***No Spoilers Now, Read On.*** Six people have been invited to spend one night in a haunted house (don't worry it gets better). If they do, they will each receive ten-thousand US dollars. The house is rented, and the event orchestrated by, the eccentric kagillionare Frederick Loren (Vincent Price). Or is it, in fact, his wife Annabelle (Carol Ohmart)? The film keeps you guessing at the true purpose of the gathering and who is behind it. Those who accept Loren's invitation are: Lance Schroeder (Richard Long), a test-pilot, or racecar driver (I forget, something masculine and dangerous though); Nora Manning (Carolyn Craig), a "pretty" young thing who must provide for her family; Watson Pritchard (Elisha Cook), a drunk, who has murky familial ties to the true owners of the house; Ruth Bridger (Julie Mitchum) is a society page columnist who is known to over imbibe on games of chance; Dr. David Trent (Alan Marshal) has a particular interest in the psychology of hysteria (dark humors in the bile and what not) and views the event not just as a payday, but as an opportunity to gain insight into his area of study. They all need the money, for some reason or another, and willfully follow Loren into the imposingly Gothic house. He explains, over drinks, the rules of the night and that the doors will be locked at midnight.....from the outside! Nobody can get in or out, the windows being barred like a prison or.....a tomb! Anyway, they get a guided tour of the mansion from Pritchard who points out interesting features like the ceiling that drips blood, the pit filled with flesh dissolving acid in the wine cellar, and the spacious breakfast nook. Before everyone retires to their respective rooms, Loren presents them each with a "party favor": a small coffin containing a handgun. As the night proceeds, strange and unexplainable things occur, causing the guests to grow suspicious of one another and their hosts. The bumps in the night draw successively closer and then, out in the hallway, there is a scream........
***Be Warned, (Mild) Spoilers Start Here.*** THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL starts out as a standard "haunted house" picture until we realize that the only "ghouls" in this creaky old mansion are the people themselves. Greed, lust and betrayal are no match for ephemeral specters. However, the film never addresses whether the house is really haunted or not. Strange things do happen which defy explanation. The apparition outside of the second floor window or the rope that moves of its own volition would seem laborious to fake even for seasoned snake-oil peddlers like the Lorens. Could it be that they don't know or that perhaps they don't care, preferring another layer of confusion to mask their intentions? I have a feeling that director William Castle put these scenes in to keep people guessing, or confused, or scared, but ultimately entertained. Castle is infamous as the guy who put buzzers in the seats at movie theaters to shock people during THE TINGLER (1959) and at the end of THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL he reportedly hung a plastic skeleton from wires, sending it dancing above the audience (it was a simpler time then, when mild electrical shocks did not result in angry lawsuits). Castle was renown for such gimmicks and would become the unofficial inspiration for 1993's Matinée (which features a great performance by John Goodman). In THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, the cast and crew never take the story too seriously and the film has a kind of tongue-in-cheek camp charm. Yeah, there's holes in the plot and stuff that doesn't make sense, but it's got Vincent Price and vats of acid. What more could you want? 7/10
***Be Warned, (Mild) Spoilers Start Here.*** THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL starts out as a standard "haunted house" picture until we realize that the only "ghouls" in this creaky old mansion are the people themselves. Greed, lust and betrayal are no match for ephemeral specters. However, the film never addresses whether the house is really haunted or not. Strange things do happen which defy explanation. The apparition outside of the second floor window or the rope that moves of its own volition would seem laborious to fake even for seasoned snake-oil peddlers like the Lorens. Could it be that they don't know or that perhaps they don't care, preferring another layer of confusion to mask their intentions? I have a feeling that director William Castle put these scenes in to keep people guessing, or confused, or scared, but ultimately entertained. Castle is infamous as the guy who put buzzers in the seats at movie theaters to shock people during THE TINGLER (1959) and at the end of THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL he reportedly hung a plastic skeleton from wires, sending it dancing above the audience (it was a simpler time then, when mild electrical shocks did not result in angry lawsuits). Castle was renown for such gimmicks and would become the unofficial inspiration for 1993's Matinée (which features a great performance by John Goodman). In THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, the cast and crew never take the story too seriously and the film has a kind of tongue-in-cheek camp charm. Yeah, there's holes in the plot and stuff that doesn't make sense, but it's got Vincent Price and vats of acid. What more could you want? 7/10