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William Castle's gimmick-laden comic thriller is not so much a horror movie as a fairground funhouse come to life. Vincent Price stars as a deliciously silky millionaire married to a greedy gold digger (Carol Ohmart) who refuses to divorce him. When he turns his wife's idea for a haunted-house party into a contest--$10,000 to whoever will spend the night in "the only truly haunted house in the world"--it seems he may have found an alternative to divorce. Five strangers gather to test their stamina, Price hands each of them delightfully twisted party favors (loaded handguns, delivered in their own tiny coffins), and the spook show begins. Blood drips from the ceiling, zombielike apparitions float through rooms, severed heads and skeletons suddenly appear, and then a guest is found hanging in the stairwell. Full of screams and things that go bump in the night, House on Haunted Hill isn't particularly scary and often makes little sense, but, like a Halloween haunted house, the spectacle of spook-show clichés is quite entertaining, and Price makes a sardonic master of ceremonies. The original theatrical presentations featured a typically outrageous Castle-engineered gimmick: Emergo, which was nothing more than a skeleton that appeared to fly out of the screen and over the audience on a guide wire.--Sean Axmaker

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Cast: Vincent Price, Elisha Cook, Jr., Alan Marshal, Richard Long, Carolyn Craig, Carol Ohmart, Julie Mitchum, Leona Anderson, Howard Hoffman
Director: William Castle
Genre: Classics, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Release Date: February 17, 1959
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Screen Writer: Robb White
DVD Release Date: October 26, 1999
Runtime: 75 minutes
Studio: William Castle Productions

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More House on Haunted Hill (1959 fi... reviews

review by ryguy4738. October 25, 2011

posted in Movie Hype

Classic fright/camp film. I loved it.

**** out of **** I had no idea that the concepts of Camp had originated from so far back in cinematic time, but "House on Haunted Hill" proves, furthermore, that such things existed even way back in the good old 50's. It was directed by William Castle; who got his reputation for making cheesy but entertaining and well-executed camp classics such as this. He also had an eye for the atmospheric, the genuinely creepy, and the morbidly humorous; which I kind of admire. Plenty … more

Comments (3) Compliments (36)

Quick Tip by rbuchanan. August 04, 2011

A Quick Tip by rbuchanan

There's not much to say of House on Haunted Hill that hasn't been reiterated ad infinitum. Briskly paced, the proceedings of this twisted parlor party are as exciting as they are totally unpredictable to the first-time viewer. Just as the plot's vulpine twists distract attention from its few holes, so Price's devilish performance and gigantic presence cover for the few mediocre players of a colorful supporting cast. Among all of William Castle's collaborations with Price, this … more

Comments (3) Compliments (3)

review by tomtom13. December 16, 2004

posted in Movie Hype

A Mystery Movie, Not a Horror Movie.

Fredrick Loren (Vincent Price) is an eccentric millionaire that people have never seen. On a dark and stormy night, Loren invites 5 different people to the house on Haunted Hill for a party and to spend the night. Supposedly no one has ever been able to spend the night in the house and Loren is offering each person that does $10,000. Each of the 5 guest he has invited have never met before, but in some way they have all had contact with Loren, though they have never seen him. Things take a somewhat … more

Comments (2) Compliments (21)

see all House on Haunted Hill (1959 fi... reviews (3)

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