This new production not only never provide any expected thrills but instead some unintentional laughs.
A researcher brings three troubled sleepers-guinea pigs to a castle in order to study insomnia. Unofficially, his goal is to study fear through distilling details about the gloomy story of the sinister mansion and owner. You will have guessed that the castle is actually really haunted, what they will find out pretty soon.
Casting is learnedly dosed: a serious actor, Liam Neeson, a pin-up, Catherine Zeta-Jones, an arty actress, Lili Taylor a new comer, a blondyOwen Wilson. ThoughLili Taylor tries to assume her role as main character (one wonders what she is doing here..$$$..?), Liam Neeson (indeed skilled in choosing winners) looks like he doesn't give a damn while Catherine Zeta-Jones (Spielberg's hand picked muse for The Mask of Zorro and now this) tries to heat up the movie with a leather jacket, thigh-highs, and some winks. Finally add Jan De Bont (Speed & Twister) behind the camera, and you will know what kind of product to expect.
The castle is indeed impressive, some special effects astonishing and the characters in prey of terror, but unfortunately, this terror is never transmitted to the spectator other than in the form of terrifying boredom and ridicule. The movie is never able to scare and can be watched as a succession of passive special effects, while the ending up looking like a fairy tale for toddlers. Any Chips episode is scarier!!
Finally, The Haunting doesn't hesitate to reuse some famous settings from other movies, from the castle, British adaptation of Citizen Kane's Hearst Castle to the Gates of Hell (borrowed from Rodin) type living sculpture from the Devil's Advocate and the Poltergeist ending (did somebody say Spielberg?).
The Haunting review
