Rating: 
Summary: FOR 10,000 DOLLARS WOULD YOU SPEND A NIGHT WITH VINCENTPRICE
Review: what we seem to have is a battle between the unknown. this is classic horror, done in a melodramatic way, much like the Universal horror classics of the early '30s where all you needed was mystery, atmosphere, and an outrageous plot. now, sadly, everything apparently has to be realistic and not fantastic? that's a shame. This 1958 classic is about a man who allows several people the chance to compete against one another: the game is that the people have to survive a night's stay at the house and whoever does wins a fortune. Vincent is his suave best in this, appearing the way he would become stereotyped: tall, wearing a suit, having a thin mustache, and those beady eyes ready to pierce into someone's soul with that classic Vincent stare. William Castle directed this movie. It's campy, of course. 1958 horror, and nearly every horror film afterward was geared toward teenagers at drive-in's and this film is one of Price's best. His icy dialogue to his nagging, arrogant wife is great and she gets what she has coming to her...by way of a hilariously campy skeleton who's coming toward her with a gun. the senseless remake was un-called for. even though it brought some publicity for this 1958 original, the remake didn't have Vincent's heart and soul nor did it have much camp value. this 1958 version is the one you should look for...a must-have for ALL Vincent Price fans.
Rating: 
Summary: William Castle takes his turn at a Haunted House movie
Review: William Castle's 1958 film "House on Haunted Hill" is another one of his fun filled rides that deserves to be seen in a theater on a Saturday afternoon with your friends, muching on buttered popcorn and gulping giant sodas. The greatest schlock master in horror film history, Castle's works invariably lose a little something on video-tape. The film begins with an inhuman chorus of ghostly sounds will the disembodied head of Watson Pritchard (Elisha Cook, Jr.) tells us the history of the seven strange murders that happened in the house he now owns. Enter eccentric millionaire Frederick Loren (Vincent Price), who invites a group of peopel despearte for cash to the house, promising that whoever stays in the house overnight will receive $10,000. The merry little group consists of Pritchard, test pilot Lance Schroeder (Richard Long), beautiful young Nora Manning (Carolyn Craig), Dr. David Trent (Alan Marshal), and newspaper columnist Ruth Bridgers (Julie Mitchum). Loren gives each guest a gun (presented in a tiny coffin) and then the fun begins.The creepy happenings that scare the houseguests are certainly good for a jump or two, but ultimtaely there are two things that keep "House on Haunted Hill" from being an outright classic. The first is that the payoff is not worthy of a first-rate ghost story (I will not give it away but you will see what I mean when you check this one out). The second is that we are denied "Emergo," one of Castle's most famous gimmicks. This was the one where the giant plastic skeleton lept from the screen at the film's climax. Sure, there were technical problems with Emergo, but you have to admit that the little kid in your thinks it is a totally cool idea. Not as good as "The Innocents," "The Legend of Hell House" or even "The Haunting," but certainly the best "" movie" haunted house flick.
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