House on Haunted Hill (1959)

Director:

William Castle

Writer:

Robb White (written by)

Release Date:

17 February 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

See it with someone with warm hands!

Plot:

Eccentric millionaire Fredrick Loren and his 4th wife, Annabelle, have invited 5 people to the house on Haunted Hill for a "haunted House" party...

Plot Keywords:

Party | Murder | Eccentric | Haunted House | Caretaker

Cast

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

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) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | West Germany:18 | 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 Avenue, 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: When using candles in the rooms in the basement, the candlelight is obviously a spotlight as the shadows of the candle and silhouette of the person are displayed on the wall, when all there should be is candlelight.

Quotes:

Annabelle Loren: Dr. Trent, don't you approve of our little party favors?
Dr. David Trent: Suppose Nora had a gun when she was alone in the cellar with the blind woman?
Ruth: Oh I don't think anyone else is going to walk around in total darkness.
Annabelle Loren: Oh I'm sure we're not going to go running around the house shooting each other, aren't you?
Dr. David Trent: Who knows? Fear can make people do amazing things.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in This Filthy World (2006)

Soundtrack:

House on Haunted Hill

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.