Popular Culture Review Vol. 12, No. 1, February 2001 | Page 134

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Popular Culture Review

broken. The film becomes a simple pageant of technical display. Subtlety has no
place here. Imagination is not stimulated. The audience experiences little sense of
involvement. De Bont seems to have been acutely aware of this possibility. “Your
mind is the most important thing in movies that are supposed to scare you. If you
go too real then it kind of stops your imagination because fear and imagination are
also very related. You have to {provide} a little bit of an unfinished image so your
{imagination} can fill it in” (Laski, 30). With this film, “too real” prevails. The
audience can only observe as the carved faces of children and the menacing
countenance of Hugh Crain come alive through the “magic” of computer generated
animation. One critic describes the production design as “eye-catching, offering
more detail than one could possibly absorb in one sitting.. .the sprawling staginess
of the house starts to work against the film. It begins to feel like Disney’s haunted
mansion, a tourist attraction designed more for spooky giggles than for genuine
shivers” (Renshaw, 1).
When Eleanor finds a secret room with photographs of Hugh Crain and his
second wife, Carolyn, she is convinced that skulls she earlier found in the fireplace
were also discovered years ago by Carolyn, who was murdered by Crain, along
with the children. “He wanted to fill the house with the sounds of children. He
took them from his mills and he brought them here. He brought them here, but he
wouldn’t let them go. He’s still here. Hugh Crain is still in this house” {The Haunting,
1999). Realizing that Eleanor is over the edge and that the success of his experiment
is jeopardized. Marrow confesses. “Listen to me, all of you! You’re participating
in a study on group fear and hysteria.. .You created the story as you were meant to.
But it’s over. I’m pulling the plug. None of this is real” {The Haunting, 1999).
From this point, special effects become the entire focus of the film, which
Dean Kish describes as “eye candy with a hollow center” (Kish, 1). Another critic
suggests that ''The Flaunting'' would be a more appropriate title (Maslin, 1). Eleanor
sees her own likeness, with her body expanding as if pregnant. She sees images of
children and becomes obsessed with trying to help them. “What do you want from
me? What do you want me to do?” {The H aunting, 1999).
Perhaps the most prolonged scene where special effects outweigh the story
involves Eleanor’s ascending a hanging spiral staircase. When it begins to snap
apart. Marrow climbs up to rescue her and as the stairs tumble down, it is Eleanor
who saves Marrow. Another over the top scene features the carved walls, ceiling,
and furniture in Eleanor’s room coming alive through computer generated effects
and trapping her in her bed. Through united effort, the others manage to pry her
loose.
When Luke is unsuccessful in using Eleanor’s car to try crashing out through
the locked gates to the estate, there is no explanation as to why the locks posed no
problem in getting Mary, Marrow’s assistant out earlier. Meanwhile, Eleanor has