The Haunting

This frightening movie owes its success to Wise's tasteful handling. Although heads never roll and blood is not splattered, the suspense is constant and at times nearly unbearable. A professor of anthropology studying ESP, Dr. John Markway, arrives at Hill House, a New England mansion reputed to be crammed with demons and ghosts, a repository for everything evil. With him is a slim spinster Eleanor Vance who until recently has spent her life caring for her aged mother, and a lesbian Theodora. Both women have experienced extra-sensory occurrences, and Dr. Markway has enlisted their aid in his quest for knowledge on the subject. The heir to the house, Mr Sanderson hopes to sell it at a great profit and goes along for a ride he soon regrets.