House on Haunted Hill Reviews

• Old Price Classic is that pure fun!

  
  By A3GQKB1KF0CRPE on 2003-10-30
  William Castle at his gimmicky best! A Classic, spooky Black and White, with deliciously devilish Vincent Price as millionaire with a bored gold-digger wife. She wants a Halloween party with her friends, Price tosses a party all right, but not with the people of her choosing. He offers $10,000 dollars to five stranger if they will join him and his wife in spending Halloween night in a truly haunted house. One of the 5 is a young Elisha Cooke, family of the former owners who died in the house, and he leads them on a murder tour. To jazz things up, Price passes out "party favors" - guns. And it's a race to find out whether Price of his wife will be the last one standing. This movie is a grandfather of nearly every clichés, blooding dripping from the ceiling, dark mysterious corridors, a witchy woman floating around and vanishing - and the topper that organ music!! This is more like a Halloween Fun house ride than a movie! Price is campy and has great fun with the role, with super lines, especially when fussing with his less than happy wife.

  Castle originally devised this movie with "special touches" for the audiences, like ghost on wires gloating through the audience of people in costume sitting down beside you to enhance the fun house feel.

  Just plain fun and a wee trip down memory lane.
  
  

• Scary, Campy, Old Horror Fun

  
  By A3SLA4ADDSYZJ2 on 1999-12-27
  HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL is one of my favorite movies. It has everything. A haunted house, a dark and stormy night, ghosts, a bloodstain that won't wash out, severed heads, an acid vat, organ music...It's just so atmospheric. The plot: Millionaire Vincent Price and his scheming wife invite five strangers to the house on Haunted Hill. He'll pay them 10,000 dollars each if they spend the night there. One of them dies, and a murder mystery also evolves. This movie from William Castle and Robb White is so much fun, and the set and acting is fantastic. If you love this, check out 13 GHOSTS, which I have also reviewed.

  E-mail me: jackmonsoon@hotmail.com
  
  

• "If I were gonna haunt somebody, this would certainly be the house I'd do it in."

  
  By A25ZVI6RH1KA5L on 2006-06-14
  Say what you want about producer/director William Castle (The Tingler, 13 Ghosts, Mr. Sardonicus) but one thing was for sure...he knew how to fill seats in a movie theater, primarily by forcing some sort of direct interaction between the audience and the film (at least in his horror themed features). In House on Haunted Hill (1959), he utilized a technique he called `Emergo', which essentially featured a skeleton, suspended from wires, coming from the screen towards the audience during a specific part of the movie, the intent being to scare the pants off those in the theater. From what I've heard, it didn't sound like many were frightened, but it didn't really matter as Castle was a master at selling the sizzle, rather than the steak, as they say, and audiences flocked to his films...produced and directed by William Castle, the film features the merchant of menace himself Vincent Price (The Fly, The Tingler, House of Usher) in the first of two films he made with Castle. Also appearing is Elisha Cook Jr. (Shane, The Haunted Palace), Carolyn Craig (Giant), Richard Long (Ma and Pa Kettle), Carol `homina homina' Ohmart (Spider Baby), Alan Marshal (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), and Julie Mitchum (Edge of Hell), sister of actor Robert Mitchum.
  
  Price plays Frederick Loren, an eccentric millionaire who, along with his wife Annabelle (Ohmart), has thrown together an interesting little party involving five, seemingly random strangers gathering at a haunted house with ten thousand dollars to each who dare stay through the night. In attendance, along with Frederick and his wife, is Watson Pritchard (Cook), whose brother, one of the previous owners, was murdered within the house, Lance Schroeder (Long), a test pilot, Dr. David Trent (Marshal), a psychiatrist, Nora Manning (Craig), a typist, and Ruth Bridgers (Mitchum), a newspaper columnist. Seems all have agreed to play Frederick's little game for one reason, they need the dough, and if some crazy rich dude is willing to part with his green for such a seemingly easy task, what the hay, right? Well, the guests arrive, introductions are made, and Frederick gives them the full lowdown. The secluded house is like a fortress (steel doors and bars on the windows) in that once they're locked in (at midnight, to be precise), there's no getting out until the caretakers arrive the next morning. Also, there's no electricity or telephones, and the nearest neighbors are well beyond yelling distance. After a tour of the house, highlighting where various grisly events occurred (including a visit to the acid vat in the cellar...man, this place has everything), a few drinks, and some scares (the ghosts seem to have a thing for Nora), Fredrick passes out some party favors in the form of loaded handguns (nothing like being drunk and armed), not that they'd do anyone much good if there are ghosts out and about...anyway, midnight is coming so if anyone wants to cut out of this ghoulish get together, they'd better get while the getting's good...
  
  While not my favorite Castle feature (that goes to The Tingler), House on Haunted Hill is still a hoot and a half for all of its campy, good-natured fun. The one thing this film has going for it, above and beyond everything else, is Vincent Price. No matter how rotten the feature was (which wasn't the case here), Price always brought with him a real sense of class and sophistication to the proceedings, especially true of the number of Poe based films he and Roger Corman made throughout the 1960s for American International Pictures. The absolute best parts of this movie for me occur early on as Price's character is interacting with his wife, and we see the pair have an interesting hate/hate relationship...here's an example of their often snide and insinuating banter they engage in behind closed doors...
  
  Fredrick: Of all my wives you're least agreeable...
  Annabelle: But still alive.
  
  Here's another bit...
  
  Frederick: Do you remember the fun we had when you poisoned me?
  Annabelle: Something you ate, the doctor said.
  Frederick: Yes, arsenic on the rocks...
  
  There are a few more excellent exchanges between Price and Ohmart, worthy alone of seeing this film. As for the rest of the performers, I had no real complaints. Elisha Cook Jr.'s character did get on my nerves after awhile, with his constant dour outlook punctuated by his persistent `doom and gloom' predictions. Drink some more booze, you rummy...seriously, all this guy did was talk about how the ghosts were going to come and take them all away. Perhaps this attitude was assisted by his excessive alcohol intake, but really, what's the point of accepting an invitation to spend a night at a house you believe you won't come out of alive? The money? Won't do you much good if'n you're dead, fool. If I was in that house I probably would have shot him just to be rid of him. At least I learned one thing...never invite Elisha Cook Jr. to your party and ply him with lots of booze as he'll turn into a real poison pill. I did like Ms. Ohmart, and not just because she was a smoking babe with a large rack, but because she held her own with Price, even if it was for just a handful of scenes. If you've got a hankering to see more of her, and you like ookie horror features, you should really check out another film she appeared in called Spider Baby (1968), featuring Lon Chaney Jr. There are a few, minor scares scattered throughout the film (a crusty crone, a disembodied head or two), but nothing that will make you soil yourself...some scenes will make you snicker, though, like the one where Pritchard chucks a dead rat into the acid vat, if only to demonstrate the acid is really acid. After some bubbling effects, a fully articulated rat skeleton bobs to the surface, indicating to those watching it truly is the real deal. Yes sir, that be some powerful acid...the movie may not be much for scares, but it does have plenty of atmosphere created by Castle's direction, groovy, cobweb laden set pieces, spooky music, and usage of the Ennis Brown House in Los Angeles, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, for the exterior shots.
  
  It seems this film has fallen into the public domain (i.e. the copyright expired), as I see there are a number of DVD releases by various companies. I can't speak for those other releases, but the one I own, put out by Warner Brothers (it has a large headshot of Price in the lower right hand corner and Ohmart in a nightgown being menaced by a disfigured hand in the upper left), looks exceptionally good, and features both the fullscreen and widescreen formats, along with a excellent Dolby Digital mono audio track. The only extras included are a theatrical trailer for the film and subtitles in both English and French.
  
  Cookieman108
  
  By the way, this movie saw a remake of the same titled, released in 1999, oozing with high tech special effects. It was decent enough, but I still liked the original better.
  
  
  

• House On Haunted Hill '59: The Ultimate Print Is WB's DVD

  
  By A1I7ZK2Z21FC8Z on 2001-07-31
  My original copy of House On Haunted Hill was a budget video cassette, so you can imagine how much of an improvement the DVD was! I noticed a tiny bit of noise on the film, especially near the beginning and the end, and often when a scene changed, but in general the picture was quiet to silent.

  I was struck by my ability to see the quality of the original film: in particular, the scene where the chandelier falls in the hallway near the beginning, the shot from the top of the room is softer than the surrounding shots... perhaps because stunt doubles were being used? I don't know and I'm not sure how to find out, but it sure wasn't noticeable in the video cassette I had! :)

  Another amazing difference was being able to read the ending credits! Again in my video tape the end credits were ghosts themselves, completely bleeding out any recognizable letters.

  The audio, to my ears, was excellent considering the source material. The noise floor was remarkably low, and dynamics were impressive as well. Some websites comment on a minor lack of bass, but again compared to the video, voices were remarkably warm.

  Only the slightest hint of stressing of the limits of the audio system were detectable only during screams or occasionally during complex organ chords... possibly due more to the organ than the recording. Any distortion was kept to an amazing minimum, such that I doubt your average person would catch it.

  The widescreen version was an eye-opener as well. This movie is laid out better than it appears if you've only seen the cropped version! Excellent subject balance shows up scene after scene... and the loss of this balance is obvious (and unavoidable) in the pan-and-scan version. In the opening credits as the doctor looks down upon the city so far below the house and the hill, the feeling of being way up above seems lost in the cramped pan-and-scan version.

  In pan-and-scan, shoulders are constantly cropped off, people feel stuffed into the scene, perspective is occasionally off, and to my eyes it is just not as appealing a presentation visually as the original widescreen.

  Pan-and-scan also occasionally gave motion in the room a jerky movement as the pan-and-scan tried to follow the focus of the action... often leaving out nice details available only in the widescreen version. Again, I have heard the pan-and-scan gives more detail for what is there, but I personally saw no loss in the widescreen version whatsoever.

  The scene on the front cover of the DVD with Annabelle recoiling from a gruesome hand isn't in the film; possibly it is taken from publicity stills? I believe the same is true for the shot of Norra Manning looking through the cobwebs... and the shot of Frederick & Annabelle on the front inside cover... and the shot of Jonas Slydes holding Norra on the back cover... makes you wish there was a collector's book of publicity stills to go with it, huh?

  Of course as a HOHH junkie I would have loved a full disc of extras, but the trailer is a wonderful addition by itself and will work well as a teaser for the movie to show my friends and get them hooked. :-) This is and will always been a classic Halloween movie; this DVD beautifully preserves it for Halloweens to come. I couldn't be happier with my purchase!

  "What husband hasn't at one time wanted to kill his wife?" - Frederick Loren, chapter 15
  
  

• Only the ghosts in this house are glad we're here

  
  By A1D2C0WDCSHUWZ on 2006-06-04
  Vincent Price. A haunted mansion house. Spooky caretakers. And a giant pile of money to any of the guests who lives through the night. What's not to love?
  
  "The House on Haunted Hill" is one of those rare horror movies that seems as fresh as if it were made yesterday. The script is clever, the acting is solid, and while the direction is a bit on the hammy side, the plot is clever enough to keep viewers riveted until the final twist. It's horror, myster and dark comedy all in one.
  
  Frederick Loren (Vincent Price) decides to host a macabre birthday party for his devious wife Annabelle (Carol Ohmart), in the "House on Haunted Hill." He invites a test pilot, a columnist, a secretary and the house's unbalanced owner, and offers each one ten thousand dollars if they stay all night. Chandeliers fall, doors slam shut, and they get to see the wine vat full of acid.
  
  But as the night goes on, poor Nora Manning (Carolyn Craig) begins to see specters and rotted heads. The others think she's hysterical -- until Annabelle is found hanging in the hallway, dead. The unfortunate guests start to suspect that Loren brought them there to murder them (except for the owner, who blames ghosts). But the truth is far more complex and sinister....
  
  William Castle made a lot of slightly kitschy horror movies like "13 Ghosts" and "The Tingler," but this clever twist on haunted-house movies is probably his best work ever. Okay, that dancing skeleton is unintentionally funny, as is the gliding crone. But most of the time, it provides some in-your-face chills and great work from Price.
  
  This movie has solid dialogue ("Do you remember the fun we had when you poisoned me?") and some truly wicked exchanges between Price and Ohmart, as spouses who completely loathe one another. Castle's weird sense of humor shows up in the coffin-shaped boxes, the vat of acid, and the organ playing itself.
  
  But the most impressive aspect of "House" is that it's not just another ghosts-terrify-screaming-idiots movie. It's more of a mystery, before the crime is committed. We're never quite sure if there really are ghosts haunting the place, or if the humans are the ones who are really causing all this trouble. What's really scary is that the humans are more frightening.
  
  Vincent Price is definitely the star here -- creepy, intelligent, debonair, and he has an acid comment for every occasion ("Don't stay up thinking of ways to get rid of me. It makes wrinkles"). Ohmart runs a close second with her seductive, devious trophy wife; the other actors do solid jobs as well, although Craig doesn't do much except shriek periodically.
  
  "House on Haunted Hill" is a deserving vintage horror movie -- a twisty plot, and Price at his finest. A must-see.
  
  
• Darling, the only ghoul in the house is you!
  By ACIBQ6BQ6AWEV on 2002-02-27
  William Castle liked to promote his films with gimmicks, and the gimmick for THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL was Emerg-O: at the peak of the action, a glowing skeleton "emerged from the screen" and flew out over the audience on a wire. By most accounts Emerg-O caused more laughter than chills, but fortunately Castle never relied on gimmicks alone: he also liked bona fide stars, and for HAUNTED HILL his star of choice was none other than the legendary horror star Vincent Price.

  Like most Castle films, HAUNTED HILL's plot reworks a well-worn theme. Millionaire Price and his wife Carol Ohmart give a "haunted house party" for five strangers chosen at random and promised ten thousand dollars if they last the night. The catch: the doors lock at midnight, after which there is no escape until the caretakers return in the morning. While the story itself doesn't hold many surprises, the script is unexpectedly witty, and Price plays it in a slightly prissy, very high-camp manner with a tremendous dose of the black humor for which he was so famous--and the little known Carol Ohmart is every bit his match, snapping out memorable lines ("Darling, the only ghoul in the house is you!") in every scene. Together they elevate the film well above what you might otherwise expect, and when combined with the largely wooden supporting cast and some of the silliest this-is-supposed-to-scare-you effects imaginable the result is a cult classic with plenty of camp appeal.

  In addition to Price and Ohmart, the film is also surprisingly atmospheric. Shot in and around one of Frank Lloyd Wright's more famous structures, the grainy "late show" look of the film (due more to accident and age than deliberate intent) is very entertaining, the cinematic devices (everything from disembodied heads, irises, and jump-cuts) are very appealing, and the sound track (which sounds like a mix of piano bass keyes, sythesizer, and soprano vocals) is exactly what you'd want for this obvious but extremely entertaining flick. Of all the Castle films, THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL is my personal favorite, and it should rate very high with fans of cult, camp, and Vincent Price. And I'll go further than that: of all his memorable appearances, I do believe this was Price's best. A great choice for both family movie night or a sophistocated Halloween howl--very recommended!
  
  

• Castle's camp horror master work!
  By on 1999-08-17
  This movie shames current films like the Haunting. It's more scary, more funny and more entertaining. This film featured "Emergo" when it was released in 1958. "Emergo" was an inflatable skeleton that would appear at a key point in the film and roll over the audience on a line. How's that for an interactive movie experience? "House on Haunted Hill" also features a fantastic performance from the legendary Vincent Price. You are commanded to buy this film!!

  A cool post-script: The House used in the movie is an actual house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright that is in Los Angeles.
  
  

• FORGET THE REMAKE......
  By A1GF7BR6K22GZD on 2002-10-21
  You can't go wrong with this classic old chestnut. William Castle presents Vincent Price at his most sinister and debonair as the millionaire hosting a "haunted house party". A group of needy (i.e."broke") people are invited to attend with the ones who survive getting a big sum of money. The house is a veritable fortress with a legacy of evil and murder. Ghosts supposedly roam the place seeking new victims. Blood drips from the ceiling onto the hand of a woman---"marking" her as one soon to die. Carol Ohmart as Price's spoiled greedy wife slinks around telling everyone that Price is dangerous. Elisha Cook Jr. is at his looney weirdest as the lone survivor of a previous "party"-- drunkenly intoning omens of doom for one and all. Richard Long (from TV's "The Big Valley") is the level headed hero and pretty Carolyn Craig is the innocent damsel-in-distress screaming her head off at every spooky turn. The skeleton in the cellar gimmick is still fun. Great to watch on Halloween. And perfectly OK for kids too. But those adults who remember who Castle was and know Vincent Price like a relative will cherish this lovable old goodie the most.
  
  
• Classic Vincent Price Film
  By A26PKN6LTG4X2F on 2006-07-28
  I remember watching this film when I was a kid on the Saturday creature-features shows. It doesn't have the gore that the newer version has but it keeps you in suspense as only a Vincent Price movie could.
  
  I specially recommend the Warner Brothers version which is shown both in Full and Widescreen formats. The picture quality is great. There is a colorized version available also but, in my opinion, black and white is the best way to watch these classics.
  
  I recommend this film.
  
  
• Must see for the horror afficianado
  By on 1999-11-02
  I seen this movie at the local neighborhood theater on a Saturday afternoon when I was just a kid (I'm 43 now) and I'm here to tell you, It left a lasting impression on me. I couldn't get to sleep at night for the longest time. To make matters worse my older brother and sister knew this and did all sorts of mean tricks to scare me. (such as removing one of my sister's doll's eyes and putting in a hole in the wall FACING MY BED.) Imagine waking up to that! Anyway, Vincent Price is PRICELESS. His typical wonderful performace. The rest of the cast was alright too. Mainly the scares were the star of the movie. Nothing grisly, but old fashioned scares. A must see for all you Scream and Haunting fans. Much better!
  
  
• Camp Classic, Vincent Price Vehicle
  By on 2003-06-08
  Released in 1958, "House on Haunted Hill" was one of those great vehicle films for Vincent Price. Vincent Price. Now there was a truly great actor. Although he is most credited for being a horror, suspense or mystery film star with his spooky presence and his menacing voice, he has been able to portray various roles- from an average working man, nobility to even an Egyptian task master in "The Ten Commandments" starring Charlton Heston. Primarily doing films in the 50's and 60's, Vincent Price makes a good performance in this film. If anything, you should watch this film for Vincent Price's character.

  Price plays an eccentric, murderous millionaire who is hosting a party upon the suggestion of his conniving wife. She is in fact plotting with one of the participants to kill her husband and to get his fortune. Nevertheless, crazy old Vincent Price is also plotting to murder his wife, as he has done his other three wives before. Gathering guests (all who are in need of money) he welcomes them to a "party" in which they must spend the night in the large, haunted mansion to get ten thousand dollars. The house was never really haunted. The gimmicks - from a woman being hanged, to ghostly apparitions to an organ playing and walking skeletonwas all the crafty inventions of Vincent Price. The movie contains dark humor, much suspense and mood. In a time before blood and gore became the norm for horro films, this film relied on building up atmosphere and suspense. The film can be a bit dull at times, and frankly, not very frightening, but for the sake of watching Vincent Price or a classic horror film, it's a good buy. Some unforgettable lines in the film are Vincent Price saying such sordid remarks as "Every husband wishes to kill his wife but the problem is how to go about doing it so that no one would ever suspect he did it" and "It was my wife's idea to have the guests arrive in funeral cars." Loads of horrific fun.
  
  

• Great classic horror - Color gives it a new angle
  By AD9SE25S7CPRX on 2006-02-11
  I am a usually a stickler for the correct aspect ratio and non-colorized versions of films (their original intent). In this case, many post-1953 films, other than Scope films, were filmed 35mm film which has 1:37 to 1 dimensions, with a "soft" matte so they could be cropped anywhere from 1:66 through 2:1 in theatres. When shown on television, they could look like there's a lot of headroom in the cinematography, so the composition isn't quite right, although you see the whole full-frame picture. Legend films has provided the latter here, but crops nicely on my widescreen television, maintaining the original aspect. But the clincher here is both B&W and Colorized versions are included on this disc. To my surprise, in contrast with the 1980s faded and phony colorized releases, the color looks fantastic here, muted and striking to look at. Even the colorized trailer, while keeping the audio soundtrack, replaces the dull talking head scenes, with more shock scenes from the movie, an actual improvemnt! The Menu design is also great fun. So watch it in Color, and enjoy the memorable performances of leads smarmy Vincent Price and statuesque Carol Ohmart (Miss Utah 1946, 4th runner-up Miss America), a multitude of entertaining quotes ("Do you remember the fun we had when you poisoned me"), and one jump-out-of seat scene in a cellar. "Hurry, or you'll be late for your own funeral."
  
  
• Is a horror movie? A murder mystery? A black comedy?
  By A2K7LZY6P8I82D on 2006-04-05
  Actually, this is one of those great films which can be enjoyed on several different levels:
  1- HORROR FILM. Talking head, Elisha Cook, with his spook talk, messes with the minds of youngsters watching this movie.
  2- MURDER MYSTERY. Many women enjoy this film as a murder mystery.
  3- BLACK COMEDY. Those with a sense of humor (mostly men) enjoy the humor. Vincent Price, with this sly and sardonic sense of humor, will crack you up.
  
  The color is wonderful and similar to technicolor existent at the time. I've always wondered how colorizers choose which colors to use. On the HoHH poster, Price sports a brown suit; here his suit is navy and Alan Marshal sports the brown suit. Hmmm...according to the author of the book, DRESS FOR SUCCESS, brown is the most negative suit color in the public's mind. The acid is lime green, Annabelle's evening gown (which she wears only briefly) is red, and Ruth Bridger's outfit is emerald. Clever color choices. Are colorizers truly able to determine the original colors or is color selection capricious?
  
  Several interesting facts:
  1. Vincent Price was not paid a salary for his role but was given a share of the movie's profits--and the film cleaned up. In fact, Alfred Hitchcock noticed the money it made and decided to turn to a black and white shocker for his next film, PSYCHO.
  2. The house was designed by famed architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, and is in Hollywood Hills. The house was built in the 1920s and was not a hundred years old, as Elisa Cook states at the beginning of the film.
  
  It would have been interesting to have had some behind-the-scene shots during the making of the movie. I've seen several over the years. Nevertheless, this is a modestly-priced item which will give you countless hours of enjoyment.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• It's almost time to lock up the house and then your party will really begin. I wonder how it will end...
  By ADVX0P3EIKWBK on 2006-06-27
  This was a very good movie that I watched in my "Horror Classics Collection: 50 Pack" (ASIN: B0001HAGTM) that I got from Amazon (for under $20.00!). So first off, I would recommend buying the 50 pack where you get 2 other Vincent Price movies (The Bat and The Last Man On Earth) and 47 other good movies for almost the same price as buying this movie by itself. As far as this movie goes, there are a few suspenseful parts and you wonder what is going to happen. Mainly, the movie will give you some memorable quotes, as Vincent Price will always deliver with that great voice of his. All of the characters do a good job acting (and the typist has a great scream!). Some parts seem to be a bit unbelievable and some questions don't seem to get answered, but who really cares? At only 75 minutes long, this movie is better than most of the horror movies that come out today that are unoriginal and go for shock value. So while this might be more of a murder mystery than a "horror" movie, it is worth a watch and you'll be satisfied at the end...unless of course, you do not like black and white movies, and if that is the case, then you probably wouldn't be reading this review. P.S. I love in Gary F. Taylor's review when he says: "Price plays it in a slightly prissy, very high-camp manner with a tremendous dose of the black humor for which he was so famous." That's so true!
  
  
• The Beginning of "Horror"
  By AA5586T7JD5IX on 2007-01-11
  When I first saw this movie in a theater as a boy I thought it was the scariest movie ever made. When I watched it again fifty years later I found it initially trite, but then I realized why the 1999 remake paid such tribute to Vincent Price. It had many firsts in it's genre, and what it didn't do first it did best (generally). It set the benchmark for "Horror" and wasn't surpassed in fright by anything other than "Splatter-Flicks" until the evolution of computer animation. This is where it began.
  
  
• The ghosts are waiting... or not
  By A1D2C0WDCSHUWZ on 2007-07-30
  Vincent Price. A haunted mansion house. Spooky caretakers. And a giant pile of money to any of the guests who lives through the night. What's not to love?
  
  "The House on Haunted Hill" is one of those rare horror movies that seems as fresh as if it were made yesterday. William Castle spins a creepy, slightly schlocky, clever little haunted house story, which is just intriguing enough to keep viewers riveted until the final twist. It's horror, myster and dark comedy squashed together.
  
  Frederick Loren (Vincent Price) decides to host a macabre birthday party for his devious wife Annabelle (Carol Ohmart), in the "House on Haunted Hill." He invites a test pilot, a columnist, a secretary and the house's unbalanced owner, and offers each one ten thousand dollars if they stay all night. Chandeliers fall, doors slam shut, and they get to see the wine vat full of acid.
  
  But as the night goes on, poor Nora Manning (Carolyn Craig) begins to see specters and rotted heads. The others think she's hysterical -- until Annabelle is found hanging in the hallway, dead. The unfortunate guests start to suspect that Loren brought them there to murder them (except for the owner, who blames ghosts). But the truth is far more complex and sinister....
  
  William Castle made a lot of slightly kitschy horror movies like "13 Ghosts" and "The Tingler," but this clever twist on haunted-house movies is probably his best work ever. Okay, that dancing skeleton is unintentionally funny, as is the gliding crone. But most of the time, it provides some in-your-face chills and great work from Price.
  
  This movie has solid dialogue ("Do you remember the fun we had when you poisoned me?") and some truly wicked exchanges between Price and Ohmart, as spouses who completely loathe one another. Castle's weird sense of humor shows up in the coffin-shaped boxes, the vat of acid, and the organ playing itself.
  
  But the most impressive aspect of "House" is that it's not just another ghosts-terrify-screaming-idiots movie. It's more of a mystery, before the crime is committed. We're never quite sure if there really are ghosts haunting the place, or if the humans are the ones who are really causing all this trouble. What's really scary is that the humans are more frightening.
  
  Vincent Price is definitely the star here -- creepy, intelligent, debonair, and he has an acid comment for every occasion ("Don't stay up thinking of ways to get rid of me. It makes wrinkles"). Ohmart runs a close second with her seductive, devious trophy wife; the other actors do solid jobs as well, although Craig doesn't do much except shriek periodically.
  
  "House on Haunted Hill" is a deserving vintage horror movie -- a twisty plot, and Price doing his best creepy-might-be-villain act. A must-see.
  
  
• Awesome movie
  By A33NTT3DCOCV7W on 2000-05-06
  First off, I'm 13, and love old classic movies. This is a GREAT movie! It's not that scary, but there are PLENTY of jump scenes to keep you nervous. My favorite part of the movie is where Vincent Price gets even w/ his wife. The characters are described pretty well in the beginning, so you get to know them quite well. Buy this movie! You'll enjoy it! I do! - A Fan
  
  
• Price's Best
  By ALJJA6S6M5TAX on 2001-08-31
  House on Haunted Hill is a classic movie about eccentric millionare named Frederick Lauren and his wife, Annabelle. They rent an old, creepy, gloomy house on a desolate hill and throw a party, "a haunted house party." The party only has has 7 guests, 4 men and 3 women (the same amout of people that have died in the house). If each guest stays all night in the house they each recieve $10,000, "or they're next of ki[n] just in case they don't survive." Vincent Price, Carol Ohmart and Elisha Cook star in this wonderful terrifying classic directed by William Castle. This movie is great because its origional, & they use props like fake heads in suitcases, and organs playing music with no player, instead of computers like the awful remake from 1999. See this movie you'll really enjoy it.
  
  
• I was playing too :)
  By A1I7GHG2XNYO3J on 2002-02-05
  This has been one of my favorite Price movies since i was a child. Great mystery and very scary. Who can stay in the House on Haunted Hill all night for $10,000? Oh yes, you have to survive to collect. There are two DVD versions of this movie and the one pictured with this review is the best of the two. The other is very fuzzy, in fact its horrible. This one plays very clean and crisp.
  
  
• Spry combination of mystery and horror
  By A37PMZVM8LR1DY on 2002-03-22
  _House On Haunted Hill_ is a good old fashioned black and white haunted house movie featuring Vincent Price in a suitably sober yet hammy role. Pleasant throughout its 75 minutes, it is an effective blend of Agatha Christie mystery and supernatural horror thriller. With a low gore content and an emphasis on suspense, this is an unabashed vehicle for the excellent Price, who even speaks straight at the camera on occasion-- only punctuating how much of a fun ride the flick is. The narrative manages to be sprightly and entertaining while at the same time keeping the audience continually guessing: not only as to the true innocence/guilt of the protagonists but also as to whether the "hauntings" are genuine or staged. It would have been interesting to see this in the theater so many decades ago, where at some screenings the climax had a skeleton fly suspended on a wire over the heads of the audience! Purportedly banned in Finland, this is an enjoyable romp recommended to horror buffs.
  
  
• Anybody wanna make 10,000 dollars?
  By A6QPUOW79XZ85 on 2002-10-23
  This is one of my absolute favorites. Vincent Price RULED the horror world in the late 50's and ALL of the 60's. This is the premise of the film: Frederick Loren (Price) invites 5 people to come to a haunted house to stay overnight to make 10,000 dollars. Pretty easy, right? Only if you have nerves of steel. This movie keeps you one the edge of your seat the whole time, and you'll never guess who's really causing all the mayhem!! I recommend this film to anyone who wants a really good old fashioned horror to watch on a Saturday afternoon. It's just a great film.
  
  
• THIS IS SO[ Awful]!!!
  By on 2002-12-03
  This is an awful movie. There is only one good jolt in the whole thing, but other than that this isn't scary at all. Just a long boring piece of cinema. The re-make was better, and the re-make was awful as well. Don't see it alone in the dark, because you'll need someone to wake you up!
  
  
• FOR 10,000 DOLLARS WOULD YOU SPEND A NIGHT WITH VINCENTPRICE
  By on 2004-03-20
  I absolutley loved this movie. The script writting is wonderful,the acting is treamendous and the surprises you will see in this movie keep you at the end of your seat. This is trueley Vincent Price at his best. The ghost in the basement, the hanged body in the stairwell and the skeleton which appears at the end of the film. Also stars Carol O'Mart,Richard Long, Alan Marshall and Carolyn Craig. This film never has a dull part. So, If you you don't have this movie,you need to buy it.
  
  
• So glad I ordered this DVD
  By A2ZVY2ZA1SRFEU on 2005-09-11
  This DVD played beautifully, no skips or pauses on any frames. It was a very clear, crisp picture. So glad I ordered this DVD, a movie memory from the past, made so easy to acquire thru this website.
  
  
• Don't throw out your WB DVD version of this movie!
  By A35CLA8IMCSK3R on 2005-09-14
  I was very disappointed that this DVD did not include a widescreen version (in either color or BW) as WB did in its DVD release (they had included both FS and WS versions).
  
  While it was interesting to see what the movie looked like in color (the colorization was not bad), I did not think that it added anything to the film.
  
  The restored BW version included on the DVD was very nice, just wish that it was done in WideScreen.
  
  I don't know about all this "pre 1960 1:85 vs 1:33, and the 1:33 Fullscreen really has more info in it than the 1:85 widescreen' etc., stuff that the other reviewers are talking about.
  
  All I know is that viewing "House on Haunted Hill" in the widescreen format that was included in the WB DVD release has much more of a visual impact watching it on my Widescreen TV than watching the Fullscreen versions (either color or the restored BW) included on this DVD.
  
  Bottom line, if you are curious about the color, get this DVD, otherwise stick with your current WB FS/WS DVD edition.
  
  
• Horror Is Better In Color!
  By A37SHHFR26AKPO on 2006-03-19
  Having been a huge fan of this film in Black & White it was great to see this version in color!
  What was amazing was the detail that was brought out once it was translated into color. The old hag in the basement with Nora was far more detailed now that she's in color. You even notice more detail in the sets. The commentary by Mike Nelson is somewhat lame. He tries his best MST3K send up of it but misses the mark. I would have rather had a commentary by any of the survivng cast or crew members. It appears that only Carol Ohmart, who portrayed Vincent Price's wife Anabelle is the only surviving member of the cast.
  
  The strange thing about this cast is that many of them died at a young age or not long after the production of the film. Caroyln Craig who portrayed Nora Manning was shot to death in 1970 at the age of 36 and Richard Long who portrayed Lance died of multiple heart attacks at 45.
  
  
• These are no good against the dead, only the living.
  By A3P2R1WF7A03V1 on 2006-08-18
  This William Castle/Vincent Price thriller classic will satisfy fans of both old black & white horror films and those who dig Vincent Price movies.
  
  Price plays a wealthy bored type whose wife is only around for his loot. He throws a party for "her" - inviting a mixed bag of a gang who could use the $10,000 he promises them all: the catch? Just stay the night... Along the way they'll have to avoid basement holes full of acid, blind, weird maids scurrying around in the dark and other assorted chills.
  
  Remade & re-imagined in 1999, the new version is a flashy more disturbing romp starring Geoffrey Rush and Famke Jannsen as the psychotically bored, overly blinged couple. However, the wacky original contains lots of scary goodies. It's perfect for those who like good old fashioned frights!
  
  
  
• Greed And Ambition Are The True Horrors
  By A1YB29BIDULEYE on 2008-06-13
  I used to feel that "House of Wax" was Vincent Price's finest moment. After seeing "House on Haunted Hill" though, I feel that award must now go to this outstanding masterpiece of horror. Vincent Price (loaded with millions of dollars) invites 5 very different people (a typist, a doctor, a drunk, an elderly journalist, and a good hearted young woman short of money), to spend one night in his 'haunted mansion.' If they stay the night, he will give them each $10,000. And we have no reason to doubt he will keep his word. As Jet Pilot Lance puts it: "Oh, sure he'll give it to us. $10,000. to him is no more than a nickel is to us." (On a side note, Lance seems to be a forerunner of the Adam West Batman.) One is at least entitled to wonder if this movie was the foundation for Scooby Doo. (Think about it! Scooby Doo episodes and movies usually involve mysteries that APPEAR to be related to ghosts, but turn out to be investigations of some REAL AND HUMAN criminal activity.) We later learn that Vincent Price and his wife have HAD IT with each other. He offers her a tax free $1,000,000. to just go away, but she wants ALL his money. Neither is safe while the other is alive. There are some scenes that make us think that perhaps ghosts are involved, but somehow, we never quite forget that the true horror is that Vincent Price and his wife are having their final war that will have to end in the death of the other. While some of the parties like the young Nora, the Jet Pilot Lance, and the elderly Journalist Ruth are likable and try to remain innocent bystanders, a certain party consents to join Vincent's wife in plotting to kill him. Interestingly, the drunk may APPEAR to be an idiot, but there is usually some ironic truth to what he says. Vincent of course also offers his usual horror laced with scary comedy: "Take the gun darling. You might want to use it on me before the night's out." I could go on and on, but the scenery is phenomenal for its time; the characters are well developed and convincing; the suspense is there; the horror is CERTAINLY there; and the climax DEFINES horror. Throughout the story we are expecting ghosts, and then we realize that it is our own greed and ambitions that are the true horrors in this world. As if I needed another great thing to say about this movie, at the end, the drunk beautifully steps out of the movie and delivers a haunting line to us (the audience). Ever since a friend gave this to me as a gift, I have watched it MANY, MANY times trying to find ONE thing wrong with it. I STILL CAN'T! Thank you Mr. Price for this masterpiece, and enjoy your everlasting peace. Your movie deserves a place right up there with Edgar Allen Poe's "Tell tale Heart" and the writings of John Webster.
  
  
• At long last, the classic in all it's B&W glory!
  By AST7UNIXVOAVA on 2000-01-13
  OK, OK, it isn't "Citizen Kane", but no one who's familiar with the many poorly-transferred VHS versions of this old charmer will fail to be impressed by the DVD. For whatever reason, you actually get TWO versions - your choice of "widescreen" (1.85:1) or "Creature Features Regular" (1.33:1) on either side of the disc. The video quality is excellent - FINALLY! But I'm only giving it 4 out of five stars because all you get are the movie, the original trailer, and "Scene Selections" - no bio's, no pressbook material, nothing that would be SO appropriate for a William Castle movie on DVD. (Sigh....) But at this price, well, I shouldn't grouse TOO much, and maybe we'll get some of those goodies on a "13 Ghosts", or "Macabre", or a "Night Walker" DVD. Meanwhile - turn down the lights, and listen once again as Watson Pritchard tells us...."the ghosts are moving already - that's a bad sign...." and wait for the chills to come up your back. Given half a chance, this oughta scare the daylights out of the kiddies, and it's still a great memory for me.
  
  
• A Time Now Gone for This Genre
  By on 2000-05-01
  The atmosphere,the execution,the actors,the house,the age;the periodic shot of adrenalin in the blood-stream within the more general gloom and mold of the old house. And if for no other reason,the sudden terrify- ing close-up confrontation,upon turning,to see the old caretaker's hideous wife inches from your face,in the basement!And her floating out of the room (all accompanied by eerie organ music). Truly only the modern,or 'post-modern' age could scoff at this stuff and prefer the kind of unimaginative drivel complete with(unnecessary for effect)sex and gore which latter constitute so much of this cheap and vulgar age's 'entertainment'. Hats off to the new imaginative chilling stuff that doesn't pander (overmuch)to the current taste of the mass ignoranti,at least as that taste is interpreted by Hollywood and their 'associated links',in modern computer talk (writers,producers,directors,etc),and to those few who try (for whatever reason)to imitate the quality of the old (quality not being interpreted as 'nifty' special effects,great lighting or some other technological nonsense revolving around an insipid story line); and of course Hats Off to the genius of the Past. We won't see the likes of the crafting of those early days,or their mores,again.Pity,that!
  
  

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