“The Haunting” – The second adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s novel “The Haunting of Hill House” has Liam Neeson conducting an experiment on the nature of fear under the guise of an insomnia study. The twist is that Hill House might actually be haunted. The lavish sets and creepy sound effects carry the film for a while, but it eventually becomes a study in boredom, not fear — director Jean De Bont gets in one legitimate scare the whole movie. Neeson’s and Lili Taylor’s characters are developed some, while Catherine Zeta-Jones and Owen Wilson are just along for the ride. C+
– John Hansen, NDSU Spectrum, September 1999