House on Haunted Hill (1959)

Director:

William Castle

Writer:

Robb White (writer)

Release Date:

17 February 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

See it with someone with warm hands!

Plot:

Frederick Loren has invited five strangers to a party of a lifetime. He is offering each of them $10,000 if they can stay the night in a house...

Plot Keywords:

Wine Cellar | Public Domain | Test Pilot | Screaming | Psychiatrist

Cast

Vincent Price	...	Frederick Loren
Carolyn Craig	...	Nora Manning
Richard Long	...	Lance Schroeder
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	Watson Pritchard (as Elisha Cook)
Carol Ohmart	...	Annabelle Loren
Alan Marshal	...	Dr. David Trent
Julie Mitchum	...	Ruth Bridgers
Leona Anderson	...	Mrs. Slydes
Howard Hoffman	...	Jonas Slydes

Also Known As:

The House on Haunted Hill (USA) (trailer title)

Runtime:

75 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:G (Quebec) | West Germany:18 | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M (DVD rating) | Australia:PG (original rating) | Finland:(Banned) (1963) | Norway:16 (1960) | Sweden:15 | UK:12 (video rating) (2003) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Ennis-Brown House - 2655 Glendower Ave., Los Feliz, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

William Castle Productions

Trivia:

The large grosses for this film were noticed by Alfred Hitchcock. This led him to create his own low-budget horror film--Psycho (1960).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: After Nora brings everyone to the cellar when Lance gets locked in the room you see Mr. Loren light a candle when he goes to enter, but the room itself lights up before he even enters the room.

Quotes:

Dr. David Trent: [Nora has encountered the organ that plays by itself and runs screaming through the house] Did you hear anything?
Frederick Loren: Organ music?
Dr. David Trent: That... and someone walking.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Smallville: Accelerate (#2.21)" (2003)

Nearly Forgotten If Not Saved

William Castle has made several wonderful horror films; some obviously better than others, but at the top of the list are "Thirteen Ghosts" and "House on Haunted Hill." This movie might though have been all but forgotten if not one plucky guy recently remade this movie in to a much more gory movie. That movie is a remake in name only, but this one is obviously more superior because it has the incredibly creepy presence of Vincent Price and the nervous tick of Elisha Cook. The ghosts aren't very scary, nor do we see anything really supernatural, but the atmosphere and uneasiness of this film makes for an incredible who done it story as you wonder who will get it. The set is intoxicating inasmuch as you never really see all of it, nor is it really explained what such a dangerous pit is doing in such a precarious spot in the basement. Such a matter isn't important. On the other side of the coin, the music and the special effects are rather hokey, but then when this was in the theaters, a lot of the teenagers would have been making out to have really bothered to pick this movie apart. It is only in recent years that movies have turned away from gore and back to movies with style and substance that we appreciate films like this.