House on Haunted Hill - Film Review

Although it's been some time since I saw any of his works, I've always adored the legacy of Vincent Price. For some time I'd been hoping to find something appropriately campy with his name on it, and I'm proud to say I found it. Seeing the man do his thang was a true joy, and I have to also admit that it's been an incredibly long time since I saw a film that predated the 1960s.

*

Where You Can Find It: Although I'm not exactly clear on when this happened, this movie is available in both color and black and white (I reviewed the color version). I saw this on Amazon Video where it is available for free to any Amazon Prime members.

General Information 
House on Haunted Hill is a mystery horror film that was released on 17 February 1959. It was directed and co-produced by William Castle and co-produced and written by Robb White. It was produced by William Castle Productions and distributed by Allied Artists. It is generally considered one of the most famous films Vincent Price starred in with an earning of $2.5 million at the box office with only a $2 hundred thousand budget (I'm assuming this is not counting inflation). I couldn't find a Metascore on Metacritic for this one, however it has an 88% Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes. 

**

The 1999 remake that no one wanted

Forty years after it released, this film was remade as the 1999 House on Haunted Hill, which was distributed under Warner Bros. I'm fairly glad I avoided watching that one, as a peek at the Metacritic rating revealed it has a whopping 28 Metascore and was a box office bomb. There are rumors of yet another remake in the works, but I think we can all hope and pray that this doesn't happen.

The Story

Five strangers are invited to spend the night at a haunted house rented by eccentric millionaire, Frederick Loren (played by the legendary Vincent Price), and his wife, Annabelle (Carol Ohmart). The strangers are each promised $10 thousand if they can survive the night in the house. Once inside, escape before the time limit is impossible as the manor's windows are barred and the only exit is made of solid steel, which is locked from the outside at midnight. Watson Pritchard (Elisha Cook) is the only person to have ever stayed at the haunted house prior to the "party," and he quickly claims that the spirits of the house will seek to murder everyone inside. The group must not just contend with the undead though, as some of the strangers hold secrets that may be even more deadly than the ghosts that roam the halls of the dusty mansion.

***

What's not to love?

I really loved the plot's simple premise, and I appreciated its willingness to immediately get the character introductions out of the way by having Vincent Price narrate who each character was before their arrival in the house. There's a good blend of different perspectives and backgrounds as the guests' backgrounds range from secretary and reporter to doctor and jet pilot. Unfortunately, not all of these characters are fully explored as Ruth Bridgers (Julie Mitchum) has barely anything to do, while around half of the main cast are MIA by the final act.

Beyond being locked in, I enjoyed the sense of paranoia that each character had. Lance Schroeder (Richard Long) immediately begins to question the Lorens' intentions, while Pritchard's ramblings do little to calm the other guests. Beyond the guests, the Lorens bring plenty of drama to the story as they both openly despise each other. The psychological angle is further enhanced by the inclusion of Dr. Trent (Alan Marshal), who is a psychiatrist that specializes in hysteria. The trope of hysterical women is played up to its fullest in this thanks to Nora Manning (Carolyn Craig), who spends much of the film running from room to room screaming.

****

To be fair, Nora has plenty to scream about

Special Effects/Atmosphere

By today's standards, the special effects are fairly hokey throughout as we're greeted with floating heads of Vincent Price and Elisha Cook. Much of the set reminds me more of a stage than an actual house as the rooms have excessively high ceilings, while some of the walls and props look rather crude. I'm not going to knock this film much for that though as we're talking about a movie that came out in 1959.

Some of the effects I really did enjoy were the use of what I believe was reverse motion, which enabled William Castle to make things seemingly move on their own. The use of lighting was also fairly cool as I loved nearly every shot that took place in the haunted mansion's wine cellar, which were illuminated by seemingly sentient candles. Another awesome artistic touch was the self-awareness Castle brought to the effects department as there's a hilariously campy supernatural entity that appears near the end of the film that completely works due to how it was used in the story.

The Acting

Vincent Price completely sells this film from beginning to end and it's such a joy to see him at his peak. Everyone overacts in this, but Price does it with such style and panache that I was glued to the screen whenever he was up to something. His skill clearly bleeds over into other actors' abilities too as he generally makes everyone look good when he interacts with them. The highest point of the film is Price's chemistry with Ohmart as it's incredible to behold. The two banter back and forth in such a passive aggressive way that it's hilariously fun and secretly how I imagine most married couples talk to each other. I would've probably been fine if the movie was purely focused on those two the entire time.

*****

Price and Ohmart are a match made in hell

Of course, Price doesn't steal the show completely. Cook's creepy Pritchard really stands out due to his constant thousand-yard stare and the ominous delivery of his lines. Richard Long gets an inordinate amount of screen time in this, which makes sense as Lance Schroeder clearly checks all the boxes for what a stereotypical 1950s cinematic hero would look like. Despite that, I wasn't particularly taken with his performance.

The Best of the Best: The chemistry between Vincent Price and Carol Ohmart is amazing.

The Worst of the Worst: Ruth Bridgers contributes nothing to this film.

Calhooey Score: 7/10 - Good

Would I Recommend?

******

It's a ghoulishly good time!

It definitely shows its age, but House on Haunted Hill is a real treat for those that are looking for some camp to mix with their horror. Vincent Price does a phenomenal job, and I really recommend this if you're looking to see him in his prime. Part of me is morbidly tempted to see the remake, however I can't imagine watching this without Price's charisma. Lastly, although I can understand that this film is a product of its time, there is a possibility it may offend some due to its portrayal of women as the trope of hysteria is in full-swing here. If that bothers you, I'd recommend a different film. For those that want something highly similar in book form, I recommend Hell House by Richard Matheson (you can see my review for it here).

-------------------------------------------------Spoiler Comments-----------------------------------------------------

• The butler's wife apparently spends her time hiding in the basement scaring people.
• Despite having a cleaning staff, the house is absolutely filthy in appearance.
• From now on, I demand that every wine cellar have their own random pit of boiling acid!
• I love that Frederick Loren handed out handguns to everyone, which he individually stored in their own respective miniature coffins.
• I also equally loved that everyone lined up and received their own pistol with no comment.
• Lance was getting built up to be the hero or something, but his only contribution was being trapped in a wall.
• Let's talk about Annabelle's and Dr. Trent's plan. All of this relied on scaring Nora into hysterics so that she'd shoot anything that moves. It seems like they had a one in five chance of her accidentally blasting some other fool by mistake, but I guess I'm glad it worked out for them.
• I was pretty shocked that this ended up just being a murder mystery and not an actual supernatural story.

----------------------------------------------------References--------------------------------------------------

*Amazon. (n.d.). House on Haunted Hill film image. Retrieved from: https://www.amazon.com/House-On-Haunted-Hill-Poster/dp/B000KA20W6.

**Amazon. (n.d.). House on Haunted Hill 1999 film image. Retrieved from: https://www.amazon.com/HOUSE-HAUNTED-Original-Movie-Poster/dp/B01MDK6OMK.

***Shout! Factory. (n.d.). Vincent Price talking head gif. Pinterest. Retrieved from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/523191681695059930/.

****Heim, B. (2020, March 26). Nora getting scared image. Film Daily. Retrieved from: https://filmdaily.co/news/classic-horror-movies/.

*****Anon. (2013, April 17). Price and Ohmart chemistry image. Blogger. Retrieved from: moviequotesonline.blogspot.com/2013/04/you-remember-fun-we-had-when-you.html.

******Amazon. (n.d.). Vincent Price skulking image. Retrieved from: https://www.amazon.com/House-Haunted-Hill-Vincent-Price/dp/B000SW16BC.