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The Haunting, a review by addicted2dvd

The Haunting (1963/United States) IMDb |Wikipedia |Trailer | Warner Home Video Director: Robert Wise Writing: Nelson Gidding (Screenwriter), Shirley Jackson (Original Material By) Length: 112 min. Rating: G Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Mono, French: Dolby Digital: Mono, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

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Stars:
Julie Harris as Eleanor Lance
Claire Bloom as Theodora
Richard Johnson as Dr. John Markway
Russ Tamblyn as Luke Sanderson
Fay Compton as Mrs. Sanderson
Rosalie Crutchley as Mrs. Dudley

Plot:
"It was an evil house from the beginning, a house that was born bad." The place is the 90-year-old mansion called Hill House. No one lives there. Or so it seems. But please do come in. Because even if you don't believe in ghosts, there's no denying the terror of "The Haunting."

Robert Wise returned to psychological horror for this much admired, first screen adaptation of Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House." Four people come to the house to study its supernatural phenomena. Or has the house drawn at least one of them to it? The answer will unnerve you in this "elegantly sinister scare movie. It's good fun" (Pauline Kael, "5001 Nights at the Movies").

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Audio Commentary
• Feature Trailers
• Gallery
• Production Notes
• Closed Captioned

I must say... I liked this one more on the second viewing. On first viewing I found it to be a little too slow for my taste... and was expecting more. On this second viewing... knowing ahead of time what to expect I enjoyed it much more. Very good story... great cast and wonderful atmosphere. Definitely well worth watching.


Scorecard:

TV Eps: 6
Movies: 3

(From Month Long Horror/Halloween Marathon on October 3rd, 2014)

If These Walls Could Talk 2, a review by Tom

Title: If These Walls Could Talk 2
Year: 2000
Director: 1961, Jane Anderson, 1972, Martha Coolidge, 2000, Anne Heche
Rating: 15
Length: 94 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital Stereo

Stars:Plot:
If These Walls Could Talk 2 is an intimate look at the lesbian experience in America in different social and politicla climates from the sixties to the millennium, as told in three different love stories:

An elderly woman,'widowed' when her companion of 50 years dies in 1961... A feminist co-ed discovering her attraction to an outsider in 1972... A loving couple eager to experience parenthood in 2000.

Three couple, three different decades. If These Walls Could Talk 2 is an honest portrayal of women in three very different times, all searching for love and acceptance.

Extras:
Photo Gallery
Production Notes
Scene Access
Trailers



(From Lesbian Movie Marathon on April 5th, 2009)

Angel Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: The gang tries to settle in with their new lives at Wolfram & Hart. Angels new assistant is Harmony who doesn't know yet about the fate of her friend Cordelia. Gunn is being re-clothed. And then there is this client of W&H's who threatens to kill all the people of California if he gets convicted for the crimes he has done.

My Opinion: Cordelia has left the show. On the other hand, Spike isn't as dead as it looked like at the end of "Buffy" - ok "not as dead" as a vampire can be who additionally is a ghost now. While I liked the season opener, it's pity that they lift Angel's restirctions more and more. The show loses its dark touch a bit. The idea to upload a lawyer's knowledge directly into Gunn's brain was very matrix-y but really cool.

Synopsis: The gang uses the resources of W&H to find out what happend to Spike who isn't happy with his life as a ghost at all. Despite their mutual despise, Angel and Spike work together to stop a necromancer who gets his dead bodies via W&H.

My Opinion: One can feel how they both really like each other. I liked Spike back in "Buffy" and I like how he badgers Angel - this season has to be good.

Synopsis: A young femal jogger is bitten by a werewolf and the full moon will be up for another two days. Spike on the other hand has the problem that his essence is more frequently and longer being pulled into the direction of hell. He asks Fred for her help, to return him into a body of his own.

My Opinion: Spike won't be a ghost for the entire season, that much is certain now - in my opinion. I presume that he will return to his body within the next few episodes. The story about the werewolf was ok, but currently I am more interested in Spike. Unfortunately Angel has again abandoned a human - even if he had a werewolf bite - even though he knew that he would die. I still don't like that.

Synopsis: Suddenly Spike is not only a ghost, now he is a ghost no one can see or hear. And he starts to see dead people who are disfigured.

My Opinion: "I never told anyone this, but I liked your poems." - "You like Barry Manilow." Yes, Spike gives the show a new spice. This foru episodes have already made me forget the last season and even Harmony fits in. I am just a bit sad that Angel doesn't belive in his mission anymore.

(From Angel Marathon on February 24th, 2008)