I actually wasn't aware this was a Haunting of Hill House adaptation until I loaded up the movie, though you certainly won't see me complaining about that! I enjoyed the book, and got a lot of enjoyment out of the movie, though they did make a few odd choices.

While I understand the need to trim down for time, I was a little disappointed that they seemed to cut down (or rather cut out) basically all of the scenes of joy Eleanor felt within the house. I feel like that really showcased how strong of a grip the house had- instilling not only wild fear but near manic joy, sometimes flipping them on a dime. That contrast was sorely missed.

I also found it odd they futzed the characters the way they did- a lot of the scenes of bonding between the main cast were cut, so that was missing, but also just completely altering some characters. The core four were mostly fine, but the fact that Dr. Montague's (or, I suppose, Dr. Markway's) wife was so different. In the source text she was very much a believer in spirits, with a different approach she took total faith in, snidely belittling others who showed anything she even remotely perceived as doubt in her ways. Now, I did not care for her character during my read, but I found it strange this was completely axed in favor of making her a full on skeptic who didn't believe in spirits at all.

All in all, this was not a bad novel adaptation, but it was missing a lot of the meat of the novel, which I felt they could have at least tried to fit in. But the majority of major plot beats were hit without deviating too far, and that's not something you often see anymore, so it was quite refreshing.