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Passes the Bechdel test

The Haunting

1999. Directed by Jan de Bont, written by David Self and Shirley Jackson.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    14 women characters. 5 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 20 scenes out of 180.
  3. Yes 3. About something besides a man
    In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.

Poster for The Haunting

The film

For over a century, the foreboding Hill House mansion has sat abandoned... or so it seemed. Intrigued by its past, Dr. Marrow lures three subjects to the site for an experiment. But, from the moment of their arrival, as night descends, the study goes horrifyingly away, and Hill House unleashes its supernatural wrath on the unsuspecting subjects.

Released
23 Jul 1999
Genres
Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
Rated
PG-13
IMDb
5.1 / 10
Metascore
42 / 100
Awards
4 wins & 14 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Nell 216 lines, woman
  2. Marrow 152 lines, man
  3. Theo 127 lines, woman
  4. Luke 68 lines, man
  5. Mary 22 lines, woman
  6. Mrs. Dudley 18 lines, woman
  7. Mr. Dudley 15 lines, man
  8. Malcolm 11 lines, man
  9. Jane 7 lines, woman
  10. Todd 6 lines, man
Full cast, 30 people
  • Liam Neeson as Dr. David Marrow
  • Lili Taylor as Nell
  • Catherine Zeta-Jones as Theo
  • Owen Wilson as Luke Sanderson
  • Bruce Dern as Mr. Dudley
  • Marian Seldes as Mrs. Dudley
  • Alix Koromzay as Mary Lambetta
  • Todd Field as Todd Hackett
  • Virginia Madsen as Jane
  • Michael Cavanaugh as Dr. Malcolm Keogh
  • Tom Irwin as Lou
  • Charles Gunning as Hugh Crain
  • Saul Priever as Ritchie
  • M.C. Gainey as Large Man
  • Hadley Eure as Carolyn Crain
  • Kadina de Elejalde as Rene Crain
  • Alessandra Benjamin as Psych Patient #1
  • Karen S. Gregan as Psych Patient #2
  • Brandon Jarrett as Psych Patient #3
  • Mary McNeal as Psych Patient #4
  • William Minkin as Psych Patient #5
  • Debi Derryberry as Child (voice)
  • Jessica Evans as Child (voice)
  • Sherry Lynn as Child (voice)
  • Miles Marsico as Child (voice)
  • Courtland Mead as Child (voice)
  • Kelsey Mulrooney as Child (voice)
  • Kyle McDougle as Child (voice)
  • Hannah Swanson as Child (voice)
  • Travis Tedford as Child (voice) (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 180

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers
ScenesWomen's linesMen's lines
1 to 494
5 to 810
9 to 121133
13 to 16150
17 to 2000
21 to 2456
25 to 2830
29 to 3280
33 to 3680
37 to 40380
41 to 4490
45 to 4850
49 to 523042
53 to 561115
57 to 6000
61 to 6470
65 to 6832
69 to 7294
73 to 761411
77 to 8045
81 to 8476
85 to 882616
89 to 922018
93 to 9620
97 to 100250
101 to 104173
105 to 10815
109 to 11250
113 to 1162825
117 to 120104
121 to 12420
125 to 12840
129 to 132717
133 to 13601
137 to 14034
141 to 14464
145 to 14801
149 to 15223
153 to 15612
157 to 16022
161 to 164156
165 to 168812
169 to 172100
173 to 17644
177 to 18013

The evidence

  • Straight from the script
  • Counted from the script and the credits

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: the passing scenes

The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
THEO: You may think I have a sickness about packing, but asking people to help me shlep the stuff I take with me everywhere is a cheap and exploit… NELL: I'm Eleanor but everyone calls me Nell. Eleanor Vance. Nell. I'm really glad you're here. Really. NELL: What a beautiful jacket. THEO: And what you're wearing, that's great, too.
THEO: Jeez. NELL: I know. NELL: Maybe we should wait for them here. THEO: Which one? Pick any.
THEO: Here. Here. Here. Oh yes! Oh yes oh YES! Here! THEO: Can't you just see it? NELL: Theo!
NELL: I love this house. I really love this house. THEO: You're okay.
THEO: No, but Nell's been here longer than I have. NELL: I only saw Theo drive up.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 61 are women's.

396 lines from women, 258 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

14 women and 14 men in the cast. 5 women and 6 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 2 of 664. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 23 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

  • First line by a woman
  • Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 57% of the words (4,156), men 43% (3,126). Women have 61% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.

Exhibit E: the test the other way

Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.

Conversations between two named characters

Exhibit F: behind the camera

5 of the 13 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 35% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Jan de Bont (man)
Written by
David Self (man)
From the novel by
Shirley Jackson (woman)
Produced by
Colin Wilson (man), Donna Roth (woman), Susan Arnold (woman)
Shot by
Karl Walter Lindenlaub (man)
Edited by
Michael Kahn (man)
Music by
Jerry Goldsmith (man)
Production design by
Eugenio Zanetti (man)
Costumes by
Danny Ned Moore (gender not listed), Ellen Mirojnick (woman)
Cast by
Randi Hiller (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Other crew

    9 women, 8 men, 16 not listed

  • Production

    5 women, 7 men, 15 not listed

  • Sound

    4 women, 11 men, 8 not listed

  • Art

    3 women, 8 men, 11 not listed

  • Camera

    2 women, 7 men, 4 not listed

  • Visual Effects

    1 women, 3 men, 8 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    6 women, 1 men, 3 not listed

  • Editing

    0 women, 7 men, 2 not listed

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 39 on average. Men: 46 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Alix Koromzay 28, Catherine Zeta-Jones 29, Lili Taylor 32, Virginia Madsen 37, Marian Seldes 70

Men

Owen Wilson 30, Todd Field 35, Liam Neeson 47, Michael Cavanaugh 56, Bruce Dern 63

Exhibit H: the money

It made 2.2 times what it cost.

Budget
$80 million
Box office
$177 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 180 scenes and 664 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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