Das Haus auf dem Geisterhügel

Vincent Price asks five strangers to spend an evening in a haunted house for ten thousand dollars a piece. With his estranged wife in tow, the seven house guests begin a nocturnal odyssey of mayhem, murder, and the macabre. This film is a great vehicle for Price's unique talents as an actor, and is also a very atmospheric film due in large part to the direction of William Castle. Castle gives us all kinds of horror in the traditional vein...a severed head, a skeleton, the screaming-without-end hysterical young woman, the plot twists and turns, and the firmly planted tongue-in-cheek. The cast is very good, with Carol Omhart, as Price's elegant and gorgeous wife, and Elisha Cook, as a drunken sot who continually rants about all the evil that has happened in the house, as standouts. This is a great Halloween film, or one that you turn off the lights to watch.

This classic version of "House on Haunted Hill" is one of the most entertaining examples of the low-budget, black-and-white horror films that used to be such a mainstay for movie fans. It has few frills, but it does have some thrills, and in particular it has a cleverly written story that is told at a brisk pace, with a good deal of interesting and pleasingly macabre detail.

Horror legend Vincent Price is in his element as the mysterious millionaire who invites a houseful of guests to spend the night in a supposedly haunted mansion, and his performance will give his fans everything that they expect. The supporting cast is solid, led by Elisha Cook, who is very good as a nervous, tipsy character whose rambling proclamations of doom add the right touch of offbeat suspense. The settings are given plenty of detail that makes the characters' explorations of the house even more interesting.

The story is nicely written for the genre, making very good use of the possibilities in the setup, throwing in some good turns, and resolving everything in a resourceful fashion. And it's not without some real suspense - even those who normally watch low-budget horror features solely for the camp factor might get an actual start once or twice as everything plays out. And even if you don't find anything scary, there is plenty here that makes it enjoyable to watch.

I remember seeing this movie when I was a kid and how scary it was to me, especially the scene where Nora sees the old lady ghost for the first time. I haven't seen this movie since I was 6 years old and I remember watching with my mom recently the "100 scariest movies" on BRAVO and this movie was mentioned, I figured since I had the opportunity to see it again, why not? Like I said, it's somewhat lost it's edge, but still 'till this day, House on Haunted Hill will always remain a great movie to watch any stormy night.

Five strangers have been invited to a house on Haunted Hill, they are being offered by Vincent price $10,000 each, the catch? They have to spend the night at that house that has been cursed, thinking it's just a good old fashioned haunted party that Vincent's wife is throwing, they go along with it, especially since they could easily have $10,000. But things start to go a little crazy when horrible things happen to the guests, including the sights of ghosts. But questions are brought up when the wife seems pretty up on loosing her millionaire husband.

The story was great and the ending was one of the first great twist endings of our time. Again, I could always easily laugh at some scenes now a days, but I think it is because of the fact that I've seen so many horror movies. Because I still remember those horrible nightmares this movie gave me as a kid and that's what makes this movie special to me, it will remain as the greatest sleepover flick!

7/10

This film is truly awful. A revamp of the old Cat & the Canary formula. A theme done to death. Yet I love it for the shallow and stiff characters, lazy script and muddled story line. None of it works. The writer feels the need to 'explain' everything - but a psychological intepretation would have been better? But who could forget that final scene of the skeleton trundling out from the vat of acid - a giant string puppet!!! Oh what rubbish but I've seen this film time and time again and it IS a little scary in parts. I have to say I enjoy it more than the recent Gosford Park. Ahhh they don't make them like this anymore. Unintentionally funny throughout!!!

William Castle has made several wonderful horror films; some obviously better than others, but at the top of the list are "Thirteen Ghosts" and "House on Haunted Hill." This movie might though have been all but forgotten if not one plucky guy recently remade this movie in to a much more gory movie. That movie is a remake in name only, but this one is obviously more superior because it has the incredibly creepy presence of Vincent Price and the nervous tick of Elisha Cook. The ghosts aren't very scary, nor do we see anything really supernatural, but the atmosphere and uneasiness of this film makes for an incredible who done it story as you wonder who will get it. The set is intoxicating inasmuch as you never really see all of it, nor is it really explained what such a dangerous pit is doing in such a precarious spot in the basement. Such a matter isn't important. On the other side of the coin, the music and the special effects are rather hokey, but then when this was in the theaters, a lot of the teenagers would have been making out to have really bothered to pick this movie apart. It is only in recent years that movies have turned away from gore and back to movies with style and substance that we appreciate films like this.