The Haunting of Hell House (1999) User Reviews

Has A Good Idea and Then... Well...

[gavin6942 · 5/10 · 15 October 2013]

A mysterious, morbid professor (Michael York) who has suffered a number of horrid events in his life tries to help a young troubled man (Andrew Bowen), whose girl friend was killed during an illegal abortion.

I had some issues with this, particularly that the age looks all wrong, despite the costumes and mustaches. The time period is unclear, but it strikes me as 1990s people dressed up as people fro ma century ago. An that just takes the magic out of it, makes it more like a theater production. That would not be bad in itself, but I am sure this was not the intent.

The film was directed by Mitch Marcus and based on "The Ghostly Rental" by Henry James. I have not read the James story (unfortunately -- I should) and this was Marcus' first time out as director, so he can be excused. Just such a shame that producer Roger Corman had Michael York to work with (who does excellently) and pairs him with a cast and crew that is not on his level.

Not a bad attempt.

[FiendishDramaturgy · 5/10 · 4 November 2003]

This movie had a message: Do not allow the past to destroy your future. It delivers that message under no uncertain terms. But the point is, that it entertains while so doing. The story is rather graphic and the execution was, sadly, mediocre.

Was I scared? Was my adrenaline piqued? No. But I was entertained. The story is dark, but fun, and moves along with a decent pace. There are some serious slow spots, and the version I viewed at least, had an editing problem. Some people should not be allowed near a roll of shot film, with sharp objects, you know? This movie felt edited. Heavily edited. And in all the wrong spots. Perhaps your copy will not have suffered the same fate as mine.

I would recommend its viewing on a rainy Sunday afternoon, as it is a good story, and renders a decent telling of said story, but as it is not riveting, it does not belong on the Friday/Saturday night line-up.

It is a nice suspense/psychological thriller with a good twist or two.

It rates a 4.6/10 from...

the Fiend :.

From the "Movies With Misleading Names" Department

[aesgaard41 · 4/10 · 17 August 2015]

I've watched this movie five times since I got it on DVD, and I still don't know what it's about. Now, you'd think a horror movie called "The Haunting of Hell House" would center on a haunted house, but this movie doesn't focus on any one person or location like a good haunted house movie would. Based on a story by playwright Henry James, the movie stars actor Andrew Bowen as New England college student James Farrow whose wife, maybe girlfriend, dies due to a botched abortion, and he begins to see her in dreams and hallucinations. He is soon drawn to the empty house they once explored in their youth, but now, it turns out that it belongs to a Professor Ambrose, played by the talented Michael York from the British stage. Farrow pursues York's help to rid himself of the ghost he believes is haunting him and scratching him up, but whether it's in his mind or just his guilt is never explained. Meanwhile, Ambrose is similarly being haunted by the ghost of his dead wife who refuses to let him sell the house. Neither man believes the ghost of the other one exists. Meanwhile, Farrow is being hunted by the police for his dead girlfriend found in his apartment. He escapes to Ambrose for protection, but the old man is dying and can't help him. Farrow flees to the house to ask for forgiveness from his girlfriend's ghost, but discovers Ambrose's ghost isn't real after all. It turns out he's being systemically poisoned by his angry daughter and Farrow drinks the poisoned wine from her for her father to be with his bride. In the end, Farrow dies in jail next to the phony doctor who botched his girlfriend's abortion. Is this a good movie? Uh, no. It's long, it drags on, it's confusing and the name of the movie is misleading. This is not a haunted house movie. This isn't even a horror movie, and trying to make it look like one may be its worse trait. However, it does have some beautiful scenery for what I speculate is supposed to be Turn-of-the-Century New England. Overall, it's not exactly a movie that can live up to the hype of its name.

Roger Corman produced, but not really typical of Corman, yet...

[rixrex · 11 June 2005]

Roger Corman produced, but not really typical of Corman, yet there's a bit of the style of the old Corman/Poe/Vincent Price series from the 60s here. I'd say that the title would be about the only thing "Cormanesque" about this in regards to making it interesting commercially, to kind of cash in on the same-time remakes of "Haunting" and "House on Haunted Hill". Other than that, it's a nice, yet small, psychological thriller, with some plot elements influenced by The Tell-Tale Heart. York gives a nice and slightly hammy performance as the tortured old professor, and the others are more than adequate. It will keep the interest of those who don't mind a gradual build and don't care for the lack of real terror and/or gruesome displays of killing. There's some violence and slight gore, but nothing gratuitous. Nothing here ever gets beyond being just a grade more than mediocre, say about B-, EXCEPT the really nice use of the Irish countryside as a substitute for old New England, which is an A grade. Nothing grand, but better than average.

great movie, horrible ending

[jessielynntaylor · 1/10 · 11 August 2013]

Great idea, fascinating plot line but the end was such a let down.

SPOILER/ USER RANT

right near the end

Ghost was saying drink the wine, actual lady don't drink the wine. Then he drinks the drinks the wine and suffers a horrible death.

HEY STUPID SLAP THE WINE OUT OF HIS HAND

What is wrong with the writers. They make a character who is smart enough and determined enough to fake her own death, then haunt her own father, and then to slowly poison him. Not have enough "balls (metaphorically speaking)" when James is about to drink the poison wine, which was meant for her father. Does she not stop him.

BAD WRITING.

I would have loved for the dirty doctor to get charged with miss Sarah's murder, because it was his incompetence which killed her not James's fault.

James might have been guilty of getting her pregnant and not taking responsibility and owning up to it being his. But not Sarah's death.

This is NOT a classic haunted house flick

[hershiser2 · 1/10 · 28 September 2003]

Save your money if you're looking for a good haunted house flick. This isn't even a bad haunted house movie... it's just a bad movie. I was bored 15 minutes in, and it never got any better. First of all, the direction is poor, as is the cinematography... it looks poorly done and cheap... there's a story, if you stay awake to follow it. It sure doesn't move quickly. If you're looking to be creeped out, stay away. If you're watching because your class is reading the story... well then tell your teacher that the class should read a more interesting Henry James story.

There's a reason you've never heard of this...

[Leofwine_draca · 2/10 · 7 November 2018]

THE HAUNTING OF HELL HOUSE is a cheap and disappointing peroid haunted house film, shot in Galway and supposedly based on a tale by Henry James. It feels like a cheap rip-off of THE HAUNTING and THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, both released around the same time, but this is entirely unexceptional. A cast of B-movie actors, including Michael York and Claudia Christian among their number, chew through dull dialogue in a bid to make something stick, but this is all gloomy and unenterprising. In a bid to liven things up a bit there are a handful of gory moments, but overall this feels badly dated more than anything else.

Dreadful Movie, terrible behind the scenes work

[james-kennedy-1 · 1/10 · 27 April 2007]

This dreadful movie suffered more than anything from poor production work and the slip-shod work of the extras.

It's hard to imagine that a hand to act badly but at one stage a hand appeared on screen (deliberately) and managed it. It was like watching a hand shaped Madonna appear on screen and ruin the movie.

I would never watch this movie again, I watched it and another couple of turkeys, The unlucky leprechaun, warlock 3 and knocking on death's door. All of which suffered a similar affliction, whether it be an implausible scream and wooden man in crowd or obvious stunt double i am sure there is a common theme.

Whoever is behind this would do well to give it up, take a job in sales and hope to one day hit the heady heights of their own car parking space rather than director chair.

Good riddance

Not perfect, but it has a lot of feeling

[jluis1984 · 6/10 · 2 March 2006]

Loosely based on Henry James' literary works, "The Haunting of Hell House" is a ghost story directed by newcomer Mitch Marcus and produced by the legendary Roger Corman. While without a doubt this is a low-budget B-movie, surprisingly it captures the feeling of old Corman movies and manages to be very entertaining and way different than what could be expected. Marcus & Corman really put a lot of heart in this little flick.

James Farrow (Andrew Bowen) is a young college student in New England in the late 1800s, he seems to have a bright future in his father's company after he graduates, but he has other desires. He dreams with becoming a famous artist and is in love with Sarah (Aideen O'Donnell), a woman his family would never accept.

Things go wrong when Sarah announces she is pregnant; since this seems to botch James' plans for the future, he convinces her of getting an abortion, but due to the bad medical practices of the time, she finally dies. After the tragic event, her ghost seems to haunt James' mind to the point he is beginning to go insane.

The movie is beautifully shot in amazing locations in Ireland. While the budget is very low, it seems that Marcus & Corman truly made the most of it as the movie is very believable for a period movie. The movie has a haunting atmosphere that works perfectly with the story it tells. truly a very good deal of work was done in this department.

Andrew Bowen is at times unconvincing as lead hero, however, he manages to carry the film with the aid of veteran Michael York, in the role of an old professor who is also haunted by his own ghosts. Jason Cottle as James' best friend Fletcher is superb and gives good intelligent comic relief, something quite unusual in the genre these days. Cottle is a natural scene stealer.

The movie's biggest flaw is probably that the story doesn't work completely. The script feels underdeveloped and truly hurts a film that could had been a new cult classic. The story drags a bit and on a few occasions gets a bit boring, but still it works. It's a real shame since the movie had the potential of becoming Corman's best movie in years. The low-budget hurts the film in the effects department, as the gore looks a bit cheap and unconvincing. Fortunately, the movie focuses on atmosphere and its characters rather than on gore.

To summarize, this is a sadly overlooked movie that deserves a chance,if only to realize that when movies are done with heart, they can be a very enjoyable experience. 6/10

Prettiest movie I ever did see...

[traineraz · 9/10 · 2 August 2001]

Upon reading other viewers' comments, I have to wonder if we saw the same film! Despite the awful, B-movie title, this was far and beyond the most visually beautiful film I've ever watched. The cinematography was stunning, and the atmosphere was appropriately dark and brooding. The entire town seemed "haunted," with fear and evil oozing from every stone, every tree, nearly every character. I could almost feel the dank air in my own living room!

Having read "Turn of the Screw," and found it particularly unsatisfying (imagine the most overacted, melodramatic soap opera you've ever seen . ..then put it in novella form), and seen previous comments placing this film on a LOWER level than Screw's supposed glorious pinnacle, I admit my expectations weren't too high. Instead, I found the story much more intriguing than Screw, with a couple of little plot twists in rapid succession toward the end. (Saw the first coming, but not the second.) Some may find it depressing because it lacks the Happy Hollywood Ending so typical of American films; however, the screenwriter's refusal to pander to Disneyfication only serves to further raise the level of my esteem for this production.

If you like your movies event-based (like slasher flicks, all about the scary moment, with lots of filler in between and actresses doing bizarre things to get from one event to the next) rather than story-based, you probably won't enjoy this film. If, instead, you like a good story in which nasty ghosties play a role, this is the film for you.

I enjoyed this ghost movie quite a bit!

[gsh999 · 7/10 · 7 August 2013]

Michael York is good as the mysterious professor and Andrew Bowen gives a nice performance in the lead. In the end, you are left wondering if the ghosts were real or simply manifestations of extremely guilty, troubled minds. There is artistic justice in the film - as a handsome college student dies alone in a jail cell, after leaving his girlfriend to die alone in a seedy guesthouse, following a botched abortion. Aideen O'Donnell is incredibly beautiful as the girlfriend and the ghost - why have we not seen more from this actress? Not a slasher or shocker, just a slow-burning drama about guilt and how it haunts us. I enjoyed this movie and recommend it to those who enjoy psychological dramas.

Depressing

[rmax304823 · 11 January 2001]

I expected more from a story by the author of "Turn of the Screw," but didn't get it here. Unrelieved by any humor whatever the narrative unrolls at a lugubrious pace with interspersed quick cuts of blood dripping from tables, walls, portraits, wherever -- and even more blood rolling in rippling overly crimson waves down a hallway (thank you, Stanley Kubrick). Peter York is okay, given his character, a tormented professor who does everything but shriek, "True, I am very very nervous, but why WILL you call me mad!" The other actors do what they can. The most depressing aspect of the film is in many ways its overall eidos -- the material artifacts and the natural backdrop against which the action takes place. Few movies have so many bare blackish twisted tree limbs dripping with cold rain, so many pale bodies wrapped uncomfortably in wet woolen capes and unbecoming gowns that seem to have been built around internal struts made of wire coat hangers. The interiors are just about as dreary, dim candles and fireplaces that seem to throw little heat or light. Given all of this, I still didn't find the movie so bad as to be unwatchable. It's just that it left me so gloomy, like watching the evening news on a particularly bad day.

Almost a good ghost story

[RandomTard · 6/10 · 6 October 2021]

This is an old movie from 1999 and it's happening in the 19th century I believe. It's a nice sad ghost story, not a horror movie and not a haunted house movie. While I quite liked it, there was some serious issues with it. At times it is hard to follow what and why is happening - you aren't given any reason as to why the characters are doing certain things that just seem illogical.

Definitely worth a watch if you can bear b-class movies, this is one of the better ones.

"The Telling Of This Story Will Bring Nothing But Sorrow!"...

[azathothpwiggins · 28 September 2021]

A young college student is haunted after his pregnant girlfriend dies during a slipshod abortion.

THE HAUNTING OF HELL HOUSE is a tale of remorse spiraling into obsessive guilt, punctuated by horrible nightmares and possible ghostly visitations. Slow-paced, even plodding in spots, it still has a certain dark charm. Loosely based on a story by Henry James.

Co-stars Michael York as the mysterious Dr. Ambrose, who lives in the titular abode. Claudia Christian plays Ambrose's daughter Lucy...