TeenzTen An action-packed slog

SpunkySelfTwitter It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

Scotty Burke It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

delldiablo This film has nothing to say, so I won't say much about it. It was meant to make money, it made it, now let's move on.Liam Neeson is wasted here.Catherine Zeta Jones is beautiful, her lines are crap and her personality is a caricature. Owen Wilson plays Owen Wilson, although his name in this film is Luke.Lili Taylor plays some kind of character. Not sure what. She saw a decapitation and just said "on, no." Theo (CZJ) was screaming - she covered her mouth in horror but the sound was coming as if it wasn't muffled, as if it were dubbed.The music has some ridiculous circus themes. I don't know what this film wants to be. Haunted house? Undead children? Scary paintings? Gargoyle statues coming to life?Why not all of the above?How about some comedy. Dr. Marrow says "what do we all need in life, the basics, food, water, shelter." Theo (Zeta Jones) interrupts/adds "sex" with the subtlety of a sledgehammer, to which Luke (Owen Wilson) responds "meow." Yups, Owen Wilson plays himself. If you've seen him say "wow" many times, then meow isn't far off. It's not scary, not funny, not entertaining, not dramatic, not mysterious, not anything.The special effects, some look good, some bad, but I won't give it plus points over good effects nor minus over bad ones. The attacking spider bed effect was interesting, but that's not why anyone would watch a film.Don't watch.

cjs6547 Nobody. And then, "I won't let you hurt the children!"These two lines are perfect examples of how the movie fell apart in the second half. Mainly because there was no prompt for this iconic dialogue from the first film in the second one. No one was shown to be holding Nell's hand, or that her hand was in any position in which it would be 'held'. And secondly, she didn't hear the terrifying noises of child abuse in the dark. Being a remake of the 1963 classic, I don't think anybody expected it to be as good as the first. But still it was off to a promising start, with lonely, unwanted Eleanor against the glamorous have-it- all Zeta as Theo. Even Owen Wilson being Owen Wilson in Hill House was entertaining. Unfortunately, the second half nose-dived. They didn't keep up the motif of the desperate Eleanor with no home being hounded by society - except in that one scene in which Owen Wilson trashes her only legal possession against the iron gate (he gets his poetic justice). Instead of the house PREYING on Eleanor's weakened mind, the idea that Eleanor DID somehow legally belong with the house was pushed a bit too far (the woman wearing the necklace in the painting and Eleanor spewing a lot of ancestral details which no one can possibly verify there). That and the abundant use of CG takes away from all horror and leaves us with an adventure film with one horrible accident.Watch the original 1963 film for your dose of chills and terrors.

Python Hyena The Haunting (1999): Dir: Jan De Bont / Cast: Lili Taylor, Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Owen Wilson, Bruce Dern: Remake of the Robert Wise classic about past incidents that stir horrid images. A group of individuals suffer from insomnia and are summoned to an isolated mansion for treatment. This mansion has a past as the heroine can hear the echoes and cries of children. The film contains an eerie soundtrack and startling images. Special effects are breathtaking with an ominous presence about to give the mansion its haunting appeal. Unfortunately the screenplay presents a formula story with a climax that becomes ridiculous. Director Jan De Bont allows it to get away on him. It is as if he was given all of the budget and he could not figure out what was needed. He made Speed, which is his one worthy film but this film is a tad better than his embarrassing Twister and Speed 2: Cruise Control. Of the ensemble cast Taylor seems interesting as she struggles to figure out the bizarre around her. She comes from a broken home only to learn that she has connections here that elevate to a laughable outcome. Liam Neeson passes as the doctor while Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Owen Wilson wander about as if bored. Bruce Dern plays the gate keeper who is suppose to look sinister and more or less over the top. Special effects are the one saver otherwise it is hauntingly bad. Score: 3 / 10

OllieSuave-007 A supposed remake to the 1963 film, The Haunting, this movie is about a group of people taking part in a sleep study at a mansion and then finding themselves getting caught in the middle of the house's sinister ghostly past.I remembered watching this movie on TV and from what I've remembered, it wasn't a very haunting movie. The plot wasn't very captivating, with nothing that really stands out that would grab your attention and in which you would find riveting; the story was filmed in a way that is a basic, ghost-on-the-loose movie. The acting was pretty bad, as there is limited character chemistry or development, and the special effects for the paranormal menaces were not sophisticated.A few frightening moments may jump out at you here and there and the chase scenes might be a tad exciting, but overall, there are much more scarier and intriguing horror flicks than this.Grade D