Martin Scorsese called this film one of the 11 scariest films ever made. I wouldn’t put it there, but it's one of the best haunted house films. Director Peter Medak (SPECIES II) sets up his environment and utilizes it well in subtly unnerving ways. Common objects become frightening. And the ghost haunting the residents has as strong a motivation as any character.
In a devastating opening, composer John Russell (George C. Scott, PATTON) loses his wife and daughter. While he's consumed with sorrow, he decides to take a job as a guest lecturer at a university in Seattle. Claire Norman (Trish Van Devere, THE DAY OF THE DOLPHIN) of the Seattle Historical Society offers him a legendary vacant mansion to rent for nearly nothing. The gorgeous Victorian home has been unoccupied for years, as the historical society worker Minnie Huxley (Ruth Springford, 5 CARD STUD) says, because the house doesn’t want people. The house has a dark past, which leads to Senator Joe Carmichael (Melvyn Douglas, THE OLD DARK HOUSE).
Interestingly, the internal and external stories parallel each other instead of being completely interwoven. Russell struggles with the death of his family. Scott gives him a moving performance as a widower who puts on a stoic face in public, but breaks down in private. At first we don’t know if the mansion is really haunted or Russell is losing his mind. But the poltergeist won’t let his presence go unnoticed. As a way to forget his anguish, Russell throws himself into finding out about the history of the house.
In one of the creepiest séance scenes, medium Leah Harmon (Helen Burns, ZORRO, THE GAY BLADE) channels the ghost in the house. She scribbles cryptic words on paper as she stares blankly in a trance. Watch how Medak sets the frame. After establishing the stairway as a point of frightening occurrences, the banister sits in the background behind Scott’s Russell giving a subtle sense of looming dread.
As the mystery of the house unfolds, we become wrapped up in a tale of money, murder and decades-old secrets. The closer Russell gets to a solution the more the ghost pushes him. The specter needs Russell to do more than simply uncover secrets. But the closer Russell gets to the truth, the more the powers that be use their weight to make sure the truth never is revealed. In the end one wonders if the ghost or the powerful are more dangerous.
The film cleaned up at the first Genie Awards, Canada’s equivalent to the Oscars, taking home eight awards out of 10 nominations. Bravo put the film on its 100 scariest moments list. Some of its signature sequences, including the séance, a bouncing ball and a hidden well, could have made the film qualify as one of the scariest moments.
Scott’s understated performance is the highlight. We care about him because we worry about him. Despite all the supernatural scares that swirl around him, he seems coldly detached. Has the tragedy of his family left him numb? What terrible situations will be race into just because he doesn’t care anymore? Van Devere’s Claire and others provide the film with the typical fright that accompanies witnessing the supernatural. Contrasted with Scott’s Russell, we feel the darkest part of the film might be the shadow over Russell’s soul.
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Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
