The Haunting12A

Directed by Robert Wise | UK/USA | 1963 | 1h 52m | Starring Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson, Russ Tamblyn, Fay Compton

Wise’s adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ (1959) adheres closely to the novel. This is one of the few certainties in Hill House: the film follows the disintegration of Eleanor as she experiences her freedom and an eruption of sexual desire. Presented as part of the Fright’s Out! season, with an introduction by Dr Michael Goodrum

Reviews

‘Wise brilliantly uses black and white widescreen to strand his characters in odd-shaped rooms or corridors, making the watcher’s eye skitter frantically over the letterbox screen to catch every ingeniously rendered detail.’
★★★★★
Ian Freer, Empire Magazine

‘When The Haunting digs into the internals of its story, summons its spirits and lets them play havoc with cold reason, it has a power and fervor unmatched by any film ghost stories.’
James Powers, The Hollywood Reporter

Sorry - you missed it!

We showed The Haunting between October 11, 2025 and October 13, 2025.

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What else is on?

Today (Thursday 27th August)

17:45

The Summer Book PG
1h 35m
Eight-year-old Sophia spends the summer with her father and grandmother on their family island in Finland's Gulf, all three grieving her mother's recent death. Directed by Charlie McDowell and starring Glenn Close, this quiet drama adapts Tove Jansson's novel.

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20:00

The Odyssey 15
2h 52m
Odysseus, King of Ithaca, journeys home after the Trojan War, confronting vengeful gods and monstrous trials along the way. Christopher Nolan adapts Homer's epic, starring Matt Damon as Odysseus, alongside Tom Holland, Zendaya and Robert Pattinson.

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Tomorrow (Friday 28th August)

15:30

On the Sea 15
1h 51m
In rural North Wales, mussel harvester Jack has been married to Maggie for over half his life, troubled by a son who rejects the family trade. When he meets Daniel, an itinerant deckhand, attraction creates an impossible dilemma. Directed by Helen Walsh.

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18:15

Tony 15
1h 46m
In a chaotic restaurant kitchen during the summer of 1975, Tony stumbles into a job that will shape his life. Dominic Sessa (The Holdovers) stars as chef Anthony Bourdain in this biographical drama, directed by Matt Johnson (Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie).

Book here

20:45

Thief 18
+ Introduction
1h 59m
Professional safecracker Frank wants one last big score before he walks away from crime for good, but the underworld won't let him go easily. Starring James Caan, Michael Mann's directorial debut is a tightly controlled, hyper-real crime thriller.

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Plan your visit

Our beautiful art deco inspired auditorium can be found just off East Oxford's Cowley Road.We are open 7 days a week. We open the cinema and box office 30 minutes before the scheduled start time of each film, and the Box Office then closes 10 minutes after the film starts. We only show a few adverts – less than most cinemas – and we only play a couple of trailers, so please don’t be late as the film itself starts very close to the advertised time!