The ghost castle

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Movie
German title The ghost castle
Original title The Haunting
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1999
length 113 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Jan de Bont
script David Self ,
Shirley Jackson (novel)
production Susan Arnold ,
Donna Arkoff Roth ,
Colin Wilson
music Jerry Goldsmith
camera Karl Walter Lindenlaub
cut Michael Kahn
occupation

The Haunted Castle (original title The Haunting ) is an American horror film from 1999. It is based on the novel Spuk in Hill House by Shirley Jackson , which was filmed in 1963 under the title Until the Blood Freezes (The Haunting) by Robert Wise was.

action

After Eleanor "Nell" Vance's mother died, her sister Jane forced her to move out of the shared apartment where she had taken care of the seriously ill mother. She receives an ominous call that draws her attention to a newspaper advertisement: We are looking for test subjects for a study on the subject of sleep disorders . This study suits her very well as she needs some money to make ends meet. She gets an acceptance and drives to a property in Massachusetts called "Hill House". The Hill House is looked after by Mrs. and Mr. Dudley. They leave the house every day before sunset and close the entrance gate with a heavy chain.

There she meets Dr. David Marrow, who leads the experiment, his assistant, and the other test subjects Theo and Luke. Eleanor is drawn to the strange house from the start and is captivated by the beauty of the statues and portraits of children.

On the first evening in the house, Dr. Marrow the story of former home owner Hugh Crain. He was an industrialist and tycoon who made his fortune during the industrial revolution. He had the house built for his beautiful wife Renee, but she died before the house was completed (later it turns out that Renee hanged herself on a balcony in the glass house ).

From now on it came to strange incidents: The assistant of Dr. Marrow is badly injured in the face by a broken string of the clavichord ; the huge chimney develops a frightening life of its own and at night you can hear strange noises and voices. Eleanor notices that the atmosphere is becoming increasingly evil. It is slowly becoming clear that Eleanor is not in this house by accident; she has the gift of getting deeper into the strange happenings: she can hear the ghosts and voices of children, and moreover, she sees a hanged body in the greenhouse. All of this manifests itself when an enigmatic writing appears on the portrait of Hugh Crain: “Welcome Home Eleanor”. Eleanor continues to try to uncover the secrets of the house. She realizes that Crain killed several hundred children who had worked in his factories.

After all these traumatic discoveries, everyone else involved believes that Eleanor has suffered a nervous breakdown . In light of this, Dr. Marrow argues that his experiment has nothing to do with sleep disorders, but rather is about researching the causes of fear . Theo confronts the doctor with his bogus experiment - but it should turn out based on two further occurrences that these events are supernatural : The first event takes place in the old greenhouse. Dr. Marrows is now convinced that he has to get his subjects out of the house when suddenly the huge iron statue in the old well (in the form of a drowning man) spews blood . The second incident that reveals the true nature of the house happens in Eleanor's bedroom: this comes to life and tries to kill her. But this is preceded by another strange experience: Eleanor finds a huge mirror. When she looks at herself there, her reflection in the mirror has a malicious grin and she also sees how her stomach begins to grow. It grows and grows and it looks like she is 9 months pregnant. The reflection constantly repeats the words: "Welcome home, Eleanor" ...

After Eleanor could be saved, the group is convinced of the supernatural processes and tries to escape from the house. However, Crain's ghost thwarted them; all windows and doors are locked.

Meanwhile, Eleanor discovers that Crain's second wife, Carolyn, was her great-great-grandmother because she bears a very strong resemblance to her. (So ​​the reflection of Eleanor was actually her great-great-grandmother). She even has an old medallion with the letter C engraved on it. Now everything is clear to her: only she can end everything - she has to defeat the ghost of Crain and only then can she save the group. It also turns out that she did not receive the ominous call (which drew her attention to the ad) from any of the people involved.

The group realizes that there is an evil force in this house. In anger, Luke tries to destroy one of the portraits of Crain, but ends up being thrown into the fireplace in revenge by Crain's ghost and then beheaded by the counterweight of the smoke vent.

Eleanor manages to detach the evil spirit of Crain from the structure of the house by this spirit manifesting itself in a ghostly body. She also manages to direct this ghost to a huge, massive iron gate. The following inscription can be read on the gate: " All Ye Who Stand Before These Doors Shall Be Judged " (All those who stand in front of this gate are to be judged). Crain hovers in front of Eleanor when suddenly a strong wind sweeps through the room, the demons guarding the gate grab Crain and pull him into the closed gate. But you spare Eleanor. But this dies in this action. However, through their death, all souls of the children are set free and can ascend to heaven together with the soul of Eleanor - the spirit of Crain, on the other hand, is drawn to hell .

In the meantime, Dr. Marrow and Theo to leave the house. The next morning they are met by the Dudleys. Mr. Dudley asks the doctor if he has found out everything he wanted to know - the doctor does not answer.

characters

  • Eleanor Vance is rather reserved towards the others and behaves very shyly. But she is also the only one who is attracted to the house and is the only one who hears the children's voices. She is Hugh Crain's great-great-granddaughter and is the only one of the protagonists related to him.
  • Theo is an artist from the big city. It appears unnaturally beautiful. Because of her bisexuality, she is very attractive to Eleanor, but also to Luke. She is next to Dr. Marrow the only survivor.
  • Luke Sanderson is the first to realize this is not a study of sleep disorders. Because of his cynical nature, he sometimes comes across as very pompous. He shows a weakness for Theo, to whom he feels drawn. Most of the time, however, he is rejected by her.
  • Dr. David Marrow conducts the study and is the only one to survive next to Theo.

Background and criticism

Awards

  • Bogey Award 1999
  • BMI Film Music Award 2000
  • The German Film and Media Evaluation FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the title valuable.

Nominated for:

literature

Web links