Tycoon Frederick Loren is throwing his fourth wife Annabelle a party. She wants to celebrate her birthday at the famed house on Haunted Hill, notorious for the numerous murders that have taken place there over the decades. Frederick complies and invites five strangers to attend the party, making them all the same offer: spend the night in the house and walk out with $10,000. The problem is, none of the guests know each other, Frederick, or Annabelle.

As the evening progresses and one of the guests, Watson Pritchard--who owns the house, but hasn’t been inside it since his brother was murdered there--shows the guests around, giving them the history on the various hauntings, Loren gives everyone a loaded gun with which to defend themselves against the spooks.

Things spiral out of control and soon Loren’s wife is found hanged in an upstairs hallway, sending the other guests fleeing to their rooms to wait out the rest of the night behind a locked door with a loaded gun.

But all is not as it seems and there actually is a guest present who’s familiar with, not only Frederick Loren, but with his wife as well--very familiar.

HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL was the brainchild of showman extraordinaire William Castle, famous for tee gimmicks he employed at the screenings of his movies, for instance sending a mild electric jolt through the seats at key points during THE TINGLER. For HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, Castle employed a glowing skeleton which was released during the climax and would fly over the crowd.

Personally, I think that sounds like a big letdown after the electric jolt.

Anyway, HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL is a great movie anyway and doesn’t need to rely on plastic skeletons or cheap scares in the audience.

Loren is played with great skill by Vincent Price and we’re never really sure just where he’s coming from during this movie. He knows things about the party he doesn’t tell the guests, but how much does he know he’s not telling the audience? We’re never really sure how many of the manifestations are genuine and how many are staged by Loren, and Price keeps these secrets close himself. This was one of my favorite Vincent Price performances to date.

Carol Ohmart plays Annabelle and the tension between the two is fun to watch as they play well off each other and help feed the disgust each character feels for the other.

The rest of the cast is just there and no one particular actor seemed to bring anything special to their roles. Richard Long plays Lance Schroeder, the pretty boy we assume will be the hero of the movie. Carolyn Craig is Nora, the pretty young thing we assume will be the heroin of the movie. Julie Mitchum and Alan Marshal round out the cast but Mitchum might as well not even bothered to show up while Marshal had about as much depth as a petri dish.

Castle’s partner Robb White’s script was back and forth. Some of the lines were just plain too dramatic to be taken seriously (Watson Pritchard: These guns are no good against the dead. Only the living.) while at other times I laughed out loud, not only at the line, but at Price’s excellent delivery (Frederick Loren: Don't stay up thinking of ways to get rid of me, it makes wrinkles.) But script problems aside, the story itself was well-constructed and the movie provided enough jumps and chills to make it worthwhile for a second or third viewing.

There were a lot of low-budget horror movies in the 50s and 60s and a lot of people making them who had no business in horror. But William Castle obviously knew what he was doing and was able to get the talent to pull it off. HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL is, for me, what classic horror is about. A good story, honest scares, good performances, and leaves a lasting impression. I know I won’t soon forget the severed heads or the cringing face of Leona Anderson as Mrs. Slyde, the caretaker’s wife. HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL is in the public domain now and if you’re interested, it shouldn’t be too difficult to track down a cheap copy. It’ll be worth the search.


other Horror Classics
Carnival of Souls
Atom Age Vampire
Creature from the Haunted Sea
Nightmare Castle
Black Dragons
The Invisible Ghost
One Body Too Many
White Zombie
Attack of the Giant Leeches
The Screaming Skull
The Beast of Yucca Flats
The Terror
Revolt of the Zombies
The Giant Gila Monster
The Fatal Hour
Dead Men Walk
The Mad Monster
Maniac
Metropolis
The Vampire Bat
The Ape
The Monster Maker
The Killer Shrews
The Brain That Wouldn‘t Die
King of the Zombies
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Bluebeard
The Corpse Vanishes
Night of the Living Dead
Doomed to Die
Phantom of the Opera
The Indestructible Man
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Nosferatu
Swamp Women
The World Gone Mad
The Little Shop of Horrors
Tormented
The Monster Walks
Monster from a Prehistoric Planet
The Gorilla
A Shriek in the Night
Bloodlust
The Amazing Mr. X
Last Woman on Earth
The Bat

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older