Favorite Haunted House Movie?

[rhett]

With THE AMITYVILLE HORROR remake continuing to rack in the cash at the box office, let's take the time to consider the haunted house genre as a whole. It's been a genre spanning several decades, from black and white to color. It seems to be having a bit of a renaissance as of late, but how does the new compare with the old?

My favorite is The Haunting 1963, although The Uninvited gives it a run for its money.

[Tawny]

Poltergeist

I went with The Haunting (1963), but Burnt Offerings, Poltergeist, and The Shining aren't far behind it.

Originally Posted by Tawny

Poltergeist

Absolute ditto! Love that movie. It needs an SE treatment.

[Katatonia]

The Changeling without a doubt. One of the creepiest movies I've ever seen and always a joy to watch. George C. Scott was great and I just can't imagine anyone else doing the role. It's being remake (of course) supposedly with the same director who did the original.

Poltergeist is probably my second favorite, since it scared the hell out of me as a kid. And then there is The Shining and The Legend of Hell House, also both brilliant horror films.

[KamuiX]

I'm honestly not a huge fan of haunted house films, but The Shining is an incredible film, and the original The Haunting and The Others are quite good as well. Also worth a big mention and not listed are The Woman in Black from 1989 (which is IMO one of the scariest films ever made), The Innocents, and the UNCUT version of Darkness (since everyone says the US version is cut to hell). The rest, to be honest, don't do anything for me.

[Agent Z]

The Changeling. I feel sorry for those who haven't seen this little gem yet.

[Erick H.]

I went with THE SHINING,but POLTERGEIST,THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE and BURNT OFFERINGS wern't far behind.Actually,I enjoyed many of the films on that list.In general(though not always),haunted house films tend to have somewhat better developed plots and charecters than slashers.I suspect thats because many of them have a literary origin(novel,short story etc).

[Devo1313]

I can't believe you are forgetting The Innocents. Even Michael Weldon called it "The best horror film ever made". Also behind it are The Uninvited,Legend of Hell House and House on Haunted Hill(the original with Vinnie Price).

The Sentinel is my pick. Certainly not a traditional haunted house picture, but I certainly think it qualifies. Its followed very closely by The Innocents (release a DVD, Fox!) and the original The Haunting.

As for The Changeling, I like it a lot, but don't think its as great as many claim it to be. I have only seen it once though, so I should pick up the DVD soon.

Burnt Offerings, the first time I saw it the ending just totally blew me away.

[dwatts]

Oh, it's not even close. I just had to scan the list looking for the original "The Haunting", easily the most effective haunted house story out there.

[Surnom]

I went with The Shining. I also liked a lot the others

Spoiler: I liked the way everything was inversed

I still have to see the original The Haunting, and the Changeling, tho. And it's been quite a long time since I saw Poltergeist, but that was pretty good too as I recalled it...

[_pi_]

Poltergeist is my favorite, but I'd say that the original Haunting is the best of the lot. Shining is also really good, although I'm one of those people who love the book too much to be able to completely forgive the film ...