The Haunting

[Richard Kaufman]

Yikes: sealed copy of The Haunting now up to $405 on eBay and it still has 4 days to go!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tenyo-T-156-The ... NA:US:1120

[AJM]

I thought you were referring to the cheesy werewolf horror flick from the 80's starring Dee Wallace...

[Richard Kaufman]

You're thinking of "The Howling." "The Haunting" was directed by Robert Wise in 1961 or so and is regarded as classic.

[I.M. Magician]

I find that to be suspicious but you never know. A sealed one sold on April 22 on eBay for $102.50.

Perhaps it's another case of no rhyme or reason.

[John Signa]

"The Haunting" was directed by Robert Wise in 1961 or so and is regarded as classic.

Wasn't that one the inspiration for the hallway in the Haunted Mansion?

[Richard Kaufman]

Indeed it was. There's a note in the Disney archive about WED screening the film.

[AJM]

Yes you are correct, I was indeed thinking of The Howling.

Carry on...

[Richard Kaufman]

It's a far cry from Richard Johnson, Claire Bloom, and Julie Harris to Christopher Lee, Sybil Danning, and Dee Wallace.

[steve henderson]

The Haunting itself is not a great magic trick to be fair, but it is very collectible and the packaging does look nice, I know someone who payed 250gbp for it in sealed up new condition!!.

[Richard Kaufman]

It's a better trick than you would think for lay people, but I don't think anyone buys it for that reason.

[Chas Nigh]

Watch The Haunting on TCM on Saturday 5/17 8:00 Central.

[Tom Leyland]

This is a great thread.

The Haunting is a goofy trick, if not outright stupid looking, but it does look great in packaging. When you see it performed, it's very hard to take it seriously. The effect is pretty good, but it just looks ridiculous.

The Haunting and The Howling are both entertaining if you haven't seen them. The Howling is a Werewolf movie.

[PickaCard]

You will notice that the winning bid, at $410, only has 1 feedback. It is most likely a fake bidder.

Over the past year there have been several high priced Tenyo eBay closings that were bogus. I am not too sure if this happens with other collectibles or who would bother to do this and why?

[Richard Kaufman]

The only that seems goofy to me is the unfortunate imagery one might associate with the way the skeleton is holding the pencil. The only way to tell if this is a problem in performance is to do it for a dozen different people and see if anyone giggles. If not, it's good to go. The tube is quite ingenious in what it does.

[Tom Leyland]

The only that seems goofy to me is the unfortunate imagery one might associate with the way the skeleton is holding the pencil. The only way to tell if this is a problem in performance is to do it for a dozen different people and see if anyone giggles. If not, it's good to go. The tube is quite ingenious in what it does.

Agree.

But IMHO, the trick looks ridiculous when performed, the effect is good though.

[Tom Leyland]

Just watched the 1963 version of The Haunting with the Wife.

The film is quite good and the acting is solid, it's not your typical 60s shlock horror film. The camera work and psychology certainly inspired films like The Exorcist.

I would even say in many ways the movie is rather ground breaking. The house is alive!

[Richard Kaufman]

"The Haunting" was a top of the line production by an A-list director, Robert Wise, and big stars. It is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest cinematic ghost stories of all time. Glad you liked it, Tom!

[Tom Leyland]

"The Haunting" was a top of the line production by an A-list director, Robert Wise, and big stars. It is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest cinematic ghost stories of all time. Glad you liked it, Tom!

Yeah, it's very well done and ahead of its time. You really didn't see camera work like that in the early 60s with the exception of The Twilight Zone and few other films.

[mizoguchi]

Robert Wise's "The Haunting" is essentially a recap of the techniques he learned working in B movies for the great producer Val Lewton in the 1940s, on films like "Curse of the Cat People" and "The Body Snatcher" -- though Wise was far from the best director in Lewton's stable (I'd save that distinction for Jacques Tourneur, of "I Walked with a Zombie." Wise pumps up the Freudianism and makes use of the new freedoms from censorship that movies were beginning to enjoy, but to say the film was far in advance of anything else in the early 60s ("The Twilight Zone," btw, was a television program) is to ignore such conspicuous exceptions, in the horror genre alone, as "Psycho" and "The Innocents."

[Eric Fry]

The movie is based on Shirley Jackson's novel "The Haunting of Hill House."

[Tom Leyland]

but to say the film was far in advance of anything else in the early 60s ("The Twilight Zone," btw, was a television program) is to ignore such conspicuous exceptions, in the horror genre alone, as "Psycho" and "The Innocents."

I'm specifically referring to the camera work and yes, I know, Twilight Zone was a television program having grown up on the show.

Psycho is a classic, but the camera work is very different, apples and oranges.