Classics or modern, discuss your picks for the sickest flicks.
#88404
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It's interesting to watch early horror movies because you can tell they helped establish the tropes that would eventually become standard. In its day, it must have been pretty alarming to have the movie start with an extended moment of darkness, followed by a sudden scream and the emergence of a floating head. It was an inventive jump scare before that sort of thing became worn out.

House on Haunted Hill was directed by William Castle, known for quite a few low budget B-movies that were pretty memorable, perhaps in part because of the gimmicks he employed in promoting his screenings. For this movie, an actual skeleton attached to wire floated over the audience during a key scene.

I can't go any further without mentioning Vincent Price. Man, that guy was smooth. Especially here, playing a millionaire playboy with a penchant for twisted party games. Early in the film he has some great dialogue with his wife. They trade barbed comments, that are simultaneously playful and venomous. Makes you wonder if they are conspiring together or plotting against each other.

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The rest of the cast is filled out with an ensemble of party guests that include a psychiatrist, a test pilot, and a newspaper columnist. Each brings a unique point of view to the proceedings. They attribute the seemingly supernatural events to everything from hysteria, to parlor tricks, to actual ghosts of those previously murdered in the house.

While it's a classic in many ways, the film isn't perfect. Some the party guests are a bit one-dimensional in their roles. It would have been more interesting if there were more red herrings. There are enough characters for our suspicions to be misdirected in surprising ways. Also, because the plot is introduced as a murder mystery party, I never felt entirely frightened by the scare moments. If I see a severed head, there's always a chance that it's just part of the game.

That said, the device of the murder mystery game is what sets this movie apart from your typical haunted house story. You can have fun guessing the answer to questions like - Is that really a ghost? Is that just a trick by someone playing a game? Or perhaps both? Who is good? Who is bad? Will they survive? Or will all meet their doom?

Once the conclusion arrives and revelations start rolling out, I can say that it had a few surprises for me. Pretty clever stuff, especially for its time, and I left the House on Haunted Hill feeling satisfied. I'd attend their haunted murder parties any time.

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#88414
I just watched this movie the other day. It's one of my favorite Vincent Price movies. I tell everyone that this is the one and only House On Haunted Hill (Despite the fact that there was a remake (Which has nothing on this one)).
#88434
I watched the remake first, and it's one of my favorite movies. However, I attribute a lot of my like for the movie to Geoffrey Rush.

As with most movies, the original is better. Sometimes I'd love to go back to the days of early horror films where the audience was truly terrified, becoming physically ill, fainting and leaving the theater.