Rating: 
Summary: Flawed but Memorable
Review: All roads lead to Rome--or in the case of haunted house stories to Shirley Jackson's THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE. Published in 1959 and then memorably filmed by Robert Wise with Julie Harris in 1963, both book and film have exerted a powerful influence over the years, and this was particularly true where author Richard Matheson was concerned: although he added a number of original ideas and created a memorable chiller, his popular novel HELL HOUSE was so similar to the Jackson blueprint that it is a wonder her estate did not contemplate legal action.The novel's film version, THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE, inevitably suffers in the comparison to both Jackson's novel and its film version. But while it is not a great film, it is a very good one--and it has a number of assets that ghost story connoisseurs will relish. As in Jackson's story, the plot concerns four individuals sent to investigate a house of very unsavory reputation: two men and two women. Here the expedition is led by a skeptic, Dr. Barrett (Clive Revill), who believes that "hauntings" are manifestations of residual energy rather than of surviving personalities--and who considers the Belasco house an ideal opportunity to put his theory to a practical test. He is accompanied by his wife Ann (Gayle Hunnicutt) and two mediums: Benjamin Fischer (Roddy McDowall), who has the distinction of being one of the few individuals to have previously visited Belasco House and lived to tell about it, and Christian spiritualist Florence Tanner (Pamela Franklin), who soon clashes with Dr. Barrett over his skepticism. And although Dr. Barrett has meticulously planned this investigation into Belasco House, from the moment the party enters the doors nothing turns out the way any of them expect. The great thing about the film is Pamela Franklin, who was one of the most interesting actresses of the 1960s and early 1970s, first making her mark as a child in the memorable thriller THE INNOCENTS and then giving a devastating turn as one of her teacher's pets in THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE. While THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE is hardly on the same level as these other films, Franklin herself is--and she is quite extraordinary from start to finish. (It is a tremendous pity her career faltered not long after the release of this film.) McDowell also offers a memorable turn as Mr. Fischer, and Revill and Hunnicutt offer superior performances as well. The fact that it was filmed on a low budget is actually an asset to the movie, for instead of elaborate set-ups the film emerges as visually lean and clean, relying on its performances to create a very effective mounting sense of unease. Where it falls down--and more than a little--is in the script, which was written by Matheson himself. There are too many loose ends here, and while in some hands this might result in a sense of mystery, here it gives the feeling of sloppiness. Perversely, it also suffers from a determination to explain away everything it can, and the result is often somewhat anti-climatic. The DVD offers nothing in the way of extras beyond the original trailer, but for the most part the transfer is quite good. Some critics have noted that the soundtrack is slightly out of synch at points, but I myself did not particularly notice this to any great extent; others have commented that the version released to the home market has been slightly edited, but since I have never seen it except in this release I cannot comment. I will say, however, that edited or not, and largely due to Franklin's performance and McDowell's strong support, THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE will likely satisfy viewers who prefer their ghost stories strong on atmosphere and psychology. For all its flaws it is a memorable film, and well worth having. GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Rating: 
Summary: Very scary!
Review: "The Legend of Hell House" freaked me out as a child. I could barely go to sleep after the first time I saw it on TV. Yet thereafter, everytime it came on, despite the fact that I was scared to death of this movie, I always tried to watch it (under a blanket cover, of course). It is probably one of the most frightening movies, haunted house or not, ever made. It relies on the bare minimal of special effects but rather gets its chills from the eerie cinematography and sound and the uniformly solid performances from the actors. The film has a deadly serious tone to it, which makes it all the more scary, unlike such modern junk like the new "Haunting" or the "Scream" series. In fact, I would consider this film the equal of the original "Haunting" and "The Changeling" in terms of haunted house movies. The plot is this: a small group of people is hired by an eccentric millionaire to determine if there is indeed life after death. The millionaire assigns them to investigate a notoriously haunted house in order to provide him with an answer within the week. The group consists of a scientist and his wife and two mediums; one guess whether they are all alive by the end of the film. By the way, this is not a slasher movie at all. It is almost a psychological film, which is probably why it may give you nightmares after you see it. But definitely see it, especially if you are in the mood for an honest scare.
Rating: 
Summary: Decent spooky movie
Review: I just watched this movie on the heels of "The Haunting" (1963) and it's far superior. It really isn't all that scary (I am a hard scare), but definitely more spooky and enticing than "The Haunting." This movie has a great set, sex appeal (Gayle Hunnicutt made me drool) and pretty good acting. Roddy McDowall's acting is probably the best, as he manages to convey much simply with looks before even speaking. I realize it's not completely fair to compare this movie to The Haunting, as they are not the same, but they are similar enough to warrant some comparison, as the premise is quite similar. I would want to see this one again, however.
Rating:
Summary: A neglected gem for horror fans to rediscover
Review: Unfairly neglected by audiences in the wake of that same year's cultural juggernaut that was The Exorcist, The Legend of Hell House has since recovered a deserved place as one of the best entries in horror's "haunted house" sub-genre. Squarely in the tradition of The Haunting (which first proposed a pseudo-anthropological approach to the supernatural) scientist Clive Revill leads an investigation team into the dreaded Belasco mansion to establish whether life after death really exists or not. As things start to go bump in the night, the group slowly falls apart under the weight of its own tensions before finally uncovering the dreaded evil inside the heart of "Hell House". An effective old school horror entry at a time when horror was just about to pursue interesting new detours into violence, depravity and extremity courtesy of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Exorcist and Black Christmas (the unacknowledged progenitor of Halloween). Featuring an effectively pompous turn by Revill as the cocksure project leader and a characteristically eccentric one by Roddy McDowell. Based on the novel by horror legend Richard Matheson.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Haunted House Movie EVER!
Review: Forget special-effects filled modern junk movies like The Haunting; The Legend of Hell House is horror the way it should be done: With mood and atmosphere, instead of FX and loud sound effects. The story is simplicity itself: Four people are hired to find out if there is life after death by studying the mother of all haunted houses: The Belasco House, A.K.A. "Hell House". There's the Parapsychologist and his Wife/Partner, the Mental Medium, and the Physical Medium. The Physical Medium (Played by Roddy McDowell) also happens to be the last person to visit Hell House, the only survivor of an ill-fated investigation 20 Years ago. It's been locked up ever since, and it's ready for some new guests.... The film moves at a slow, deliberate pace, letting the atmosphere of the House work on the viewer, rather than going for hokey-looking monsters or cheap scares (Like the tired old "Cat-jumps-out-of-the-closet" gag; There IS a killer cat, though!). Considering that we are constantly watching the same four people, casting is very important, and Hell House has some good performances, especially Pamela Franklin as the tortured Miss Tanner, the Mental Medium, who is used by the House's evil presence. The ending is a little too pat, and the explanation for Belasco's evil is a bit offbeat, but overall, Hell House is a Helluva film. Highly recommended! The DVD Widescreen transfer is excellent, but as far as extras go, it's just a Hell House trailer, and a few other assorted trailers. The Adam West Batman trailer is a hoot, though...
Rating:
Summary: STILL FRIGHTENING after all these years
Review: I first saw THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE on TV probably a year or two after it played in theatres. I was all of 12 years old, sitting in my darkened living room, when the opening frames of the movie display a "quotation" from an "expert" on paranormal phenomena that says something or other about the investigations into life after death. I literally thought I was watching a documentary as the opening scene of the house and subsequent set pieces were time-stamped with the date and time. This still gives me the sense today of watching a non-fiction account and not a superbly suspenseful film! The soundtrack is totally electronic and repetitive, but completely effective and unsettling throughout the movie. There are sparse interjections of minor chords played on what sounds like a church organ--just the right Gothic touch! The casting is highlighted by the performances of both Roddy McDowall and Pamela Franklin. Roddy McDowall plays the lone survivor of the last attempt to solve the riddle of the house's evil spirits. Pamela Franklin is a spiritual not physical medium who immediately senses all is not right with the house and its prior "occupants." Rounding out the foursome are Clive Revill who plays the highly skeptical scientist who's determined to explain away the evil with good, old-fashioned scientific investigation. Gayle Hunnicutt plays his wife, Ann, who accompanies him on this ghost hunt, and is soon involved in the whole matter more than she could ever have imagined. The house itself is really the fifth player or character in this tale of malevolence and subtle terror. The physical setting of the house, shrouded in clouds and seemingly permanent English fog, is most disturbing. Inside there are many dark hallways and passages that hold yet undiscovered secrets. Interestingly, Miss Tanner's (Pamela Franklin's character) room is papered in red-velvet cloth-- a very passionate color. More than one scene of ghostly violence occurs upon her person in that room. The scariest scene, even now that I'm much older, is the first "sitting" wherein Miss Tanner's experience is quite unusual for a spiritual medium. You'll have to watch it to know what I mean. I get goosebumps just writing this review, the movie is still that chilling in my mind. The best way to maximize the chills-and-thrills is to watch it really, really late at night, when it's really dark outside. Turn the lights off, turn the phone off, and give yourself an authentic and lasting scare!
Rating:
Summary: legendary, but also mired by time/setting/origins
Review: This is a good movie, and a worthy heir to the true best haunted house movie ever made, Robert Wise's The Haunting. Borrowing heavily from that story, novel and screenplay author Richard Matheson similarly sends a scientist and a team of psychics into a haunted house. In the previous film, a wealthy matron was indulging the whim of a scientist, prior to passing a white elephant of a property onto an heir. In this one, a dying aristocrat longs for proof of life after death, caring little for the evil nature of the supernatural goings on in "Hell House." Roddy MacDowall anchors this movie, the reluctant survivor of a previous mission to the home, too battle-scared to hope for more than collecting his money at the end of their one-week experiment. Pamela Franklin impresses as a gifted young mystic, reaching out to the house as it reaches out to her (again, an echo of Eleanor and Hill House from the Shirley Jackson novella). Clive Revill and Gayle Hunicutt keep things focused as the more conventional paranormal scientist and his wife. He, representing all English rationality while the others represent English superstition, is convinced the house possesses not entities, but merely energy, like some sort of time-charged battery. The X-files would later borrow the technique of beginning each scene with a tension-inducing subtitle of date and time. The house is scary, with a truly spooky set shadowy enough to make Dark Shadows jealous. Tension does build, and rapidly, in the effective and memorable set-pieces. The eventual reveal, though well-performed, loses power in light of modern-day FX, and due to the convoluted explanation of the haunting. Not as resonant as the father figure/religion/gender relations axis of Jackson's more psychologically astute story, and more like a mystery than a horror story in form. Worse, the script uses the haunting as an excuse to portray and tame the power of female sexuality through allusions to masochism and vampirism. Franklin (Miss Tanner) is brutalized physically by the ghost she tries to aid, and in Hunicutt the house seems to unleash a sexual perversity and desire that may or may not cast reflections on her marriage to the tightly wound scientist. No real in-story explanation is given for brutalizing the women in this way; this is one of those British stories where ultimate sympathies lie with that quintessential figure of the isles, the schoolboy who's too repressed to grow up. Both Revell and MacDowall are different aspects of this sadly limited character.
Rating:
Summary: DUMB ending!
Review: Great movie, actually AMAZINGLY good, until you reach then end, then it gets really dumb as some movies did in the 60's and early 70's.
Rating:
Summary: Rip-roaring good time
Review: They don't make good movies like this anymore. During the late 60's and 70's, occult-laced, supernatural entertainment was a staple of the industry. Most of it was crap, but some of it was exceptional, like 'Rosemary's Baby,' 'The Haunting' or 'The Wicker Man.' This is one of my new favorites. Especially charming is the earnestness with which parnanormal activity is approached, reminescent of 'The Haunting.' The sets used for the Belasco mansion are gloriously moody and gothic--I believe they were used in other Hammer and Roger Corman films over the years, or at least they look that way. Blood-red, purple, or blue damask wallpaper, dark Victorian furnishings and iron work. The sets are absolutely beautiful, as are the women featured in this film. If you think women weren't stunning in the 70's at the height of fashion, then this movie will prove you wrong. As for the screen action, I love the scientific overtone, always presaging a scene with date and time, like "December 17, 4:16 PM." Hilarious! There's a poltergeist attack, channeling, ectoplasm, a molding dungeon corpse, alluring nightgowns and innuendo aplenty with rumors of debauchery and vice. This movie is not a masterpiece but it is a deep, entertaining pleasure. Happy Halloween!
Rating:
Summary: good
Review: I liked this movie better that Hill house. Even though they are kind of alike they really aren't. This one is better. And the story is really different. The only thing that is alike is that both of the houses are evil.
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