Stinky, campy classic from William Castle, gimmick/producer of such schlock classics as "The Tingler", "13 Ghosts", and "Bug!" Not as stinky as udder flicks in the vein, the original "House" does make use of some pretty feeble special effects,and some tawdry over-acting. Moore of a who-dunnit than a true horror moovie (all the fake effects were actually meant to be fake), the film does nonetheless showcase the wonderful creepy acting talents of Vincent Price. Severed heads, murder by acid, dancing skeletons, and suicide by hanging are all on the evening's agenda when eccentric millionaire Frederick Loren(Price) invites 5 udder people to spend the night in his haunted mansion. All they have to to is survive to the next morning to cowlect $10,000, but everyone seems to have a hidden agenda, and then the plot become confuddled and cowfusing. Part of the problem of the film is that only about 1/2 the characters are really used to do anything; the rest seem moore like incidental fodder. And no one does anything that normal, intelligent folk would do in the same circumstances - like stay together, keep the lights on, keep your hand revolver ready, etc. Still, as a showpiece for Price, such incowsistancies are forgivable. With the right attitude, the original "House on Haunted Hill" can even be enjoyable, say, as part of a campy moovie festival on Halloween night. This is the flick that made use of Castle's "Emergo" effect - which was to have the moovie theater drag a dummy ghost over the audience, while the actors on screen react to it as if it were on the film. I suppose in the 50's, this moost have been horribly frightening, but I'm sure modern audiences would simply howl with laughter, much as the MooCow did. Not scary enough to be a classic, not stinky enough to be true cow flop, the MooCow says this "House" is worth checking out at the right time & with the right audience. And if a fake dummy ghost flies over your head while you watch it...well, don't say you weren't warned by the MooCow. ;=8)
Review of House on Haunted Hill
