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| THE
HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (80 mins) $29.95 |
| 1958 Roan Group |
| Region 1 |
| Video: Widescreen (1.66.1) |
| Audio: Dolby Digital
Mono 1.0 |
| Subtitles: None |
| Packaging: Keep Case |
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Directed by William Castle |
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Vincent Price will probably always be known as the actor
who took the writings of Edgar Allen Poe’s to an all time cinematic high (with
films like MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH, THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM, THE RAVEN, etc.)
during the 1960’s. However, no fans of classic terror can forget Price’s
movies of the fifties, most notably the collaborations with gimmick director
William Castle, such as THE TINGLER and 1958’s THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL. In
late ’99, Warner released a special edition DVD (to cash in on their remake),
that boasts a 16x9 enhanced transfer, and some trailers. However, The Roan Group
had previously released a widescreen version of the film on DVD, as one half of
a DVD double feature along with Price’s THE BAT.
The film is written by Robb White and directed by frequent
collaborator, William Castle. Besides this film, they worked their magic on THE
TINGLER, 13 GHOSTS, and HOMICIDAL. The sultry Carol (SPIDER BABY) Ohmart is
Annabelle, the oppressed wife of Price’s character, Frederick Loren. Richard
(CULT OF THE COBRA) Long plays air force pilot Lance Schroeder. Alan (DAY OF THE
OUTLAW) Marshall is psychiatrist Dr. Trent. Character actor Elisha (THE BLACK
ZOO) Cook Jr. portrays alcoholic Watson Pritchard. Julie (EDGE OF HELL) Mitchum
plays gambler Ruth Bridgers. Carolyn Craig (as Nora) gets to scream a lot. There
are only nine people in the entire cast and no extras. This helps contribute to
the claustrophobia of THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL.
Eccentric millionaire Frederick Loren (Price) and his
fourth wife, Annabelle rent a potentially haunted house (but looks more like a
military installation) to host a haunted house party. They invite 5 other
individuals who know neither each other or their hosts. Loren has offered his
confused guests $10,000 to stay in the night locked in the supposedly haunted
house. They all need the money, and don’t believe in ghosts except for the
alcoholic Pritchard, who describes (with expert detail) the series of gruesome
murders that have occurred at the house over the years. It seems the body parts
of the victim’s were found throughout the house, but the decapitated heads
have never been discovered.
After midnight, the doors and windows to the house are
locked, and Loren and his guests are trapped until daybreak. Strange sounds and
whispers are heard, so Loren provides everyone with a gun. Shortly after
midnight, Annabelle Loren is found dead, hanging from the ceiling by a noose.
The guests suddenly disbelieve the supernatural aspects, and determine that one
of them is actually a killer. Annabelle’s death sets off a chain reaction of
distrust and deceit which culminates in a spooky showdown between the survivors
and the ghosts. This is one of those films with a mysterious plot and a twist
ending, which is not really touched upon in this synopsis. If you’ve seen
HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, then you know what I’m talking about. If not…
The cast do a commendable job. Price, of course, is his
usual roguish self, and you can’t help but hang on his every word, and be in
total awe of the man. Elisha Cook Jr. manages to steal the show with his manic
performance. The entire movie he keeps warning the guests, "They are
coming, guns won’t stop them…". Carol Ohmart is deliciously wicked as
Price’s wife. Carolyn Craig is appropriately hysterical through most of the
movie. There are some truly great characterizations and memorable dialog thanks
to Robb White’s script. White also squeezes some black humor into the script;
something that Price and Elisha Cook Jr. really capitalize on.
Besides the great plot and detailed characters, the film
has some great visuals and spooky atmosphere, that only black and white
photography can provide. You’ll see sinister hearses, shadowy chambers,
scalding pits of bubbling acid, animated skeletons, ghostly piano players, and
hallucinatory hauntings. The cinematography is heavily Film-Noir inspired, which
matches well with the rapid pace of this drive-in shocker.
There are also some convincing special effects for a 1950’s
film. The character Nora finds a rotting decapitated head in her suitcase.
Ghostly beings float through a room and disappear. An apparition appears hanging
from the ceiling. Another ghostly image floats outside a victim’s window. A
ghostly skeleton rises from the acid bath. Convincing lighting storms and wind
generation effects make for an effective backdrop to the scenes of ghostly
mayhem.
SIGHT
This 1958 film was shot 1.78.1 ratio and Roan
very slightly crops the transfer to 1.66.1. Considering the age of the film, the
transfer is in remarkably good shape. The images are either shades of pure
black, or shades of pure white (without any traces of blue) which makes for an
eye-catching image. There are a few nics and scratches in the transfer, but
nowhere near as much as I expected. The blacks and shadow detail are what drives
this film, and is key to a picture of this nature. Lots of dark, shadowy
corridors, staircases, and passageways throughout the haunted house. The detail
level effectively reveals the set design and shadowy art direction. Particularly
effective are the apparition scenes or the cast members skulking through the
corridors and the basement. The only negatives are the aforementioned scratches
on the print, and a lot of grain; but hey, this film is close to 50 years old.
Roan’s DVD transfer preserves the director’s attempt to fuse roller-coaster
story-telling with a Film Noir atmosphere. Look up the word "gothic"
in the dictionary; there should be an entry saying, "see HOUSE ON HAUNTED
HILL".
SOUND
As on all Roan DVDs, here they present a Dolby
Digital Mono (1.0) sound mix. Another nice job with the mono soundtrack that
matches the quality video. The dialog comes though crisp and clear, the gunshots
and other sound effects are loud but not distorted. There are no pops, or
distortions of any kind normally associated with a film of this vintage. Von
Dexter’s score is memorably spooky and exciting and sounds great even in mono,
though obviously lacking in depth. The music really adds another layer of
suspense to the presentation. There are some great sound effects such as an
organ playing itself, ghostly whispering, cracking thunder, and high-pitched
female screaming. All are effectively rendered in this mono track, although some
effects sound a little flat. But since this is a dialog driven film, the mono
mix supports this perfectly. As I normally do when evaluating DD Mono 1.0 and
2.0 soundtracks, I slowly turn up the volume until the dialogue distorts, and
this film had a higher distortion level than it’s flip-side title, THE BAT.
FEATURES
No extras. Part of Roan’s Horror
Classics Vincent Price Collection set along with THE BAT.
CONCLUSION
A late fifties gothic horror film that covers all
the bases. THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL benefits from having a memorable script,
well-defined characters, psychological undercurrents, rich atmospheric visuals,
a terrific score, and of course the master himself, Vincent Price. Roan have
perfected the art of cleaning up and transferring older, black and white films
to DVD, and present THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL letterboxed. Roans’ restoration
of the film is commendable, but they still need to work on the extras and menu
design. If you are debating whether to purchase the Roan DVD or the Warners DVD,
you should know that the Warner’s version includes the trailer and the full
frame version of the film. Roan’s DVD has no extras, but does come with
another Vincent Price feature, THE BAT (in widescreen for the first time). Roan’s
Vincent Price double feature is a few dollars more than the Warners DVD, and
comes in a much better keep case. For these reasons, I purchased the Roan
version of HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL over the Warner version.
THE
HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL is available at DVDEmpire
Rating (out of 5):
| Movie: |
4.0 |
| Video: |
3.5 |
| Audio: |
3.0 |
| Extras: |
0.0 |
| Overall: |
3.5
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- Phil
Chandler
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