"Haunted" is a pretty good ghost movie up until we get the explanation about what it was all about, and then I think we just get too much information. I enjoyed it, but the ending needed subtlety and ambiguity rather than the over-the-top one it received, and I don't buy that last scene.
The story is set in 1928. After a drowning tragedy in his childhood, Professor David Ash (Aidan Quinn) has become a well-known debunker of psychics and the paranormal. He travels to the countryside after receiving an invitation from the Mariell family to investigate a supposed haunting at their home, Edbrook House. At the manor, he encounters the wild, but close-knit Mariell family: Robert (Anthony Andrews), Simon (Alex Lowe) and their sister Christina (Kate Beckinsale). He also meets their very scared nanny, Tess Webb (Anna Massey).
Without too giving too much away, along with bumps in the night, David also detects an undercurrent of incest, and is exposed to things that are either real or just figments of his imagination. In fact, the film cheats quite a bit, unashamedly mixing up the real and the unreal.
"Haunted" has picture-perfect locations and a picture-perfect cast. Aiden Quinn is a solid presence as he goes from initial disbelief to acceptance of things beyond his control – he has about the best shocked stare in the business. Kate Beckinsale is head-turningly beautiful, and gives an uninhibited performance here, although the lack of inhibition was probably more on the part of her body double. Anna Massey gives a very haunted performance as Nanny.
The film was directed by Lewis Gilbert of "Alfie" fame, and "Haunted" shows an assured touch, for most of the way at least.
The special effects are adequate without being fantastic but I think they let the film down at the end. A great ghost story depends more on mood than special effects; some of the best ones hardly have any special effects at all, just look at "The Uninvited", "The Innocents" and "The Sixth Sense".
"Haunted" falls short of those films but it gets you going for a while, it only falters at the end where instead of delivering a knockout blow, it gives us a slap with wet flannel instead.
The story is set in 1928. After a drowning tragedy in his childhood, Professor David Ash (Aidan Quinn) has become a well-known debunker of psychics and the paranormal. He travels to the countryside after receiving an invitation from the Mariell family to investigate a supposed haunting at their home, Edbrook House. At the manor, he encounters the wild, but close-knit Mariell family: Robert (Anthony Andrews), Simon (Alex Lowe) and their sister Christina (Kate Beckinsale). He also meets their very scared nanny, Tess Webb (Anna Massey).
Without too giving too much away, along with bumps in the night, David also detects an undercurrent of incest, and is exposed to things that are either real or just figments of his imagination. In fact, the film cheats quite a bit, unashamedly mixing up the real and the unreal.
"Haunted" has picture-perfect locations and a picture-perfect cast. Aiden Quinn is a solid presence as he goes from initial disbelief to acceptance of things beyond his control – he has about the best shocked stare in the business. Kate Beckinsale is head-turningly beautiful, and gives an uninhibited performance here, although the lack of inhibition was probably more on the part of her body double. Anna Massey gives a very haunted performance as Nanny.
The film was directed by Lewis Gilbert of "Alfie" fame, and "Haunted" shows an assured touch, for most of the way at least.
The special effects are adequate without being fantastic but I think they let the film down at the end. A great ghost story depends more on mood than special effects; some of the best ones hardly have any special effects at all, just look at "The Uninvited", "The Innocents" and "The Sixth Sense".
"Haunted" falls short of those films but it gets you going for a while, it only falters at the end where instead of delivering a knockout blow, it gives us a slap with wet flannel instead.