The House On Haunted Hill

Rating:
Summary: House On Haunted Hill (1959)
Review: Vincent Price has been known to be one of the most brilliant actors alive. He has appeared in many great horror films, such as "The Fly", "The Return Of The Fly", "House Of Wax", etc. But his role in "House On Haunted Hill", was his best by far.

Vincent Price plays millionaire, Frederick Loren. One particular night, Frederick's wife, Annabelle Loren (played by Carol Ohmart), has decided to throw a haunted house party and has planned to have it in the house on haunted hill. While Annabelle may have come up with the idea, Frederick has come up with the deal of having their guests spend the night. He has said that if each guest stays the entire night and is still alive by morning, he will pay them $10,000 each. He has also taken care of the guest list. He has invited five guests and they are: Lance Schroeder (played by Richard Long), a test pilot who has a fear of many things. It seems as though his greed has helped him be brave enough to earn his $10,000. Second, we have Ruth Bridgers (played by Julie Rodgers), a columnist, who has accepted Frederick's offer, for she is gathering information to write a newspaper article on ghosts. Ruth has also claimed she is also doing this for the money. Thirdly, we have Watson Pritchard (played by Elisha Cook), the man who now owns the house on haunted hill. Watson has already risked his life after spending a night at the house. Watson knows more about the house than anybody else. He knows that seven people were murdered in that house, including his brother and sister-in-law. Frederick had asked Watson why he is risking his life to spend another night at the house. Watson responded with: for the money. Fourthly, we have David Trent (played by Alan Marshal), a psychiatrist, who seems to have no belief in ghosts. He also seems to have just a touch of greed around the eyes and mouth. Lastly, we have the young and beautiful, Nora Manning (played by Carolyn Craig). Nora works for one of Frederick's companies. Frederick has chosen Nora because she needs the $10,000 Frederick is offering. Nora is the only one that supports her immediate family, after her parents died in a car wreck. The guests are arriving and you have until midnight to decide if you are willing to earn your $10,000. The ghosts are awaiting, but the ghosts are not the only ones planning murder. Annabelle is too. Turns out that Annabelle is Frederick's fourth wife. His first wife simply disappeared, the second and third died. As, I said earlier, you have until midnight to make up your mind: will you stay and earn your $10,000? Or will you be smart enough to walk out now and live the rest of your life in peace? Help make your decision by watching William Castle's cult classic.

Rating:
Summary: The Master of Gimmicks' take on " The Cat And The Canary"
Review: ...I found the DVD played better on its second run...William Castle's classic was his first collaboration with horror legend Vincent Price. HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL is a surprisingly gentle (mainly) mystery in which millionaire Frederick Loren (Price) offers seven people-four men and three women-$10,000 to attend the birthday party of his wife Annabelle (Carol Ohmart). The catch is that the party is an all night affair held in a haunted mansion that has already claimed the lives of seven people: four men and three women...The fun includes blood dripping from the ceiling, hilarious mummified white-haired apparitions, a severed head in a suitcase and guns cased in miniature coffins as "party favors" and of course, the walking skeleton. Not scary, but a good "horror" for family audiences. The extras on the DVD I viewed were pretty basic, just bios & filmographys for Castle and Price...

Rating:
Summary: Stupid!
Review: Five people are challenged to spend the night in a haunted house. As you can see, this flick just oozes with original ideas. This fright festival of 1959 vintage has a treasured place in the realm of "so bad, it's good" nostalgia that keeps aging baby boomers going. Schlock director William Castle pulls out all the stops in this hilarious re-working of the "haunted house" cliches. The humor is no doubt unintentional, but who cares? It's still funny 40 years later. Vincent Price mugs his way through the script looking pained and worried in all the expected places. The obligatory vat of acid in the basement serves its usual purpose. As the screaming Nora Manning encounters the dead woman hanging in the stairway, a monstrous hand reaches around the corner and grabs for her. This tidbit of terror goes otherwise unexplained. Another thing that leaves the viewer wondering is the spot on the ceiling that drips blood. It's spooky, but the script takes it nowhere. The house itself looks more as an ancient Egyptian temple than the Victorian manse that typically populates haunted house stories. Elisha Cook hangs around as the descendant of the original owner. When he is drunk enough he gloomily foretells doom. The old lady who floats through the basement is a great funhouse moment. Put it all together and it is fine fun, in a reverse sort of a way. Watch it on Halloween or any time that Saturday matinee nonsense is warranted. The cleaned-up DVD version is more palatable than the lower grade VHS edition that previously haunted our movie shelf. Recommended for multiple viewing. ;-)

Rating:
Summary: A Mystery Movie, Not a Horror Movie.
Review: Fredrick Loren (Vincent Price) is an eccentric millionaire that people have never seen. On a dark and stormy night, Loren invites 5 different people to the house on Haunted Hill for a party and to spend the night. Supposedly no one has ever been able to spend the night in the house and Loren is offering each person that does $10,000. Each of the 5 guest he has invited have never met before, but in some way they have all had contact with Loren, though they have never seen him. Things take a somewhat spooky turn when a chandelier falls from the ceiling almost killing one of the guests. Then they discover that the servants have left early and that they are locked in with no way to escape until morning. A vat of acid in the cellar, secret passages, and shrunken heads all have their place on THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL.

The movie is often categorized as a horror film. However, it's more of a mystery than anything else. There are moments that are kind of spooky and the eerie tone of the movie makes it easier for one to get the chills. However, there isn't a whole lot that is scary about the movie. When a key character is involved in an "accident", the audience is not frightened, but is intrigued, wondering how it happened, why did it happen, and what is the purpose behind it all.

Most of the actors are relatively no names, with only Price and Elisha Cook, Jr. (as Watson Pritchard) being the only truly memorable actors. The rest of the cast does a decent job and it's a shame that so many of them died early deaths (often from heart attacks). It would have been interesting to see what kind of career Richard Long might have had, for instance.

THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL has become a cult classic, largely because the movie stars Price and also because the film was directed by William Castle, a director who used gimmicks to get people into the theatres to see his movies. In THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL a device called "Emergo" was used--which was basically a skeleton in a box that emerged and hovered across the audience on a wire as the skeleton in the film appeared. The movie is also notable because of the Ennis Brown House in Los Angeles, which was used for all the movie's outside shots. The Ennis Brown House was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and build in 1924 and is now on the National Historic Register. It is also rumored that the success of THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL inspired Alfred Hitchcock to create his own horror mystery, PSYCHO.

Rating:
Summary: Price's Best
Review: House on Haunted Hill is a classic movie about eccentric millionare named Frederick Lauren and his wife, Annabelle. They rent an old, creepy, gloomy house on a desolate hill and throw a party, "a haunted house party." The party only has has 7 guests, 4 men and 3 women (the same amout of people that have died in the house). If each guest stays all night in the house they each recieve $10,000, "or they're next of ki[n] just in case they don't survive." Vincent Price, Carol Ohmart and Elisha Cook star in this wonderful terrifying classic directed by William Castle. This movie is great because its origional, & they use props like fake heads in suitcases, and organs playing music with no player, instead of computers like the awful remake from 1999. See this movie you'll really enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: Scary, Campy, Old Horror Fun
Review: HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL is one of my favorite movies. It has everything. A haunted house, a dark and stormy night, ghosts, a bloodstain that won't wash out, severed heads, an acid vat, organ music...It's just so atmospheric. The plot: Millionaire Vincent Price and his scheming wife invite five strangers to the house on Haunted Hill. He'll pay them 10,000 dollars each if they spend the night there. One of them dies, and a murder mystery also evolves. This movie from William Castle and Robb White is so much fun, and the set and acting is fantastic. If you love this, check out 13 GHOSTS, which I have also reviewed.

E-mail me: [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: A B movie delight!!!
Review: I am a devoted fan of the great Vincent Price, and this was one of most wickedly, delightful romps. I love B&W B horror movies, which are quite tame by today's standards, but frankly, much better than the blood red gorefests. There was something about going to the drive-in in the Summer and sitting watching these great spooky stories till dawn - or to sit in the dark with the blanket pulled up over your head peeking out with a bowl of popcorn before you, as Vincent smirked and chuckled his way through all sort of devilish evil. Was there ever any laugh quite like his???

The premise is rich Vincent and his snotty gold-digging wife are having a halloween party. And to have the ultimate halloween party, they have rented the house on haunted hill, complete with ghosts, blood dripping ceilings, a scarey housekeeper who seems to 'float' around, hidden passes, terrified females, walking skeletons, doomsaying Elisha Cook former owner of the house, and a host of guests with their own reasons for being at the party. Price has offered $50,000 to each guest if they survive till dawn, but he has his own reasons for the party, as does his wife who makes no bones about wanting to be a rich widow - and Price is fully aware of it!! With that delightful chuckle, Price is at his best in one gem of a 50's B horror flick!!

So turn out the lights, munch on the popcorn and have a stroll through memory lane!!

Rating:
Summary: Not scary, but I still loved it 1.5 stars as horror
Review: I have to rate this as a horror film. I think it was actually ment to be a black comedy, and viewed in that since, it's great.

Rating:
Summary: A TIMELESS SPOOKFEST CLASSIC...
Review: I was 4 yrs. old in 1959 when this film was first released. When I was 7 my parents with caution introduced me to "things that go bump in the night" allowing me to view "House on Haunted Hill" on network TV. It scared the hell out of me! I didn't care who the actors were, the atmospheric black and white ambiance was enough for me. Not long after I became a Vincent Price fan, admiring his deliciously sinister talents. Later my Brother born in 68, by the time he was 5 we were sitting munching snacks enjoying this film together. That is the kind of longevity this movie has had. I now own the DVD and enjoy it for different reasons, as I matured I began to see the humor in it. I just viewed it again this past Halloween and to me it is as fresh as ever. Pure and simple; Millionaire invites a few finacially stretched guests to spend a night in a supposedly haunted house he rented. He'll pay'em $10k grand if they can make it through the night. This simple premise inspired me to a life time of great Horror/ScFi/Mystery/Adventure/Film Noir and even classic comedy. Whether you pay 15 bucks or 5 this is sure to make an impression!

Rating:
Summary: The classic that's fun and scary.
Review: This movie is over all scary, the opening scene sets the stage for a film that was way ahead of it's time. It was fun moments, and moments that wil send you acrost the theater, The scene with the old house ceeper is one of the most effective jumps in all of horror, a must see for any horror fan, and beable for those who aren't that big of horror fans, see if you can solve the myster before the films done.