House on Haunted Hill (1959)'s comments

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the3rdman

A good time but not particularly frightening, nor is it exactly the horror flick that it's billed to be. I felt that more could have been done, but at the same time I think it achieves everything it sets out to do. I give it points for being more suggestive than blunt.
spoiler

. In a strange way it reminded me of Romero's similarly skeptical film Martin, which also plays with the audience's expectations and willingness to suspend disbelief in the supernatural.

9 years 6 months ago

kayadams

one list? no way! i wasn't expecting to love this movie so much. i thought it was absolutely brilliant - i can't stop thinking about it and it's been a week. i instantly put it in my top 10 horror movies of all time. vincent price is perfect, the effects, mise en scene (especially sound!) was legendary. loved it.

10 years 3 months ago

Siskoid

Because of the title, I kept confusing House on Haunted Hill with The Haunting of Hill House, and watching the former, it really did feel like they put the former's source material (the Shirley Jackson book) into a blender. It came out that year so it's just about doable, depending on the timelines. Ghoulish fun at any rate. This is the prototypical "stay in a haunted house for a night" movie which spawned the cliché, and it goes overboard in terms of just how many insane murders were committed there. So is the house haunted, or is it all an elaborate hoax? Or both, as if the house invited murderousness? It's not as purposefully ambiguous as all that, but the question is worth asking. Among the cool cast of characters, Vincent Price and Carol Ohmart are especially great as the couple who hate one another... with a smile. Elisha Cook Jr. is pretty fun as the consistent doomsayer. And while I appreciate the Skeleton as Himself, he's pretty silly. I don't think seeing him hoisted on pulleys in the theater thanks to the Emergo system would have changed my mind. Did anyone get a bony toe in the eye, back in '59? Emergo survivors! Let me know!

4 years 5 months ago

Warrison

OMG. Carolyn Craig the actress playing Nora Manning has got one hell of a set of lungs on her.

Every time she screamed (which was often) I had to turn the volume WAY down. My poor ears.

2 years 4 months ago

Oneironaut

Hmm heard that this was supposed to be one of the classics but it wasn't that good, quite overrated.

It had a nice (corny) build up and I'll admit that one scene got a jump out of me - though that scene was the only possible one that could scare you.

Vincent Price was good as always, but wasn't enough to carry the film for me.

12 years 3 months ago