La maison de l'épouvante

Wow, how did I manage to go so long without seeing this wonderfully corny '60s title, lost among thousands of other obscure, late-night drive-in classics? I had heard about it many years ago, just a rough plot outline, and always thought it sounded like cheesy fun, but I never had the chance to see it. However, I managed to view the film recently, under its alternate title, "The Haunted House of Horror", and I must say that I enjoyed every minute of it! Where do I begin? Well, first of all, those amazing '60s fashions! Go-go boots and mini-skirts haunt this picture more than the house itself does, and it must be said that throughout the entire movie the curvaceous Jill Haworth looks absolutely stunning (and yes, in many scenes she is wearing mini-skirt). Basically, the plot revolves around this girl Sheila (Haworth), her swinger beau Chris (Frankie Avalon!) and all of their groovin' swinger friends who get bored with the usual Friday night party antics in swinging London and decide to go "ghost-hunting" at an old deserted mansion in the countryside. Well, what follows is that someone ends up dead (in a murder scene which is surprisingly bloody for a PG-rated film) and the kids try to figure out whodunit! I guess one could describe this little number as a more mature, live-action British version of "Scooby Doo"! It's an absolute hoot, and I really enjoyed it. The plot was really nothing special, but from beginning to end I was hooked on this movie, and I was surprised at how ahead of it's time it was, and of course by the bloodiness of the killings. There is one killing at the climax of the film that will surely make your eyes pop out of their sockets - unbelievable! I won't give anything away, you'll have to see for yourself, but this baby is just amazing, from the corny dialogue: "Sheila, the way you dig blood, people'd think you're a vampire!", "You'd better watch out, darling, next time I give you a love bite!", to the swingin' sixties fashions, to the Scooby Doo antics and gory knife murders, plus a very downbeat, disturbing ending and a creepy atmosphere - you can't go wrong with this one. Unfortunately it's pretty hard to find, but it has found a cozy little home on cable, so if you get the chance, give it a look!

England's Tigon films the people behind Witchfinder General produced this boring 1969 effort, an early slasher movie, and Michael Armstrong who directed the entertaining Witchfinder rip off Mark Of The Devil directed. In swinging London, a group of friends are attending Frankie Avalon's dull house party and decide to go to a haunted mansion to hold a seance instead. When one of their group is brutally murdered the others abandon his body and flee the scene knowing that one of them is the killer. Boris Karloff was originally supposed to play the detective investigating the goings but was too ill to appear, so Dennis Price took the role instead. Armstrong wanted Ian Ogilvy to play the lead role, but American backers AIP insisted that the part go to Frankie Avalon (who was nearly 30 at the time and under contract to them). There are a few decent shock sequences and a liberal flow of blood, but this supposedly haunted house is more likely to induce sleep than give you nightmares.

In the highly-alliterative and genre-suggestive Haunted House Of Horror, a group of teenagers, bored with the party they're attending one evening, decide to liven things up by trooping off to a supposedly, and unsurprisingly, haunted house to conduct a seance, wherein deadly consequences soon occur.

Having known little about this film for years other than its title, I found myself expecting a far different tale to the one that actually unfolded. Was there in fact any supernatural activity as the title suggested, or was the horror more conventional, leading to an earthbound whodunnit with B-movie slasher overtones? I must admit I was kept guessing for a while until those answers resolved themselves. All the meanwhile, I found myself reasonably entertained by the look and feel of a contemporary British sixties horror, from the swinging fashions to the unbelievable amount of smoking - actor George Sewell alone gives his best cigarette acting in this film. The musical score is fairly standard for the day and place - a good deal of brass, strings, moody piano and dramatic drum riffs. In fact, there were times when I felt sure this was a Bill ('Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150') McGuffie special, so either Reg Tilsley was familiar with his work, or these musical motifs were in vogue at the time. The lighting too is fairly conventional, though the day-for-night shooting became a little annoying after a while. Murky blue skies do not suggest midnight no matter how you dress them up, and must've been even more obvious on the silver screen.

The acting is competent if restrained - in part due to the lack of any really meaty roles on offer, though there are several luminaries of the period to help breathe life into the whole effort. Besides Sewell, we also have the soon-to-be Man About The House himself, Richard O'Sullivan, frequent TV guest star Jill Hawarth, and Robin Stewart, also soon to become well-known in Bless This House. Why we didn't get to see a lot more of the gorgeous Gina Warwick on the other hand, is a bit of a mystery. She and Hawarth almost make up for what is in the end, a rather pedestrian adventure.

And this in the end is what it is. I give it points for casting, period novelty, and for playing a little with audience expectations to avoid predictable plot trappings, but in the end, there is nothing ultimately remarkable about Haunted House Of Horror that helps it stand out from the competition of the day, like the popular Hammer Horror films. Which is not to say that their offerings are not sometimes prone to character cyphers, uneven pacing and abrupt endings, but more practiced hands on their part tend to make these things less of an issue. Interestingly, Tigon Films did snag horror veterans Karloff, Price, Cushing and Lee on a couple of occasions to produce horror-thrillers better received than what you find here - Scream And Scream Again, anybody? Nonetheless, Haunted House Of Horror should not be summarily dismissed - it's worth a look, but only if you've gotten a ways down through your must-view list.

The Haunted House of Horror is one of those time capsule movies that was probably out of date before they finished editing it.

I first saw it when I was 4 or 5 years old, It was one of the first colour horror movies that I remember seeing. Now 35 years later I can now give it a review. Lets put it this way, Haunted House of Horror is not a good film. But that doesn't mean its not interesting. The story concerns a bunch of young groovy British teenagers lead by the not so young, not so groovy, American Frankie Avalon. Anyway after a party they decide to go to the so called haunted house for kicks? After exploring the house for a bit, One of the teens is brutally murdered. Anyway, after lots of hysterical screaming, mainly by the females of the group. The group lead by Mr Avalon decide to hide there murdered friends body and leave the house.

Why would they do this. Well.. Your guess is as good as mine. Anyway after a few plot contrivances and another bloody murder the teens decide to go back to the house, where guess what.. More Murders. As you can probably tell Haunted house of horror is a bit lame. The direction by Michael Armstrong is very amateurish. The plot and Script are also pretty dire even the music is really rubbish.

The acting is mostly OK. When I say mostly I mean there is one terrible performance in there. ( Its very noticeable). So what, may you ask makes Haunted House of Horror so interesting. Well.. All these wrongs make this little film quite unique and strangely watch-able. It has child like quality that strangely reminded me of Scooby Doo. Like Fred in the cartoon, Frankie Avalon is the leader of the gang, Directing everyone what to do. I should also say that he is the only American in the movie. Actually he's quite good in it. I should also mention the Lovely Jill Haworth and her mini skirts. This is also another plus for the movie. At worst Haunted House of Horror can be seen as a bit of a Spring time for Hitler. "So bad its good. At best it can be seen as true British cult horror. I'd just call it harmless fun.

When I was about 10 years old me and my friend saw this on TV and the ending really freaked us out! We had never seen so much blood and gore on television before and it stunned us. Well, 30 years later I've finally seen this film again. I've been searching for it ever since. I didn't know the title but I never miss a horror film so I was bound to run into it again. It took 30 years! The film starts slowly with Frankie Avalon playing a rare serious role. The film has two very bloody scenes that you don't expect from an Avalon film during this time. The ending is strange and inconclusive. One of the things that I did enjoy are the real 60's London mod style of clothing. Very interesting to see the style during these times. But the film does have a fatal flaw. There just is to much talking and not enough time spent in the horror house. So after all these years the two bloody scenes still pack a wallop but its still a tedious film. A curio, though.