Maltin give this 3 1/2 stars??? More evidence that he hasn't seen all the films listed under his comments.
I expected a lot from this movie considering Maltin and many of the user comments, and I tried, I really did. However, this movie made my brief list of flicks I had to rewind before finishing because I was suffering too much.
Narration is a dubious device in any movie; if the story can't be told by what you're seeing, write a book instead. The fact that the voice is Eleanor's (Julie Harris) only adds to the annoyance. This is one of the most unpleasant, whining, neurotic characters I've seen on film (Harris seems to excel in this sort of part). I found no interesting psychological quirks of character in her part to justify her sheer unpleasantness. Russ Tamblyn is miscast.
The movie uses every haunted house cliche in the book; I found nothing remotely frightening about it. The plot device of Dr. Markham gathering these folks for a weekend in the house smacks of "Hey kids! I know what! Let's make a movie about a haunted house!" Look up "contrived" in the dictionary and you'll find a plot summary of this flick.
The whole enterprise has the feeling of a mediocre made-for-tv movie, with all the attendant production values thereof.
A colossal disappointment.
I expected a lot from this movie considering Maltin and many of the user comments, and I tried, I really did. However, this movie made my brief list of flicks I had to rewind before finishing because I was suffering too much.
Narration is a dubious device in any movie; if the story can't be told by what you're seeing, write a book instead. The fact that the voice is Eleanor's (Julie Harris) only adds to the annoyance. This is one of the most unpleasant, whining, neurotic characters I've seen on film (Harris seems to excel in this sort of part). I found no interesting psychological quirks of character in her part to justify her sheer unpleasantness. Russ Tamblyn is miscast.
The movie uses every haunted house cliche in the book; I found nothing remotely frightening about it. The plot device of Dr. Markham gathering these folks for a weekend in the house smacks of "Hey kids! I know what! Let's make a movie about a haunted house!" Look up "contrived" in the dictionary and you'll find a plot summary of this flick.
The whole enterprise has the feeling of a mediocre made-for-tv movie, with all the attendant production values thereof.
A colossal disappointment.