Popular Culture Review Vol. 12, No. 1, February 2001 | Page 132

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Popular Culture Review

Eleanor seems deeply saddened and afraid of being alone following the death of
her mother, and on the other, she appears to bear guilt feelings about her deliberate
decision not to respond to her mother’s final demand for assistancejust prior to her
death. She regularly summoned Eleanor by thumping the wall with her cane. Perhaps
she might have lived if Eleanor had brought her medicine. Eleanor’s desire for
independence may have motivated her to wish her mother’s death (Jancovich, 288).
Eleanor is also experiencing conflict between her feelings of anxiety and loneliness
and her strong desire for independence. Eleanor and her sister quarrel over their
late mother’s estate. It was Eleanor who lived with and looked after their mother,
but following her death she is left with nothing and has nowhere to go. Eleanor’s
mind, both conscious and unconscious, seems to have been largely shaped by others,
resulting in deep contradictions, pulling her in different directions (Jancovich, 295).
She yearns for freedom, but she fears being alone.
Because of her inability to deal with these conflicts, she cannot rest and is
drawn to the short-run solution of taking part in the Hill House research on what
she is told centers on the study of insomnia. She does not realize that Dr. Marrow
has actually set up his experiment in this eerie mansion to study, not insomnia, but
fear. He has selected this unoccupied site to isolate his subjects for a controlled
study. The house is looked after by a caretaker (Bruce Dern) and his wife (Marian
Seldes) who let be known that they lock the gates to the grounds of the mansion
when they leave each night. No one can enter or leave Hill House after dark. Mrs
Dudley makes this clear. “You’re alone after dark. I live in town nine miles away.
No one lives any nearer than that” (The H aunting, 1999).
Theo and Luke have also been carefully selected from the candidates for the
research project at Hill House. Each has described a problem with insomnia along
with other background experiences inspiring Dr. Marrow to suspect their
susceptibility to fear. An undeveloped undertone of sexuality also lurks among the
inhabitants of Hill House. Theo strongly hints of interest in Eleanor, Luke obviously
is attracted to the beautiful Theo, and Eleanor seems drawn to Dr. Marrow. None
of these potential relationships is fully developed in the film.
As Eleanor and Theo explore the mansion, they are awed by the elaborate
carvings on the walls, the doors, and the stairwells. The house is also filled with
statues, gargoyles, and other fierce looking figures. Of special prominence is the
looming portrait of Hugh Crain, the former owner and builder of Hill House.
Later, in an introductory meeting with the subjects and his research assistant,
Mary, Dr. Marrow describes Crain’s life. We learn that he and his wife, Renee,
built the house for a family they never had. After her death, Crain kept building
onto the house. Mary adds to the potential for fear. “I think there’s more to that
story. I can feel it. It’s all around us. It’s in the walls. It’s in the furniture. It’s in
this!” (The H a un ting, 1999). As she touches a string on a musical instrument, the