Would YOU stay in a haunted house for $10k? My review of 'House on Haunted Hill'(1959)

House on Haunted Hill(1959)
Rated UR
Runtime:75 Min.
Directed by: William Castle
Starring:
Vincent Price
Carol Ohmart
Richard Long
Alan Marshal
Carolyn Craig
Elisha Cook,Jr.
Julie Mitchum
Skeleton(as himself)

From IMDb- "A millionaire offers ten thousand dollars to 5 people whom agreed to be locked in a large, spooky, rented house overnight with he and his wife"

Hey, why don't I get invited to things like this?  I'll take 10k to spend the night in a haunted house.  Ok, well, I don't know any millionaires and actually I lied; there is no way in hell I'm spending the night in a haunted house, for any amount of money.  Oh and these days 10k would roughly be $80K. Nice. Still wouldn't do it.

OK. So I've been thinking about doing another review, so I decided to sit down and watch 'House on Haunted Hill'.  I'm a big fan of classic horror movies, and this one doesn't disappoint.  Plenty of creepy, slightly campy fun to be had. A little gore, and lots of spooky happenings.  I wish I could have seen this back in the day; especially when some theaters were using the "Emergo" gimmick: A plastic skeleton on wires would fly out over the audience at appropriate times.

Pretty nifty, though, if you think about it.

But gimmicks aside, this movie does have some genuinely scary moments, nice jump-scares,runs at a fairly brisk pace, not really dragging, and an ending to make you wonder(though we are pretty much told at the beginning what will happen).  I've watched the remake, and while Geoffrey Rush is a good stand in for Price(okay, really good), I much prefer the original.  I have nothing against today's horror movies, but I really do like seeing minimal gore, rather than tons of it.  In my very humble opinion, these classic movies scare me more sometimes than modern horror.  Except for maybe any of the 'Saw' movies.  Or zombie movies.  Ok, moving on.

Vincent Price was awesome as Frederick Loren, elegant yet wonderfully vindictive, not to mention the complete jealous husband;  Carol Ohmart was brilliant as his conniving wife.  The tension between the two is palatable. Should be the poster children on how to not make a marriage work. And I'm still wondering about his other wives before her... o_O

The supporting cast, Richard Long(of 'The Big Valley' fame), Alan Marshal,Carolyn Craig, Elisha Cook,Jr and Julie Mitchum are all brilliant in their roles too; and there's a neat plot twist with one of these characters.  Also, Carolyn Craig's character Nora is pretty important too.  Also, honorable mention goes to Leona Anderson's Mrs. Slydes. You have to see her to believe her. Seriously.

If you are a fan of classic horror movies, and haven't seen this one yet, give it a try.  If you're more of a modern horror fan, you may or may not like it. It just depends. Yes, it's dated, and the effects aren't big.  But what it may lack in special effects, it more than makes up in storyline, setting and general atmosphere.  Oh and the house itself? Was the historic Ennis House(for exterior shots). I highly recommend this film, if only for the fact that it is a classic Price movie.  Go, watch.