Rosie Searle
It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Mathilde the Guild
Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
Jakoba
True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.
christopher-underwood
An elegant and confident ghostly tale, shot mainly in and around a Scottish castle. Most likable, not full of ghastly moments and very much a slow burn. But, none the less effective for that with some great moments. One involving a rocking chair and another, a short ferry boat ride across a river. Decent performances, although this did seem more like a superior TV movie rather than a feature film at times, with some flatness of voice. Lady director may be why there seemed to be particularly good use of period costumes and incidentals including good portrayal of servants and also gypsies in the woods. perhaps a little too much time spent on the meetings and greetings and dancing and drinking, though I very much enjoyed the daughter (who was 'on the stage') that drank more brandy than the old boys and smoked a pipe, well! Nothing sensational but worthy of a watch if you get the chance, although I have to say it was a good job my print was so good because some of this was shot in very low light indeed.
merri-1
I TOO saw this about 20 years ago.. I was a student at the time and went to all the art films that I could. This was (and still is) at the top of my all time favorites;I still think of it. I love that it wasn't violent as so many film of the "horror" genre tend to be. I remember the scenes that the other commentators have brilliantly mentioned and will add something that also appealed to me. When the haunted girl was about to "see" the ghost there'd be a, "thud", sort of noise; kind of like your heart thumping at seeing something frightening...and there'd he'd be, just looking at her. Yes the scene where she gets into a boat and is being rowed across the lake, then she looks and sees that it is him...wow...
mailerfool2
As with the Berkeley commentator, I too saw The Haunting of M in its theatrical release, likely after a favorable review by Siskel and Ebert. I remember a cold night, no drizzle. I remember a theater in San Francisco, somewhere in the Northpoint area. Three of us saw it, and we were all quite impressed. It had what is now considered an 'indy' feel. I don't think I ever connected the director with any film since, though I've seen a few of them (El Norte, Mi Familia -- both in the Pasadena area on the strength of friends there). I definitely remember the rocking chair, the bare visibility of its movement. I remember an old photo the characters commented on, where a blurred figure in the crowd photographed 'must have moved' to account for its indistinctness. This was very atmospheric, and really more aesthetically 'fit' than many. It's hard to get honestly scary; for me, haunted houses and hauntings generally do the trick, and this is one of the top half-dozen, whatever its budget
Dan Kirklin
I was going to write a review, but I found that rrichr had already done it, better than I would have. The film is absolutely perfect, in my opinion, and it's a scandal that it's not available. Twenty-some years after seeing it, in a theater full of Christmas shoppers, I still remember that no one went out to get popcorn or drinks. I doubt that anyone left to go to the bathroom. Parents with children were in the audience, and there was no disturbance. The film eschews all the gore and guts and cheap effects (i.e. it's anti-DePalma) but delivers the goods: see it once, and you'll never forget it.To rrichr's selection of that haunting scene with the rocking chair, I want to add the scene where the women get in the rowboat, where a boatman is waiting. You know exactly what's coming next, but when it comes, and they look up to see you-know-who rowing their boat, you damn near lose it anyway. (Perhaps that explains why no one left to use the bathroom.)This is a jewel, and if anyone finds it and buys it on my recommendation, then decides it wasn't worth it, I'll buy it from them. But that ain't going to happen. If the film has a flaw, I'm damned if I can see it.
