--- title: "The Haunting: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-haunting/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-haunting" critics_score: 70 critics_reviews: 9 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Haunting (1963): what the critics said Critics' score 70 from 9 reviews: 5 positive, 2 mixed, 2 negative. Most critics rate The Haunting highly, and the praise clusters around Robert Wise’s decision to keep the horror unseen. Reviewers return to the same devices: the sound design, the disorienting camerawork, and the patience with which suggestion is allowed to do the work a monster would otherwise do. Several single out Julie Harris as Eleanor, whose vulnerability is credited with giving the scares somewhere to land. The positive notices are strongly positive rather than merely approving. The reservations are about the writing and the pitch. Variety finds the artistry cannot rescue a screenplay that does not follow through on its ideas, while still admiring how the cinematography turns the house into a character. Time Out thinks the performances often overwrought, and Empire, though admiring, concedes the film sometimes strains. The Hollywood Reporter feels it explains its mysteries too readily. The spread is wide, from dismissal to near-unqualified praise, and two of the earliest notices survive only as citations. ## Radio Times — Alan Jones Rating 5/5. The review calls it one of the best supernatural chillers ever made. It praises Robert Wise’s unseen, atmospheric horrors and Julie Harris’s performance. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-jl3d1a/the-haunting/) ## The AV Club — Keith Phipps Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 11 August 2003. Phipps praises the film as an effective, unsettling haunted-house story. He singles out Wise’s use of sound, disorienting camerawork, and unseen threats to sustain its ambiguity. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/the-haunting-1963-dvd-1798198788) ## Empire — Ian Freer Fi1m's normalised score 82/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The review regards the film as an exceptionally terrifying, highly wrought ghost story, though sometimes overwrought. It especially praises the eerie visual design and sound, which make the unseen threat feel ever-present. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/empire-essay-haunting-review/) ## The Hollywood Reporter — James Powers Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 31 October 2018. Powers finds the film an effective, sophisticated ghost story, though it sometimes overexplains its mysteries. He particularly praises the terror unleashed when the spirits are allowed to overwhelm rational explanation. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/haunting-review-1963-movie-1133377/) ## The New Yorker — Brendan Gill Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 28 September 1963. The issue identifies Brendan Gill’s “Current Cinema” as reviewing The Haunting, but this page does not expose his verdict. No specific praise or complaint is available in the accessible text. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1963/09/28) ## The New York Times — Bosley Crowther Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 19 September 1963. The archival page is inaccessible, so the critic’s verdict cannot be verified. No specific praise or complaint is available in the supplied text. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1963/09/19/archives/the-screen-an-oldfashioned-chillerjulie-harris-and-claire-bloom-in.html) ## Time Out — GA Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). The available description suggests a negative assessment, calling the performances often overwrought. It singles out the acting as a weakness, while the full review is unavailable. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-haunting-1) ## Variety — Variety Staff Fi1m's normalised score 35/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1962. The critic finds the film’s artistry unable to overcome a screenplay that fails to follow through on its ideas. The striking cinematography, which makes the house feel like a character, is singled out for praise. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1962/film/reviews/the-haunting-1200420301/) ## Paste — Jim Vorel Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 5 September 2019. Vorel calls the film an exceptionally effective and enduring chiller, praising its patient use of suggestion to build tension. He also singles out Julie Harris’s vulnerable, emotionally affecting performance as Eleanor. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/horror-movies/best-horror-movie-of-1963-the-haunting) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-haunting.md