Haunted

Professor David Ash, a skeptical scholar who debunks fake mediums, is invited to a secluded family estate called Edbrook to calm the house's haunted reputation. Upon arrival, he finds the Mariell family protective and enigmatic, with Christina and Robert's strained marriage, the eerie care of a longtime nanny, and the peculiar doctor who oversees the place. As shadows lengthen and strange phenomena tangle his senses, Ash begins questioning whether the hauntings are mere hoaxes or something far more personal. The deeper he probes, the more the estate hints at a history that challenges his rational explanations, suggesting that Edbrook holds truths beyond his methods. Whispers in the corridors and shadows in the manor hint at a past that binds the living to the estate.

Directed by Lewis Gilbert, Haunted arrived in 1995 as a British supernatural mystery blending romance and gothic atmosphere. The screenplay credits go to Bob Kellett and Timothy Prager with James Herbert contributing ideas, signaling a collaboration that leans on Herbert's eerie fiction sensibilities.

Box office data for Haunted is not widely documented, and the film remains a relatively obscure entry in Lewis Gilbert's later work. While it drew viewers in certain markets, its commercial footprint was modest at best.

Haunted sits in the mid-90s British horror niche that mixes mystery, romance, and supernatural mood rather than sheer scares. It helped showcase Kate Beckinsale early in her film career and offered a refined take on haunted estates. The film also reflects 1990s Gothic style with elegant production design and restrained special effects. Fans of James Herbert might notice familiar ideas in its atmosphere.

Critics praised the film for mood and strong performances by Quinn and Beckinsale, though some found the plot tangled. It frames skepticism versus belief as a core theme, with memory and family secrets shaping fear. The movie uses atmosphere to hint at unresolved guilt. Its romance subplot then deepens the moral questions raised by Ash's investigation.