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List Price: $24.98 | | Label: Geneon [Pioneer]
Salesrank: 125329
Released: September 26, 2000 |
| Our Price: $39.78 |
| Used Price: $37.84 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
In the silence and the black dead of night comes a whisper, faint, barely perceptible. It sighs, then rises in the darkness and blows past your face, suddenly, caressing you with the icy fingers of death. It disappears into nothingness, leaving you with only the terror and the knowledge that this, truly, is a haunting. Aidan Quinn (Legends of the Fall, Benny and Joon), Kate Beckinsale (Much Ado About Nothing) and Sir John Gielgud (First Knight, Gulliver's Travels) lead the all-star cast in this chilling adaptation of the classic James Herbert novel. When David Ash (Quinn) investigates a haunting at an isolated country manor, strange and horrifying occurrences lead him to first doubt his convictions and then his sanity. As the sordid history of the estate's family is revealed, and David falls in love with Christina (Beckinsale), he begins to see the ghostly image of a young girl calling out to him from an unearthly terror he could never have imagined.
Description of Haunted:
Professor David Ash (Aidan Quinn) is skeptical of the supernatural, yet he is invited by elderly Nanny Tess Webb (Anna Massey) to investigate paranormal goings-on at her country estate. When Ash arrives, he meets her three adult children (Kate Beckinsale among them, who becomes his future love interest) and the family doctor (John Gielgud), all of whom deny anything is going on and claim that Nanny Tess is merely hallucinating. Yet after spending some time there, the professor begins experiencing unexplainable visions that only Nanny Tess, and often only he, sees. Furthermore the ghost of his sister, who died as a child in a drowning accident, begins to roam the estate. Is he imagining it and going mad? Or is the house truly haunted? Adapted by Tim Prager from the James Herbert novel, Lewis Gilbert's highly memorable film is a brilliant haunted-house tale with chilling scenes and an exceptional plot twist. --Bryan Reesman
Haunted Reviews:
Awful movie 
2009-10-06 - I was so excited to watch this movie and really wanted to like it but I'm afraid I can't recommend it to anyone. The novel is one of my favorite ghost stories. I know that when a book is made into a movie that some things have to change but this was awful. They left out what I thought to be the best and scariest parts of the story. The story in the movie has very little to do with the novel. It was a waste of almost 2 hours.
Thanks MOVIES2 for the fast delivery of this great ghost story! 
2009-09-28 - I have this film on VHS ,Great plot and story line..Glad i now have it on DVD.The first time i saw this movie , i liked it`s English touch/style .Thanks
Five stars
2009-08-11 - I'd been looking for this video for sometime, i was overjoyed when i found it. I had it before on vhs but it had gotten messed up.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Thin Plot - Good Acting 
2009-07-20 - I find myself conflicted writing offering this review. I found the movie entertaining and the plot with some mystery (not a bad ending), yet the premise for the plot seemed to derive from a combination of formulas used many times over. Still, other than some seemingly unrealistic, or unsensical events, the movie does captivate interest. On to some of the details (contains spoilers)...
Overall, the casting and actors'perfomances provide a solid anchoring of a quality production (Aidan Quinn, Kate Beckinsale, et al). The scenery was well chosen, but I wonder if more dramatic lighting would have set a more frightening mood. Most scenes seemed too well lit. Also, in some of the more dramatic moments that should have created a more drastic reaction, the object of the 'scare' was opaque or in the periphery. I draw reference to the scene where the professor emerges from the house of the family doctor/confident, where he seems to spy something that captures his bewilderment. The camera pans over a scene on a hill where, seemingly, nothing is worth notice! I had to reexamine the scene and freeze to capture the existence of the ghost of the little girl standing off to the far side and blurred. Other scenes left me scratching my head as to the reality of the situation. In one sequence, Kate brings Aidan to a small house on the property, which, supposedly, her mother loved to spend time. While there, a rocking chair starts rocking, to little comment or notice from the two! Also, how did a supposed ghost drive the car to pick up the professor at the train station (unobserved) or around the property? Why didn't the nanny reveal her situation earlier, in fuller detail? All of these things (and more) could have been addressed better with a more thorough scrutiny of the plot by the director.
This film is worth a view and you will find it entertaining, but don't place credence in the comparison to such supernatural classics as 'the changeling','the legend of hell house', and 'ghost story', it isn't even close. 'Haunted' is an upgrade from 'the others' and a few others, but not a classic. The shame is, with a little more attention to detail and mood setting filming technique, it may have been.
Must have missed something
2009-07-14 -
I watched this movie two days ago and I'm still annoyed with it. At first, right after the movie ended I thought "Well that wasn't awful". But the more I think about it, the more plot holes I find. I wont go into them because I hate spoliers in reviews but they were plentiful. As far as the rest of the moive, the acting wasn't bad, the special effect will not wow anyone, and Kate is at least partially nude for most of the movie. I would not recommend watching this movie unless perhaps you invent a drinking game to go along with it. Kate is topless - drink, weird look from nanny - drink, Aidan doesn't believe in ghosts - drink, odd family situation - drink etc.
