(1959)***
Five diverse people receive invitations to participate in a “haunted house” party with Fredrick Loren (Vincent Price) and his 4th wife Annabelle. The guests are informed that they will receive $10,000 each if they agree to stay in the house for one night. Things are never as easy as they seem, however, and Fredrick ratchets up the tension by giving everyone revolvers. After setting the stage for his frightfest, Fredrick proceeds to scare the living daylights out of his guests through a series of strange sounds, decapitated heads, and animated skeletons, which in turn provokes the guests to use their fully loaded weapons.
Vincent Price is at his swishiest in Haunted Hill. In truth, I’ve never found him to be particularly scary and it amuses me that he has this long horror movie legacy. For me Vincent Price is the bad guy on The Brady Bunch, the voice on the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyworld, and one of the rappers in Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”. Nevertheless there’s something almost hypnotic about his performances, particularly here. I recall Octopunk summarily dismissing this film last year, but I actually found it to be a lot of fun. I like the simple “I dare you to spend a night in a haunted house” plot, and the stupid decisions the characters make. This is one of those silly films where the only way that the various “traps” would work is if a number of precise events coalesced perfectly (e.g., standing in exactly the right place in a room, etc). This is the charm of Haunted Hill though, and it’s a hoot to see how each character will be dispatched. I’ll definitely throw this one in from time to time.
12 comments:
This one does have that goofy old charm, but it could have been actually scary and instead wound up being silly. Definitely worth checking out for at least two decent scares, but it ultimately annoyed me.
That first scare with the old lady actually freaked me out for a second!
That old lady is hella scary!
Oops, I said "hella."
She is, though, and she isn't any less scary when you find out she isn't a ghost but the wife of a servant.
He's not the voice on the Haunted Mansion ride at Disney. Thriller yes, but not Disney.
"Although many people think Orson Welles is the Ghost Host in the Disneyland and Walt Disney World versions of the Haunted Mansion, the voice actor is Paul Frees. He was also the voice of Ludwig Von Drake, the Pillsbury Doughboy, and Boris Badenov of Rocky and Bullwinkle fame." found on About Theme Parks website. Walt Disney recorded the first versions.
- Insignificant trivia wiz
I saw Vincent Price lecture to a packed college auditorium when I was around 12 years old. He was hilarious.
Thanks for the Disney info, Jordan. I mean Anonymous.
"She is, though, and she isn't any less scary when you find out she isn't a ghost but the wife of a servant." Movie-ruiner, movie ruiner, movie-ruiner!!!
Wow, I totally thought it was Price on the Disney ride! YOu mean, "I am your host, your ghost host" wasn't price? A little piece of my childhood just died.
Not Jordan. This was the one thing I could contribute to the Horrorthon, even at the risk of killing a piece of your childhood. I feel so fulfilled!
Hold up, hold up. Vincent Price rapped?
[Rap Performed By Vincent Price]
Darkness Falls Across The Land
The Midnite Hour Is Close At Hand
Creatures Crawl In Search Of Blood
To Terrorize Y'awl's Neighbourhood
And Whosoever Shall Be Found
Without The Soul For Getting Down
Must Stand And Face The Hounds Of Hell
And Rot Inside A Corpse's Shell
The Foulest Stench Is In The Air
The Funk Of Forty Thousand Years
And Grizzy Ghouls From Every Tomb
Are Closing In To Seal Your Doom
And Though You Fight To Stay Alive
Your Body Starts To Shiver
For No Mere Mortal Can Resist
The Evil Of The Thriller
[Into Maniacal Laugh, In Deep Echo]
Okay, that was a gamble thinking you were Jordan. Guess I'm not a very good gambler.
Kudos to destroying childhood memories in the name of TRUTH.
I remember seeing Vincent Price at RIC too - I had recently seen "House of Wax," probably during a Creature Double Feature on channel 56! I thought he was very cool.
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