10 Scariest Movie Paintings

Contemporary horror hero Mike Flanagan did justice to the spirit of Shirley Jackson's psychological horror novel The Haunting of Hill House despite changing the story entirely in his 2018 television miniseries of the same name.

But many years earlier, Speed director Jan deBont's 1999 adaptation The Haunting missed the mark entirely.

You know, because it was a horror movie from the director of Speed.

This risible “adaptation” turns the portrait of its villain Hugh Crane into a giant, looming dark picture which takes up an entire wall of his over-designed mansion. It's one of many beautiful, creepy pieces of design work featured in the film's undeniably impressive set.

The unsettling but beguiling painting joins the sets, the film's costumes, and its score in its many departments which are well crafted and beautifully arranged, resulting in a movie which just needs a good script and less comical performances to actually be worthwhile.

Of course, with this laughably overcooked movie being as silly as it is, the painting comes to life in the unintentionally hilarious climax of the film to do battle with a slumming-it Lili Taylor. Never change, Jan.