The Haunting is a 1999 horror film directed by Jan de Bont.
Plot[]
Eleanor "Nell" Vance, an insomniac, has cared for her disabled mother for 11 years, sharing a Boston apartment with her. After her mother dies, Nell's sister Jane and her husband Lou inherit the residence and eject Nell to prepare for a sale. As she faces homelessness, Nell accepts an invitation to participate in an insomnia study by Dr. David Marrow at Hill House, a secluded manor house in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts. At the house, she meets Mr. and Mrs. Dudley, the eccentric caretakers. Two other participants arrive: goofy Luke Sanderson and glamorous Theodora ("Theo"), along with Dr. Marrow and his two research assistants. Unbeknownst to the participants, Dr. Marrow's true purpose is to study the psychological response to fear, intending to expose his subjects to terror.
During their first night, Dr. Marrow relates the story of Hill House: Its original owner, Hugh Crain, a 19th-century textile tycoon, constructed the rambling home for his wife Renee, hoping to populate it with a large family. Unfortunately, all of Crain's children were stillborns, and Renee, devastated by the multiple losses, killed herself, while Crain became a recluse. Marrow's assistant is wounded in a freak accident and the research assistants leave for the hospital. Supernatural events begin happening, and Nell sees ghosts of children. A large portrait of Hugh Crain is vandalized with the words "Welcome Home Eleanor" written in blood. Theo and Luke accuse Nell, claiming she is seeking attention.
Nell becomes determined to prove that the house is haunted. She finds Crain's hidden study and learns that he extensively used child labor in his cotton mills. He tortured and killed orphans in his home, then burned their bodies in the fireplace. She surmises that these children's spirits are trapped in the house, providing Crain with an "eternal family". Crain had a second wife named Carolyn, from whom Nell is descended. Dr. Marrow is skeptical and reveals the truth of his fear study to the group, but after a statue tries to drown him, he realizes Hill House is haunted. Nell reveals that she is related to Carolyn Crain and must help the children move on to the afterlife. The group tries to leave Hill House but Hugh Crain's ghost traps them inside. Luke defaces a portrait of Crain, enraging his spirit to decapitate Luke. When Crain manifests, Nell realizes that he thrived on the fear he created in children and declares that she is not afraid of him. Her declaration weakens the ghost and he is cast into a decorative bronze door depicting the distressed children in purgatory. He drags Nell with him, but the benevolent spirits release her and she dies. Nell's soul, along with those of the freed children, rises to heaven.
The following morning, Dr. Marrow and Theo meet the Dudleys at the front gate in silence and leave Hill House behind.
Cast[]
- Lili Taylor as Eleanor "Nell" Vance
- Liam Neeson as Dr. David Marrow
- Catherine Zeta-Jones as Theodora "Theo"
- Owen Wilson as Luke Sanderson
- Marian Seldes as Mrs. Dudley
- Bruce Dern as Mr. Dudley
- Alix Koromzay as Mary Lambetta
- Todd Field as Todd Hackett
- Virginia Madsen as Jane Vance
- Tom Irwin as Lou
- Charles Gunning as Hugh Crain