the haunting

One of the most classic films in horror history is Robert Wise’s 1963 chiller The Haunting, based on Shirley Jackson’s 1959 classic The Haunting of Hill House. It’s in black and white, but it still holds up as one of the creepiest films ever made. Its 1999 remake, filled with goofy characters and embarrassing early CGI, is less effective. Now streaming company Netflix is looking into making a new version of The Haunting, this one a 10-episode miniseries. And for a director, they’re tapping Mike Flanagan, who has an impressive resume: Hush, Before I Wake, and Ouija: Origin of Evil. He’s now finishing up an adaption of Stephen King’s Gerald’s Game, also for Netflix. Why Flanagan? Because he specializes in subtlety and making the ordinary spooky — two things that made the original Haunting memorable. The plot is your standard “spending a night in a haunted house” tale, but it’s only a cliche now because The Haunting made such an impression. The project is only now getting underway and it