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House on Haunted Hill (William Castle, 1959)
House on Haunted Hill (William Castle, 1959)
Director: William Castle
Writer: Robb White
Cast: Vincent Price, Carol Ohmart, Richard Long, Elisha Cook Jr.
Genre: Horror, Mystery
Length: 75 minutes
Premise: An eccentric millionaire whose past four wives have died under mysterious circumstances, decides to give a haunted house party for his new young & beautiful wife. She's number 5. The millionaire invites five people who he's never met to the party. He promises each $10,000 if they will spend the entire night locked in the haunted house. One catch, there has been seven real murders in that house before, and it's suppose to be haunted.
This was great fun! Vincent Price is so perfect for the role of a genteel but foreboding millionaire, with charm in his smile and deviousness in his eyes. What more could you want out of this classic B budget flick from one of the greats in B horrors, William Castle.
But wait there's more. There's a mystery. Are these people alone or is someone else in the house, an evil ghost maybe? One of them just got knocked in the head! Then there's a huge vat of acid in the floor, don't fall into that! The acid pit strips the flesh off the bones in seconds leaving only a skeleton to rise out of the caustic fluid. I loved the dead rat being acidified, yikes!
And the guest are nutty too, especially Elisha Cook Jr. who believes they're all doomed to be killed by the ghost and starts drinking to calm his nerves. Oh did I mention the guest all receive a little present at the start of their stay in the mansion? Each gets a loaded pistol, fun for all!
House on Haunted Hill has a creepy vibe, really cool looking sets and it has Vincent Price doing what he does best!
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Writer: Robb White
Cast: Vincent Price, Carol Ohmart, Richard Long, Elisha Cook Jr.
Genre: Horror, Mystery
Length: 75 minutes
Premise: An eccentric millionaire whose past four wives have died under mysterious circumstances, decides to give a haunted house party for his new young & beautiful wife. She's number 5. The millionaire invites five people who he's never met to the party. He promises each $10,000 if they will spend the entire night locked in the haunted house. One catch, there has been seven real murders in that house before, and it's suppose to be haunted.
This was great fun! Vincent Price is so perfect for the role of a genteel but foreboding millionaire, with charm in his smile and deviousness in his eyes. What more could you want out of this classic B budget flick from one of the greats in B horrors, William Castle.
But wait there's more. There's a mystery. Are these people alone or is someone else in the house, an evil ghost maybe? One of them just got knocked in the head! Then there's a huge vat of acid in the floor, don't fall into that! The acid pit strips the flesh off the bones in seconds leaving only a skeleton to rise out of the caustic fluid. I loved the dead rat being acidified, yikes!
And the guest are nutty too, especially Elisha Cook Jr. who believes they're all doomed to be killed by the ghost and starts drinking to calm his nerves. Oh did I mention the guest all receive a little present at the start of their stay in the mansion? Each gets a loaded pistol, fun for all!
House on Haunted Hill has a creepy vibe, really cool looking sets and it has Vincent Price doing what he does best!
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