It's one of Vincent Price's more memorable and popular films and director William Castle's best by far. The 'old, dark house' gimmick gets done up right here with Price playing the eccentric millionaire who will pay $10,000 to the guests he's invited if they'll only spend the night in the supposedly haunted house he's obtained. There's a great sense of tension here. The guests have never even met their host until this night, they are his employees. The wife fears for her life as Price paints a rather gloomy portrait of their marriage. The huge house seems to ooze creepiness, but are the horrors real, imagined, or just a clever disguise for murder? According to the one drunken guest who knows a great deal about the house's history, many have died here and the dead are wide-awake and waiting to take a few souls back to the grave. House contains a few genuinely creepy moments and some good jumps in the dark. You know early on someone's up to no good, but whom? The atmosphere, music, and few simple FX add a great deal to House on Haunted Hill. Price impresses as ever, as do the whole cast, especially our drunk with his wonderful monologues on the dead. This flick only gets better with age. There may be a few better haunted house movies out there, but none as fun as House on Haunted Hill.
It's one of Vincent Price's more memorable and popular films and director William Castle's best by far. The 'old, dark house' gimmick gets done up right here with Price playing the eccentric millionaire who will pay $10,000 to the guests he's invited if they'll only spend the night in the supposedly haunted house he's obtained. There's a great sense of tension here. The guests have never even met their host until this night, they are his employees. The wife fears for her life as Price paints a rather gloomy portrait of their marriage. The huge house seems to ooze creepiness, but are the horrors real, imagined, or just a clever disguise for murder? According to the one drunken guest who knows a great deal about the house's history, many have died here and the dead are wide-awake and waiting to take a few souls back to the grave. House contains a few genuinely creepy moments and some good jumps in the dark. You know early on someone's up to no good, but whom? The atmosphere, music, and few simple FX add a great deal to House on Haunted Hill. Price impresses as ever, as do the whole cast, especially our drunk with his wonderful monologues on the dead. This flick only gets better with age. There may be a few better haunted house movies out there, but none as fun as House on Haunted Hill.
