The Haunting (1999)

Catherine Zeta Jones plays Theo, a bisexual insomniac, in THE HAUNTING - Jan de Bont’s 1999 adaptation of the classic 1959 Shirley Jackson novel, “The Haunting of Hill House.”

In THE HAUNTING three guests, Nell (Taylor), Theo (Zeta Jones) and Luke (Owen Wilson), are invited to participate in what Dr. Marrow (Liam Neeson) advertises as a study on insomnia. They are brought to Hill House, an isolated manor in Massachusetts, where Marrow is secretly planning on recording the participant’s reaction to fear. Marrow uses the manor’s grisly past, and its reputation for being haunted, to his advantage. Unfortunately, he gets more than he bargained for as Hill House turns out to actually be haunted and it’s not long before a malevolent force reveals itself.

Unlike the novel itself, and the 1963 film adaptation, THE HAUNTING is not as psychological as its predecessors and everything becomes quite literal. The downside to this is we see far too many CGI effects/ghosts, but the upside is some of the queerness is no longer subtext; Theo is an out and proud bisexual in this version, though Eleanor’s attraction to her still remains fairly ambiguous.

THE HAUNTING received a lot of negative reviews upon its release and, while it’s true it’s not the best adaptation of Jackson’s novel, it’s still worth watching for Catherine Zeta Jones, Lili Taylor, and the intricate gothic sets by out production designer Eugenio Zanetti.

THE HAUNTING

1999. USA.

Director: Jan de Bont

Screenplay: David Self

Based on: “The Haunting of Hill House” (1959) by Shirley Jackson

Starring: Lili Taylor, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Liam Neeson, Owen Wilson, Marian Seldes, Bruce Dern and Virginia Madsen

You can find THE HAUNTING streaming on Paramount+ (Canada/USA/UK), PlutoTV (Mexico), and for rent/purchase through AppleTV, Amazon and YouTube.