctor Marrow if he found what he wanted to know, Doctor Marrow does not give an answer. When the gate opens, Doctor Marrow and Theo silently walk out and down the road, leaving Hill House behind them.
