HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL

An eccentric millionaire invites five complete strangers to attend a party for his wife Annabelle. To sweeten the deal, he offers them each $10,000 if they stay the night. The catch? The location of the party is an old mansion that has been the sight of numerous murders through the years. It's also rumored to be full of bloodthirsty ghosts. That's the set-up for William Castle's immensely enjoyable 1959 romp, HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, and it's not hard to see why Castle would have enjoyed it so much. For a man who built his career on gimmicks, that plot set-up sounds suspiciously like some Castle would have done in real life.


Vincent Price House on Haunted Hill

Loren's list of guests for the evening are a mix of individuals from various backgrounds, some of whom need the money for personal reasons, some of whom are there simply for the experience. Watson Pritchard, a raging drunk who honestly believes the mansion houses a horde of evil spirits, has spent a bit too much on booze. Nora Manning, a secretary, needs the money to help support her family. Lance Schroeder, a test pilot, is there simply to test his meddle. Ruth Bridges, a reporter, is there for writing material and to help pay off her gambling debts and Doctor David Trent, a psychologist, is there to study the effects of hysteria caused by haunted houses. Then there is Loren and his wife Annabelle. It becomes immediately clear that they are not in a happy marriage. Annabelle is Loren's fourth wife - the previous three have all met with mysterious ends - and has previously tried to kill him using poison. She, like everyone else in this house, wants his money. But what exactly are Loren's motives? Why these five people? Why this house? And are all the strange goings-on - falling chandeliers, dripping blood, strange noises, apparitions and disembodied heads - all really manifestations of the supernatural or is there someone very much alive behind all this?


William Castle House on Haunted Hill

While THE TINGLER is Castle's best film, I find HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL to be his most enjoyable. It's a breezy, inviting and deliciously evil little gem that's heavy on the camp and light on the flat-out comedic. Castle is best known for his audience gimmicks - like placing devices under random theater seats to deliver little electrical shocks at key points during THE TINGLER - but often overlooked is his ability as a filmmaker. HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL is filled with wonderful little moments. Castle's use of shadows and smooth gliding pans help create a nightmarish feel in the film's darkest moments and his compositions within the frame make the proceedings visually interesting. It's not uncommon, for example, to have the entire cast crammed into one tight frame, allowing the audience to feel the character's encroaching paranoia and claustrophobia. In the film's most memorable scene, Nora is investigating a room in the basement of the castle when she stands up and turns, the camera panning ever so slightly to reveal a grotesque old woman standing menacingly next to her. Nora screams and the old woman glides, not walks, out of the room and into the darkness. Simple, uncomplicated and, most importantly, effective.


Carol Ohmart House on Haunted Hill

Of course, HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL is not without it's problems. Any serious dissection of the film will reveal major lapses in logic and several impossibilities - especially obvious once you know the film's final, EC Comics-esque twist ending. But none of that really matters. HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL is one of the great "tell me a scary story" films. Whether or not there are really ghosts in the mansion or whether or not anything we're seeing is in fact actually happening simply doesn't matter. The experience of watching the film is all that matters and HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, with the great imagination of Castle behind it, delivers the movie-going goods in spades. Toss in a talented cast - which includes Vincent Price, Carol Ohmart, Elisah Cook Jr., Julie Mitchum and Alan Marshall - and a great, creepy score and you have one of the best horror films of the 1950s.


Highly recommended.