House on Haunted Hill Review
by "Scott J. Promish" (scottjp AT concentric DOT net)November 25th, 1999
HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (1999)
Directed by William Malone
Review © 1999 Scott J. Promish
Now *here’s* a haunted house flick.
Although I don’t know that it hurt it in any way, it’s too bad this film came out after Jan de Bont’s flashy but boring remake of THE HAUNTING, released a few months earlier. I wouldn’t have been surprised if that film had put people off this particular sub-genre entirely. Myself, I’m glad I gave it another chance.
After a gorgeous, macabre title sequence, we are introduced to Steven Price (Geoffrey Rush), an amusement park mogul whose trademark is gimmicky rides that are designed to scare the rider somewhat more than your typical roller coaster drop. His wife’s birthday is coming up, and she’s found the perfect place to hold it: The now-defunct Vannacutt Institute for the Criminally Insane. In 1931, the inmates took over the asylum, killed the staff, and were in turn killed while trapped in the ensuing blaze. Since then, the place has sat perched atop its cliff, unused.
Mrs. Price (Famke Jannsen) gives her husband a list of guests, but since he probably hates her friends almost as much as he hates her, he trashes it in favor of his own selections. But the five people who finally arrive for the birthday bash are not whom he expected, either…
Making the most of the situation, Price carries out his plans anyway. Each guest is offered one million dollars -- provided they can last the night. True to his profession, he has rigged some scares of his own, guaranteed to tempt any normal person to get out of the building as fast as they can.
Eventually, of course, strange and frightening things start happening. But Price appears to be a victim as much as the others; is he merely playing along, or does his wife have an agenda of her own? Is the building, as one of the guests insists, truly haunted? When two of the main characters are master tricksters, who do you believe? This adds a whole new level of mystery, and goes successfully keeps the movie unpredictable.
The film is full of genuine scares, not just cheap surprises included to make you jump. There is quite a bit of disturbing imagery, both outright horrific and subtly chilling, that goes a lot further than any overblown CGI ghostwork. The final sequence is the only part that really succumbs to F/X abuse, and though it does weaken the film a little, it doesn’t keep me from recommending it.
The cast is great, particularly Rush who seems to delight in his role as master of proceedings. And keep an eye out for cult favorite Jeffrey Combs as Dr. Richard Vannacutt.
While HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL doesn’t transcend its genre, it still stands out from the crowd.
(Oh, and stay past the closing credits.)
[Review written 11/19/99]
More on 'House on Haunted Hill'...
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
