Dopo la vita

Haunted house movies generally don't deliver the goods. There are a few exceptions; the original The Haunting (1963) is the best example. That was a truly terrifying film. The Legend of Hell House is one these exceptions 'cause it really serves up some decent scares and maintains a very creepy atmosphere throughout.

The plot is similar to The Haunting. Various people spend time in a supposedly haunted house, each of them with different background and experience, one of whom has already spent time there and was the only one to come out alive. Needless to say the house is indeed very haunted and pretty soon these people are fighting for their lives.

Featuring excellent performances by all, first rate direction and production values, a solid script; The Legend of Hell House is really a first rate horror film in most respects.

The wealthy Mr. Rudolph Deutsch (Roland Culver) promises a small fortune to the physicist Dr. Lionel Barrett (Clive Revill); to the mental medium Florence Tanner (Pamela Franklin); and to the physical parapsychologist Benjamin Franklin Fischer (Roddy McDowall) to investigate survival after death in the notorious Belasco House, a.k.a. Hell House. The house belonged to "Roaring Giant" Emeric Belasco that promoted orgies in the house and had mysteriously disappeared after a massacre. Fischer is the only survival of a previous investigation and the Dr. Barrett goes with his wife Ann Barrett (Gayle Hunnicutt). Along the days, Florence believes that there are entities in the house, including Belasco's son Daniel; Fischer keeps his mind closed expecting only to earn the promised money, and the skeptical Dr. Barrett brings a machine to drain the energy in the house. Will they be successful in their intent?

"The Legend of Hell House" is a creepy and atmospheric horror movie with a good story of haunted house. The ghost story is supported in lighting, make-up and camera work and only few special effects and is effective. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "A Casa da Noite Eterna" ("The House of the Eternal Night")

In spite of some questionable motivations and a fairly silly ending,

this horror drama has become a real favorite.

The excellent cast has a field day with the talky script; and

director John Hough (best known for "The Avengers) does an imaginative

job using fresh, distorted set ups that keep you off center. And The

movie looks great. High praise must also go to the score and use of sound effects. If

the ending was a little better, this would be a real classic. But for

horror fans, it's a nine out of ten. Roddy, you were enjoyed.

A very creepy tale of a haunted house. Not only was the film creepy and scary it was also a mystery. You sit there and try to pay attention so you don't miss any clues, but then something creepy comes up and you get side tracked. This made the film a really good horror flick. The cast was pretty good. I am not too sure if I liked Gayle Hunnicutt in the film though. My favorite character was played by Roddy McDowall. He really brought out the feeling in his character. There were some interesting camera shots in this film which I think brought it more to life. The film was not that gory at all. It focuses on scaring the viewer mentally and I believe it does a pretty decent job. So see if you can figure out the mystery of Hell House.

You've just got to love this 70's classic. It has everything a haunted house tale should have. Unlike most of the haunted house tales, this one manages to keep things a little bit more believable. The time and date stamps are particularly effective here.

All the players do a great job with their roles, especially Roddy McDowall. I love Mrs. Barrett's erotic fixations. Unfortunately, they'll probably get the bright idea of remaking this into a horrible piece of crap.

This movie relies mostly on atmosphere, not on gore or other special effects. If thats what you are looking for, you'd better try somewhere else.

9 out of 10