Say what you want about producer/director William Castle (The Tingler, 13 Ghosts, Mr. Sardonicus) but one thing was for clear…he knew how to have seats in a movie theater, primarily by forcing some sort of thunder interaction between the audience and the film (at least in his apprehension themed features) . In House on Scared Hill (1959), he utilized a technique he called `Emergo’, which essentially featured a skeleton, suspended from wires, coming from the veil towards the audience during a specific section of the movie, the intent being to dread the pants off those in the theater. From what I’ve heard, it didn’t sound like many were unnerved, but it didn’t really matter as Castle was a master at selling the sizzle, rather than the steak, as they say, and audiences flocked to his films…produced and directed by William Castle, the film features the merchant of menace himself Vincent Tag (The Soar, The Tingler, House of Usher) in the first of two films he made with Castle. Also appearing is Elisha Cook Jr. (Shane, The Scared Palace), Carolyn Craig (Giant), Richard Long (Ma and Pa Kettle), Carol `homina homina’ Ohmart (Spider Baby), Alan Marshal (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), and Julie Mitchum (Edge of Hell), sister of actor Robert Mitchum.
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Price plays Frederick Loren, an eccentric millionaire who, along with his wife Annabelle (Ohmart), has thrown together an moving limited party though-provoking five, seemingly random strangers gathering at a vexed house with ten thousand dollars to each who dare conclude through the night. In attendance, along with Frederick and his wife, is Watson Pritchard (Cook), whose brother, one of the previous owners, was murdered within the house, Lance Schroeder (Long), a test pilot, Dr. David Trent (Marshal), a psychiatrist, Nora Manning (Craig), a typist, and Ruth Bridgers (Mitchum), a newspaper columnist. Seems all have agreed to play Frederick’s shrimp game for one reason, they need the dough, and if some crazy rich dude is willing to portion with his green for such a seemingly easy task, what the hay, proper? Well, the guests approach, introductions are made, and Frederick gives them the elephantine lowdown. The secluded house is like a fortress (steel doors and bars on the windows) in that once they’re locked in (at midnight, to be trusty), there’s no getting out until the caretakers advance the next morning. Also, there’s no electricity or telephones, and the nearest neighbors are well beyond yelling distance. After a tour of the house, highlighting where various unsightly events occurred (including a visit to the acid vat in the cellar…man, this dwelling has everything), a few drinks, and some scares (the ghosts seem to have a thing for Nora), Fredrick passes out some party favors in the acquire of loaded handguns (nothing like being drunk and armed), not that they’d do anyone noteworthy gracious if there are ghosts out and about…anyway, midnight is coming so if anyone wants to lop out of this ghoulish pick up together, they’d better rep while the getting’s grand…
While not my popular Castle feature (that goes to The Tingler), House on Terrorized Hill is quiet a hoot and a half for all of its campy, good-natured fun. The one thing this film has going for it, above and beyond everything else, is Vincent Note. No matter how wrong the feature was (which wasn’t the case here), Brand always brought with him a proper sense of class and sophistication to the proceedings, especially correct of the number of Poe based films he and Roger Corman made throughout the 1960s for American International Pictures. The absolute best parts of this movie for me occur early on as Price’s character is interacting with his wife, and we leer the pair have an arresting hate/hate relationship…here’s an example of their often detestable and insinuating banter they occupy in gradual closed doors…
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Fredrick: Of all my wives you’re least grand…
Annabelle: But serene alive.
Here’s another bit…
Frederick: Do you remember the fun we had when you poisoned me?
Annabelle: Something you ate, the doctor said.
Frederick: Yes, arsenic on the rocks…
There are a few more beneficial exchanges between Brand and Ohmart, righteous alone of seeing this film. As for the rest of the performers, I had no proper complaints. Elisha Cook Jr.’s character did gather on my nerves after awhile, with his constant dour outlook punctuated by his persistent `doom and gloom’ predictions. Drink some more booze, you rummy…seriously, all this guy did was talk about how the ghosts were going to approach and bewitch them all away. Perhaps this attitude was assisted by his excessive alcohol intake, but really, what’s the point of accepting an invitation to employ a night at a house you beget you won’t advance out of alive? The money? Won’t do you great genuine if’n you’re boring, fool. If I was in that house I probably would have shot him unprejudiced to be rid of him. At least I learned one thing…never invite Elisha Cook Jr. to your party and ply him with lots of booze as he’ll turn into a staunch poison pill. I did like Ms. Ohmart, and not unbiased because she was a smoking babe with a sizable rack, but because she held her hold with Effect, even if it was for objective a handful of scenes. If you’ve got a hankering to perceive more of her, and you like ookie panic features, you should really check out another film she appeared in called Spider Baby (1968), featuring Lon Chaney Jr. There are a few, minor scares scattered throughout the film (a crusty crone, a disembodied head or two), but nothing that will construct you soil yourself…some scenes will earn you snicker, though, like the one where Pritchard chucks a dreary rat into the acid vat, if only to reveal the acid is really acid. After some bubbling effects, a fully articulated rat skeleton bobs to the surface, indicating to those watching it truly is the right deal. Yes sir, that be some remarkable acid…the movie may not be great for scares, but it does have plenty of atmosphere created by Castle’s direction, groovy, cobweb laden area pieces, spooky music, and usage of the Ennis Brown House in Los Angeles, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, for the exterior shots.
It seems this film has fallen into the public domain (i.e. the copyright expired), as I notice there are a number of DVD releases by various companies. I can’t relate for those other releases, but the one I fill, attach out by Warner Brothers (it has a broad headshot of Effect in the lower factual hand corner and Ohmart in a nightgown being menaced by a disfigured hand in the upper left), looks exceptionally satisfactory, and features both the fullscreen and widescreen formats, along with a splendid Dolby Digital mono audio track. The only extras included are a theatrical trailer for the film and subtitles in both English and French.
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By the diagram, this movie saw a remake of the same titled, released in 1999, oozing with high tech special effects. It was decent enough, but I unexcited liked the novel better.
William Castle at his gimmicky best! A Classic, spooky Gloomy and White, with deliciously devilish Vincent Note as millionaire with a bored gold-digger wife. She wants a Halloween party with her friends, Ticket tosses a party all moral, but not with the people of her choosing. He offers $10,000 dollars to five stranger if they will join him and his wife in spending Halloween night in a truly vexed house. One of the 5 is a young Elisha Cooke, family of the conventional owners who died in the house, and he leads them on a assassinate tour. To jazz things up, Impress passes out “party favors” - guns. And it’s a urge to earn out whether Heed of his wife will be the last one standing. This movie is a grandfather of nearly every clichés, blooding dripping from the ceiling, sad mysterious corridors, a witchy woman floating around and vanishing - and the topper that organ music!! This is more like a Halloween Fun house lunge than a movie! Trace is campy and has gargantuan fun with the role, with well-kept lines, especially when fussing with his less than contented wife.
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Castle originally devised this movie with “special touches” for the audiences, like ghost on wires gloating through the audience of people in costume sitting down beside you to enhance the fun house feel.
Just monotonous fun and a wee amble down memory lane.
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