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House on Haunted Hill
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Director: William Castle
Writer: Robb White
Stars: Vincent Price, Carol Ohmart, Richard Long
Of the many William Castle-directed shockers of the '50s and '60s, this one is probably the most traditional in being a "ghost story." The setup is irresistible (a derivative of "Ten Little Indians," in a way.) An eccentric millionaire, Fredrick Loren, and his 4th wife, Annabelle, have invited five people to the house on Haunted Hill for a "Haunted House" party. Whoever stays in the house for one night will earn ten thousand dollars each. As the night progresses, all the guests are trapped inside the house with ghosts, murderers, and other terrors. (*Plot provided by Tom Meyer on IMDB.com)
The house is made of “Modern architecture” from that time period. Inside, it has the typical creepy old woodwork, creaky doors, curtained alcoves, and more, which add to the creepiness of the setting. The best-set piece was the basement with a pit of acid.
Price is always great in anything he does. He plays a mysterious host. The plot point of Price’s character, having several prior wives, contributes to the story. It makes the viewer wonder if he is up to murder. The film can be considered hokey and campy compared to today's standards. The jump scares were great for the time, but cliché now.
The film is hokey, campy, and illogical—full of contrivances and inanities—yet undeniably entertaining. It uses all the tropes of an older horror movie. Some examples are the eerie music, the undependable lights, swinging doors, secret passages, and the most hilarious, terrifyingly ugly housekeeper…. Lol.
It's a great popcorn movie to watch on Halloween.
Writer: Robb White
Stars: Vincent Price, Carol Ohmart, Richard Long
Of the many William Castle-directed shockers of the '50s and '60s, this one is probably the most traditional in being a "ghost story." The setup is irresistible (a derivative of "Ten Little Indians," in a way.) An eccentric millionaire, Fredrick Loren, and his 4th wife, Annabelle, have invited five people to the house on Haunted Hill for a "Haunted House" party. Whoever stays in the house for one night will earn ten thousand dollars each. As the night progresses, all the guests are trapped inside the house with ghosts, murderers, and other terrors. (*Plot provided by Tom Meyer on IMDB.com)
The house is made of “Modern architecture” from that time period. Inside, it has the typical creepy old woodwork, creaky doors, curtained alcoves, and more, which add to the creepiness of the setting. The best-set piece was the basement with a pit of acid.
Price is always great in anything he does. He plays a mysterious host. The plot point of Price’s character, having several prior wives, contributes to the story. It makes the viewer wonder if he is up to murder. The film can be considered hokey and campy compared to today's standards. The jump scares were great for the time, but cliché now.
The film is hokey, campy, and illogical—full of contrivances and inanities—yet undeniably entertaining. It uses all the tropes of an older horror movie. Some examples are the eerie music, the undependable lights, swinging doors, secret passages, and the most hilarious, terrifyingly ugly housekeeper…. Lol.
It's a great popcorn movie to watch on Halloween.
Trivia
- The house used was the Ennis House (aka: the Ennis-Brown House) designed for Charles and Mabel Ennis by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1923. It is located in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, south of Griffith Park, California.
- The opening "Scare Trick" was so effective that it actually started the idea of novelty "haunting records." Records of spooky sounds, sound effects, and music that were most commonly used for Halloween, Halloween parties, and make-shift haunted house attractions.
- William Castle related the story of meeting Vincent Price on a day when Price had learned that he had been passed over for a part. Over coffee, Castle described the premise of this picture. Price liked the idea, and it led to a two-picture collaboration: this and The Tingler (1959).
- William Castle: [gimmick] Used a gimmick called "Emergo" in theaters. When the skeleton rises from the acid vat in the film, a lighted plastic skeleton on a wire appeared from a black box next to the screen to swoop over the heads of the audience. The skeleton would then be pulled back into the box as the skeleton in the film is "reeled in." Many theaters soon stopped using this "effect" because when the local boys heard about it, they would bring slingshots to the theater; when the skeleton started its journey, they would pull out their slingshots and fire at it with stones, BBs, ball bearings and whatever else they could find.
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