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Saturday, October 17, 2015

Movie Review: House on the Haunted Hill (1959)

House on the Haunted Hill
William Castle Productions, USA, 1959.
House on the Haunted Hill title
This movie is part of Horror Classics 50 Movie Pack by Mill Creek Entertainment. 

Eccentric millionaire Frederick Loren (Vincent Price) rented the house so that his Annabelle wife (Carol Ohmar) could arrange a haunted house party. Frederick gives $10000 for anyone who spends and survives a night in the house. 
Vincent Price
Frederick Loren
Carol Ohmar
Annabelle
The guests are drunk Watson Pritchard (Elisha Cook Jr.), test pilot Lance Schroeder (Richard Long), columnist Ruth Bridgers (Julie Mitchum), psychiatrist Dr. David Trent (Alan Marshal) and Frederick's employee Nora Manning (Carolyn Craig). Frederick's previous wives have died mysteriously and also Annabelle may be in danger. But also Annabelle would like to kill Frederick. 
Julie Mitchum, Richard Long and Elisha Cook Jr.
Ruth Bridgers, Lance Schroeder and Watson Pritchard
Alan Marshal and Carolyn Craig
Dr. David Trent and Nora Manning
Watson Pritchard introduces the Haunted House. His brother and several other people were murdered there. The heads of the victims were never found. The doors are locked and the windows are barred. No one can leave. In the cellar there is a pit full of acid. Nora sees ghostly apparitions and severed heads. Maybe she is suffering from hysteria? Or maybe not! Frederick ups the ante by offering $15000 if someone dies. Everyone is given a small coffin with a gun to defend themselves from ghosts or other guests. 
Acid pit
Creepy ghost
Small coffin with a gun
This is a horror classic with few but quite effective scares. There is a slight Agatha Christie "And Then There Were None" feel, as a group of people is locked in a house and some of them may be  a murderer. Also it is ambiguous if there are real ghosts or just tricks to make the guests crazy. When the movie was shown in theaters extra scares were created using "Emergo" gimmick: plastic skeleton was flown over the audience. Of the actors most memorable are Vincent Price as fun and creepy gentleman, Elisha Cook Jr. as a nervous drunk and Carol Ohmar as scheming beauty.
Carolyn Craig
Carolyn Craig sets example for later scream queens

Rating: Good 

Starring: Vincent Price, Carol Ohmart, Richard Long, Alan Marshal, Carolyn Craig, Elisha Cook Jr., Julie Mitchum, Leona Anderson, Howard Hoffman, Skeleton 
Director: William Castle

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