The Haunting

Not the remake, this is the original.

This is a very lush haunted house movie that has some genuine tension in it. There are very few special effects in fact. Most of what happens are all sound effects off camera and yet it is very effective.

The story of a house that was born bad and had a history of people not living in it for very long....well you have heard it before with movies like the Amityville Horror and Poltergeist.
However The Haunting is much different in that it used the actors and a good story to create tension and not gore or cats jumping out of closet scenes to get you into the movie.

For its time it really seemed to tackle Clair Bloom's lesbian characte well, in fact I'd say that it was ahead of its time by a couple of decades since it was made in 63.

The actual main character, Eleanor Lance, who's mental state is in question the whole movie is a mousy woman who seems timid at times and then can flip a switch and be protective and strong. Her performance is really what drives The Haunting and probably wouldn't have been nearly as effective without such a great actor.

Turn down the lights and turn on The Haunting. You might be happy to have some harmless fright in your world!