In Tough Times, an Actress Tries to Find Her Rainbow

Renée Zellweger in "Judy"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

Judy Garland is, without a doubt, one of the most iconic film actresses of all time.  Between her beloved breakout role in “The Wizard Oz,” other musicals like “Meet Me in St. Louis,” “Easter Parade,” “Summer Stock,” and the ‘50s version of “A Star Is Born,” and her dramatic turn in “Judgment at Nuremberg,” her career can be classified as one-of-a-kind.

Having appeared in films for nearly three decades, it was only a matter of time before this screen legend received a theatrical film about her life.  We’re given one with Rupert Goold’s “Judy,” a biopic that brings us a stunning portrayal of Garland through the film’s lead performance.

In 1969, Judy Garland (Renée Zellweger) is divorced from her third husband, Sidney Luft (Rufus Sewell), and fighting to maintain custody of her children.  In order to earn more money for a stable living, Judy decides to take up the offer to perform for a five-week run of concerts at the Talk of the Town music hall in London.  While doing so, Judy also must come face to face with her depression and substance abuse.

Zellweger’s performance is one where you rarely think that you’re watching an actress portraying a character, but is instead one where you believe that the person that they’re playing is there on screen.  She throws herself into the role to bring Garland’s larger-than-life aura to realization.  This is a performance where Zellweger excels in showing Garland’s passion for entertaining and bringing joy to her audience.  With Zellweger’s mastery of Garland’s mannerisms and her voice, this is a full embodiment of a legend in the entertainment industry.

Although Zellweger’s performance is fantastic all of the way through, it comes to an emotional peak when Garland givers her last performance at Talk of the Town. With her upbeat performance of “Come Rain Or Come Shine” to her bittersweet rendition of “Over the Rainbow,” Zellweger shows Garland redeeming herself to give her audience a show that reminds them of why they fell in love with her in the first place.  Zellweger’s work in this film is an outstanding tribute to Garland that will engage not only fans of classic Hollywood stars, but all moviegoers.

The film has fine supporting performances, including Jessie Buckley as Garland’s personal assistant and Finn Wittrock as Mickey Deans, who was Garland’s fifth and last husband, but the one that stands out is Darci Shaw, who plays a young Judy.  In these sequences, we see how committed Judy is to her profession, but also the physical and emotional toll that it has on her, with Judy being on a restricted diet and not given much time to sleep.  Between these few scenes, Shaw is able to convey the stress that being a young movie star has on Garland, and therefore, we have a better understanding as to why Garland suffers from the problems that she faces later in her life.

The screenplay by Tom Edge, which is based on Peter Quilter’s musical, “End of the Rainbow,” can get a little repetitive in showing Garland’s drug and alcohol addictions and the side effects that follow, but the narrative makes up for this when it delivers scenes that bring out the strong emotions of Garland’s journey in trying to clean up her life.

The flashbacks that we see throughout the film that focus on Garland’s earlier years in Hollywood are some of the best of the film.  Garland had an illustrious career, and although the flashbacks that are included supply details pertaining to problems that she encountered near the beginning of her career, I wish that the movie was a little longer so that we could have had a few more of these flashbacks to provide us with more of a background concerning the issues that Garland carried from a young age into adulthood.

The direction by Goold can make the film feel like a television movie at times; but, with the help of cinematography by Ole Bratt Birkeland, Goold is still able to bring us some memorable scenes that absorb us into the film.  One such scene is a long take that occurs in the first few minutes that brings us through the set for “The Wizard of Oz,” calling forth the happiness that we have with seeing the yellow brick road laid out, but also showing the difficulties that such a production and its studio executives placed on Dorothy.

It’s also worth mentioning the scene in which Garland gives the final performance of her engagement at the Talk of the Town.  In this scene, Goold captures an abundance of the emotion and magic that Garland transmitted from the stage, bringing us a sequence that is sure to leave you misty eyed as Garland puts all that she can into her performance.

“Judy” may play out like a traditional biopic at times, but it’s still a loving tribute to an entertainer who dedicated her life to instilling joy in the hearts of her fans, and as you watch this movie, you’ll feel the happiness that I’m sure her audiences must have felt.

Grade: B+

Years After His Father’s Disappearance, an Astronaut Searches Through the Stars

Brad Pitt in "Ad Astra"
Photo Credit:Imdb.com 

Check out my review on SiftPop.com!

A Group of Dancers Turns a Financial Crisis into Their Fortune

From left: Lili Reinhart, Jennifer Lopez, Keke Palmer,
and Constance Wu in "Hustlers"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

As with any historical event, there are a wealth of stories to be told.  There are some that are easy to believe, and there are others that are true, but you have trouble believing.  With the 2007-2008 financial crisis, director Adam McKay tackled this subject with his 2015 film, “The Big Short.”  While this movie took an approach that pretty much encompassed the bigger picture of what happened, we now have a true story from that event that focuses on a smaller occurrence within that larger story, but one that’s just as involving.

Writer-director Lorene Scafaria brings us her crime drama, “Hustlers” (for which McKay was one of the producers), which tells an intriguing account of how a scam against Wall Street workers went right, and then wrong, and it makes for one of the year’s most entertaining films.

In 2007, Dorothy (Constance Wu) is trying to earn money by dancing at a strip club in New York City that’s frequented by stock traders.  Being new to the place, fellow dancer Ramona Vega (Jennifer Lopez) helps Dorothy get the run of the place.  After the financial crash results in the club losing most of their business, Ramona comes up with a plan to bring clients from the outside to their club and hustle money out of them.  With the help of Dorothy and two other dancers, Mercedes (Keke Palmer) and Annabelle (Lili Reinhart), they have a lot of success.  However, as their riches build and their lifestyles become more luxurious, their new venture soon begins to fall apart.

Wu provides a terrific performance that has us experience her conflicted feelings with how she earns money, but also has us know why she’s doing it.  There’s an abundance of drama within her character because of how she grows into herself and becomes Ramona’s business partner, but also when she begins to question the morality of what she and her group are doing to their clients.  Wu’s performance as Dorothy reminds you of Ray Liotta’s portrayal of Henry Hill in “Goodfellas” because, like Hill, Dorothy is mentored by a more experienced person in her line of work, tries to make a living through crime, and is then thrust into tense situations when the authorities begin to close in on her and her friends.  We sense her panic as she tries to hold everything together when it all seems to be coming undone, while also trying to keep a level head and manage any trouble, and we’re absorbed in her journey because we know what she has to lose.

Lopez delivers a dynamite performance as Dorothy’s compassionate mentor.  There’s both love and an underlying fire to Lopez’s work that makes her so entertaining and enthralling to watch.  She presents someone who’s quick on her feet to make sure that everything goes according to plan, investing you in the meticulousness that she displays early on as their plan comes together and is then enacted.  Just like with Dorothy, Ramona has much for which to live, but seeing all of the success go to her head later on offers some tense drama as she starts to become reckless and continues to justify her actions, even when the plan starts coming undone.  After a string of mediocre movies, this is a vehicle where Lopez’s acting talents can shine once again.

The strong mentor-mentee relationship between Dorothy and Ramona digs deep into their clashing viewpoints as to how they should go about their questionable actions.  We go from what seems to be an unbreakable trust between the two to one that becomes tenuous, and the volatility of their situation soon proves to be the breaking point, leading us on a thrilling journey as they try to cover their tracks.  The connection between Wu and Lopez is what makes this movie spark.  Wu draws you into the story itself, and Lopez draws you into their world, and watching their characters help each other and then have animosity between then makes for some compelling interactions.

Scafaria’s screenplay, which is based on Jessica Pressler’s 2015 “New York” magazine article, “The Hustlers at Scores,” brings us a story that offers the audience a chance to connect with the four main characters and wonder if we would be able to go through the ethically ambiguous actions of the characters.  Scafaria offers insights into the lives these characters, such as what their lives are like at the start of the movie and what their dreams for the future are, and through all of this, we know the personal reasons as to why they choose to hustle their clients.  This not only makes for a thrilling crime movie, but also an emotional one.

As you watch this movie, you can make an unexpected comparison between this film and Scafaria’s 2008 screenplay, “Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” which was directed by Peter Sollett.  This was released during the recession and takes place in New York City, although the financial crisis isn’t mentioned, whereas Scafaria now revisits late ‘00s New York and shows a shadier side of recession-era New York City, whereas her depiction of NYC in “Nick & Norah” was more romanticized.

Scafaria shows a strong dedication to immersing us in the film’s setting, such as a long take that introduces us to Dorothy’s work life.  This long take, which is from cinematographer Todd Banhazl, lasts for the first few minutes of the movie, with the camera following Dorothy from the dressing room into the main room of the club and staying with her as she walks around and interacts with some clients.  With the film’s noteworthy camerawork, great acting, amazing soundtrack (including a perfect use of Lorde’s “Royals” during a pivotal scene in the film’s last half hour), and detailed set design, everything fits together without fail.

Although the drama helps keep you invested in “Hustlers,” there isn’t any denying that this movie is also so much fun.  The characters may be after huge sums of money, but you’ll want to hand yours over so you can see this several times.

Grade: A

A Man Goes on a Journey That All Begins with a Painting

Ansel Elgort in "The Goldfinch"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

Check out my review for "The Goldfinch" on SiftPop.com!

While Fixing Her Life, a Young Woman Has the Finish Line in Sight

Jillian Bell in "Brittany Runs a Marathon"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

Writer-director Paul Downs Colaizzo’s comedy-drama, “Brittany Runs a Marathon,” begins with the titular character (a star-making performance from Jillian Bell) asleep in her bed.  The sun is shining through her window, and her alarm clock reads 12:37.  She parties too late, which causes her to be late to her job.  Her life isn’t what she expected it to be, and she doesn’t have much motivation to improve it, yet.

This is something that we’ve seen in other movies, but it’s done so in a charming way that not only results in a film that’s funny, but one that’s much more moving than I anticipated.

Brittany Forgler lives in New York City and doesn’t live the healthiest of lifestyles.  At the request of her doctor, she begins to lose weight.  After taking up running with her new friends, Catherine (Michaela Watkins) and Seth (Micah Stock), Brittany soon comes up with the idea for the three of them to train for the New York City marathon.  While the preparations prove difficult at first, Brittany will soon find her goal coming more and more within reach.

While Bell has had supporting performances in comedies like “22 Jump Street,” “The Night Before,” and “Office Christmas Party,” her latest role proves that she has the humorous capabilities to headline a comedy.  It’s a role where she makes terrific use of her character’s biting wit, making Brittany someone to whom you’re drawn right away.  What results in Brittany being a memorable character is how she shows her character’s talent for making others laugh, while also seeming to use it as a coping mechanism to get through difficult situations, making her a bittersweet character as she presents this comical side of her persona. Below her humorous facade, Bell presents someone whose insecurities take a toll on her each day, but doesn’t display it.  Soon, however, Bell starts to show Brittany becoming more comfortable with herself as her character embraces her newfound determination for her lifestyle change.  

The film also has some memorable supporting roles from Watkins, Stock, and Utkarsh Ambudkar, who plays Brittany’s new roommate, and Lil Rel Howery, who plays her brother-in-law.  At first glance, these characters don’t seem as though they will have much to them, but the way in which the story explores their personal problems and has these characters connect with Brittany allows for them to provide emotional performances that help to deepen the themes of the film.  The strongest case is for Watkins’ character, about whom we learn quite a bit early in the film.  Because of how she opens up to Brittany in the first act of the movie, this gives their heartfelt relationship a chance to develop as the movie goes on.

Colaizzo’s screenplay, which is inspired by his roommate, presents a motivating story that isn’t just about its main character training for a marathon, but is also about her working on other aspects of her life as she tries to get it in order.  It shows her trying to handle her relationships with others, as well as trying to maintain a job.  He also provides details concerning Brittany’s familial past and present and how it all continues to impact her during the events of the movie. Colaizzo focuses on several themes throughout the film, but manages to dedicate enough time to each one.  He creates a story that focuses on the significance of taking charge of your life; how important it is to accept help from others, even if it’s hard for you to admit that you need it; and how people are willing to give something up in order to assist you with your issues.

In his directorial debut, Colaizzo is able to extract natural performances out of his cast.  And, despite the improvisational feel of certain scenes, they don’t go on for longer than they have to, which allows for us to stay invested in what the characters have to say.  During all of this, Colaizzo gives us characters who feel genuine and makes sure that they stay that way as they tackle relatable situations.

“Brittany Runs a Marathon” is an uplifting view of what you can accomplish when you decide to change your life for the better, making it a winner for whom you’ll be cheering.

Grade: A-

Five Years Later: A Look Back on “The Last Five Years”

Jeremy Jordan and Anna Kendrick in "The Last Five Years"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

Five years ago, writer-director Richard LaGravenese’s musical, “The Last Five Years,” premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.  While it didn’t receive a lot of attention in theaters (it was released in less than 40 U.S. cinemas and on video-on-demand the same day), it’s one of the those movies that deserves to be discovered.  Based on Jason Robert Brown’s musical, which premiered in 2001, the film chronicles its love story in an invigorating new way.

The narrative takes place in New York City and follows the five-year relationship between struggling actress Cathy Hiatt (Anna Kendrick) and rising novelist Jamie Wellerstein (Jeremy Jordan).  The segments that are told from Cathy’s viewpoint recount the relationship from the end to the beginning, and the segments that are told from Jamie’s viewpoint go from the beginning of the relationship to the end.  Throughout their time together, the young couple face various ups and downs that will test the stability of their relationship.

As Kendrick exemplified in the “Pitch Perfect” film series and the movie adaptation of “Into the Woods,” she has one of the finest singing voices in film today, and “The Last Five Years” is a hallmark of her radiant talent.  She displays a dead-inside heartbreak in the film’s opening song, “Still Hurting,” a palpably idealistic outlook for her and Jamie’s relationship when singing “I Can Do Better Than That,” and an uncertainty as to where she stands in the relationship with “A Part of That.”  As you hear Cathy sing through all of these emotions, you can feel her pain due to her career not taking off and feeling like she comes second behind Jamie’s career, making her feel like she’s being pushed to the side.  It’s all in a performance that’s evidence as to why Kendrick is one of the most welcome of movie presences.

Jordan is compelling as someone who experiences fast success, and soon lets that success go to his head.  He shows the uncontainable excitement of having his work recognized in “Moving Too Fast,” the conflict of being faithful to Cathy and being attracted to other girls due to his success in “A Miracle Would Happen,” and his frustration of trying to convince Cathy to be happy for his success with “If I Didn’t Believe In You.”  Jordan’s character isn’t the easiest for which to feel sorry, but he brings forth the internal trouble that he experiences as his fame rises and his connection to Cathy becomes tenuous, making his part of the journey as emotional as Cathy’s.

Kendrick and Jordan create wondrous theatricality together, with their voices capturing both the joyousness of falling in love and melancholy of falling out of it.  Their chemistry is rock solid, making the audience feel exuberant during the sequences where they experience happiness, and crushed when their relationship is falling apart.  Out of all of the time that they share on screen, one moment that speaks to their love is Jamie’s performance of “The Schmuel Song,” a lyrical story that he sings to Cathy in order to lift her spirits, and to see them beam at each other as they dance around their apartment near the end of the scene is an absolute pleasure.

The screenplay by LaGravenese follows the structure of the play, where we go back and forth between Cathy and Jamie’s points of view.  Despite me enjoying the movie the first time that I watched it last summer, I found that telling the story like this was kind of arbitrary, but I now have an understanding as to why it was told this way.  With the story being told from two points of view, we have two timelines start out as being on opposite ends of the movie’s timeframe, eventually coming closer together until they meet in the middle at Cathy and Jamie’s wedding, and then drift further apart, which is emblematic of Cathy and Jamie’s relationship because they come closer and closer, only to drift further and further apart as time goes on.  As this happens, the emotional ups and downs reflect the volatility of their relationship.  Yes, the story can seem thin, but when it’s told in a captivating way, complete with wonderful performances and great music to back it up, it’s difficult to complain.

Ever since I watched this movie for the first time, I’ve listened to selections from the soundtrack almost every day.  They’re get-stuck-in-your-head great, ranging from joyous to heartbreaking, so your emotions run a gamut of highs and lows, taking you on an emotional back-and-forth as you go through Cathy and Jamie’s relationship.  From the upbeat “Shiksa Goddess” and “I Can Do Better Than That” to the downbeat “See I’m Smiling” and “Nobody Needs to Know,” the soundtrack has tremendous feeling behind it.  However, the best selection from the soundtrack is the ending number, “Goodbye Until Tomorrow/I Could Never Rescue You,” a song of such power that brings this love story to a crescendo because of how it blends the beginning and end of the relationship to poignant effect.  We see Cathy’s optimism of what this relationship could bring, and we see Jamie’s regrets over where this relationship has brought him, concluding the film on the best note possible.

Although this is a musical, LaGravenese doesn’t resort to flashiness; and, for this type of musical, that’s okay because the story doesn’t demand grand sets and elaborate dances, but is instead an intimate look at a relationship, with the movie focusing on just these two characters.  LaGravenese captures the laughs and tears of Cathy and Jamie’s time together and ensures that every scene presents as much authenticity from their bond as possible.

The best love stories are the ones that are the most relatable, and no matter how your previous romances turned out, there’s a good chance that you might find a part of you and your significant other in “The Last Five Years.”

Grade: A-

When Fear Returns to a Small Town, So Do the Survivors

Bill Skarsgård in "It: Chapter Two"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com 

Two years ago, director Andy Muschietti gave audiences the thrilling and chilling “It,” the first part of a two-movie adaptation of Stephen King’s mammoth horror novel from 1986.  In the end, it was a vast improvement over the 1990 miniseries, boasting a talented young cast, an emotional story, the spirit of the source material, and a terrifying performance from Bill Skarsgård as antagonist Pennywise the Dancing Clown. 

Following the success of part one, there wasn’t any reason to doubt that part two would deliver the greatness in equal measure.  However, despite a stellar cast and some resonant themes, Andy Muschietti’s “It: Chapter Two” tends to buckle under the weight of its ambition.

Twenty-seven years after the Losers’ Club (Jaeden Martell, Sophia Lillis, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Finn Wolfhard, Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Glazer, and Wyatt Oleff) defeated Pennywise and made an oath to return to their hometown of Derry, Maine, if he ever re-emerged, a grisly murder occurs in the community.  Upon hearing this and suspecting that Pennywise has come back, the older Losers’ Club (James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Jay Ryan, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, and James Ransone) head back to Derry to conquer this ancient evil once and for all.

Despite the movie not living up to part one, you can’t deny that the acting is terrific all around.  The younger Losers’ Club returns for the movie’s flashback scenes, and their strong chemistry that made the first movie so heartfelt is there in these scenes.  Their adult counterparts are just as skillful at reflecting the on-screen bond of their characters’ younger selves, with all of them proving to be ideal casting choices, especially Hader and Ransone as an older Richie Tozier and Eddie Kaspbrak, respectively.  The older Losers’ Club do superb work in displaying the trauma that coming back to Derry has placed on them, and that’s from where most of the film’s drama comes.  This is what keeps you involved in the movie, even when the issues with the script make themselves known.

Skarsgård gets to be a frightening presence once again, but there’s an even bigger use of CGI for his character this time around than what was used in part one, which is a shame because Skarsgård has shown that he can be cause intense shivers with just his voice and facial expressions, so it’s a letdown that he’s not given much screen time for those aspects of his performance. 

The screenplay by Gary Dauberman, who cowrote part one with Chase Palmer and Cary Fukunaga (the latter of whom was set to direct “It” before stepping down over creative differences) finds its strength when it focuses on the anguish that the older Losers feel when they go back to Derry and must face their greatest fears.  What’s unfortunate is how the narrative goes back and forth between the past and present of the Losers, so there are times where it feels like we’re not given enough time with the older cast members to see them sort through their distress.  While the flashbacks could have worked because of the novel going between the past and present, as well as the characters receiving pieces of their childhood memories upon returning to Derry, it’s all undone because those flashbacks come far too often and pause the momentum of the adult characters’ arc.  The younger Losers were given a whole movie in which they could develop their characters, so part two shouldn’t have dedicated so much time to them, and you soon get the feeling that you’re watching deleted scenes from part one whenever part two shifts its focus back to the younger Losers.  The movie runs about two hours and 45 minutes, meaning that it’s half an hour longer than part one, and the aforementioned flashbacks are the prime cause of that unnecessary length.

Despite these flaws, Dauberman is able to find a way to incorporate Pennywise’s origins into the screenplay, while avoiding the other aspects of his beginnings that wouldn’t have worked on screen.  If you’ve read the book, you know Stephen King’s psychedelic craziness within the details of how Pennywise came to be, and I can’t think of anyway as to how some of that could have translated well to this adaptation.  However, Dauberman takes the details that lend themselves well to film and is able to create a history of Pennywise that still carries some likeness of what can be found in the novel.

Muschietti uses too many jump scares throughout the movie, which are accompanied by, of course, loud music stings, and what’s worse is that you can spot these scares coming from 10 miles away.  He's able to construct a few tense scenes, such as one that takes place in the darkness underneath a set of bleachers at a local baseball game, in which Muschietti makes an effective use of shadows to conceal most of Pennywise, and a claustrophobic scene later on in a hall of mirrors at a town fair.  However, as unsettling as these scenes are, Muschietti tends to fall back on jump scares in order to create easy jolts.

With the young Losers returning, the film uses de-aging technology to make those cast members appear as their ages from part one.  Although this special effect works well enough in some places, there are other areas where it doesn’t, particularly in a scene within the Losers’ clubhouse, where the de-aging for Ben and Eddie’s characters can be difficult to look at.

Given the film’s lengthy runtime, you can see that it’s going for a bigger-is-better approach, and there isn’t anyplace where that’s more apparent that in the CGI-heavy showdown between the Losers and Pennywise.  There’s so much going on in this last half hour, so it ends up feeling rather chaotic and going on longer than it has to.

This duology could have been an accomplished vision of King’s novel, but “It: Chapter Two” has trouble matching the scares and heart that made the first film so memorable.  I guess Pennywise is having the last laugh.

Grade: C+

Where the Dead Reside, Their House is Alive: A Retro Review of “The Haunting” (1963)

From left: Claire Bloom, Russ Tamblyn, Julie Harris,
and Richard Johnson in "The Haunting"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

In 1963, director Robert Wise spooked audiences by giving them one of cinema’s ultimate haunted-house movies, “The Haunting,” an adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s 1959 novel.  In a decade that gave us its share of horror classics, such as “Psycho,” “Rosemary’s Baby,” and “Night of the Living Dead,” this movie has made just as strong of an impression with subtle scares and distinguished characters.  This was my first time watching it, and it’s one of the earliest examples of knowing how to use the minimal to maximal effect.

The story follows paranormal researcher Dr. John Markway (Richard Johnson), who wishes to investigate the supposed haunting of the 90-year-old Hill House.  To do so, he enlists the help of Eleanor Lance (Julie Harris), who encountered a poltergeist as a child; Theodora (Claire Bloom), a psychic; and Luke Sanderson (Russ Tamblyn), the heir to the mansion.  As their time in the house goes on, their experiences with the supernatural will grow more malevolent and threaten their lives.

Harris provides an emotional performance as a woman who’s consumed by grief and guilt over the death of her mother.  It’s a role that explores her character’s need to belong when her remaining family seems like they wish to shut her out, and Harris exhibits a hopelessness in feeling disconnected from those around her, being a loner who connects more with the house then she does with people.

Johnson’s performance is one where he seems to be having fun with his role as someone who’s enthusiastic about supernatural discoveries.  He does superb work in showing his character’s interest in uncovering the hauntings of the mansion, which is highlighted in the opening five minutes where he explains the compelling and disturbing history of Hill House.  Besides this, Johnson also shows Dr. Markway’s caring side as this character tries to help Eleanor when she becomes more and more consumed by the house, and he exhibits a palpable urgency as he tries to talk Eleanor out of her delusions.

Bloom and Tamblyn are very entertaining as the well-rounded comic relief, providing us with a laugh here and there, particularly Bloom, who’s quick with her verbal barbs and proving her character to be someone with whom you wouldn’t mind exploring a ghostly house if it meant being able to crack a laugh in between being frightened.

The screenplay by Nelson Gidding takes plenty of time establishing the characters and setting.  We’re given a chance to explore the house with the quartet of explorers, while also getting to learn about them as they traverse the endless number of rooms and corridors.  It isn’t until about 40 minutes into the movie where we get the characters’ first night in the mansion, but when it occurs, Gidding makes it last for several minutes as we feel the terror of not knowing what’s going bump in the night.

A main part of the story is the exploration of Eleanor’s character feeling out of place, both within her family and the group at the house.  As the film goes on, she feels as though Hill House is where she’s supposed to be.  While this relationship has an ominous start, with Eleanor saying, “I’m like a small creature swallowed whole by a monster, and the monster feels my tiny movements inside,” she soon becomes accustomed to the house, showing an unsettling attachment that becomes stronger as the movie goes on, one that keeps us anchored to her character as we wait to see what kind of effect this bond will have on Eleanor.  Eleanor soon longs to stay there, to be accepted somewhere, to roam the halls, rooms, and shadows of Hill House, as if wanting to be an eternal resident herself, a ghost.  This makes the movie succeed as not only a horror film, but as a character-driven drama.

It might be cliche to say that the setting is every bit as much of a character as the people, but in this case, it couldn’t be more true.  Within the film’s last 20 minutes, we have a scene where the characters are spending the night in the parlor.  When they begin hearing noises, they see the parlor door expand outwards, then return back, almost as if it’s inhaling and exhaling, a living and breathing entity with a mind of its own.

The cinematography by Davis Boulton captures every fascinating detail of the house, using many medium shots in order to present the rooms and hallways in their entireties, as well as imposing, low-angle shots of the outside of the house.  He does a masterful job in presenting the size of the openness of the mansion, giving us a full knowledge of the house’s layout and a feeling of how the terror within can be hiding anywhere.

Wise employs haunted-house sounds and darkness to memorable effect, all of which makes this a compelling ghost story that ranks among cinema’s finest.  He creates scares that are effective in their simplicity, and he keeps us riveted with his great use of atmospherics and the characters’ responses to the increasing dread.

If you’re in the mood for a terrific nail-biter, you’ll want to pass through the doors of Hill House and find out what scary surprises await you. 

Grade: A