Release Date: January 14th, 1959
Format: Streaming (HBO)
Written by: Robb White
Directed by: William Castle
3.5 Stars
William Castle’s House on Haunted Hill serves up modest thrills from a simpler time.
If you were fortunate enough to see it in 1959, you were probably treated to one of Castle’s infamous marketing gimmicks, in the case of Haunted Hill, a plastic prop skeleton named “Emergo” that was rigged up to fly around the theater during the climactic scene of the film.
Doesn’t that sound fun? Why can’t we have nice things like this anymore?
As for the film itself, it’s a simple tale of a group of strangers lured by an eccentric millionnaire (Vincent Price) to a haunted, rented house under the pretense that he’ll pay whomever survives the night $10,000. Frights are found around every corner in the form of ghosts, falling chandeliers, false walls, a vat of acid, and that murderous skeleton, which figures into the cutest horror scene I’ve ever come across.
Will House on Haunted Hill keep you up at night? No. Will you appreciate its simple charms? Yes you will, with a smile.
