Way, way, way too long. I know this was made as a TV mini-series, and I recall the ubiquitous presence of commercials hyping it when it was about to appear on network television, so I guess you can give it a bit of a pass for the repetitious elements. But it doesn't work quite as effectively as a four hour plus movie marathon; one is bound to get antsy at some point.
You know, I had to laugh at one point. Professor Carl Miller (David Dukes) made a derogatory assessment of Joyce Reardon's (Nancy Travis) mission to record anything remotely paranormal at the abandoned Rimbauer Mansion, by referring to it as the 'House on Haunted Hill'. And just like that 1959 black and white horror classic, all of the participants involved wound up sleeping in separate bedrooms! Why oh why?, and how can anyone be that ill advised when staying in a place with a reputation suggesting that something bad is bound to happen. It just doesn't make sense except in films like this, and even then it doesn't make sense. And by the way, I saw Vincent Price's "House on Haunted Hill" when I was about ten years old, and didn't come out from under the bed for about a week.
No such trauma here, I don't even recall a good jump scare in the entire run. Adding to my disillusionment with the picture was when Professor Reardon placed a bandage on Annie's bloody forehead slightly to the right of center, but for the entire rest of the picture, it was seen positioned left of center. Only to be outdone by Cathy Kramer's (Judith Ivey) dry dress immediately after walking through knee deep water in the Mirror Room. Would it have been that hard to maintain continuity if someone were paying attention?
Best scene for me was the pizza delivery man. He seemed like the kind of guy who could have written this story.
You know, I had to laugh at one point. Professor Carl Miller (David Dukes) made a derogatory assessment of Joyce Reardon's (Nancy Travis) mission to record anything remotely paranormal at the abandoned Rimbauer Mansion, by referring to it as the 'House on Haunted Hill'. And just like that 1959 black and white horror classic, all of the participants involved wound up sleeping in separate bedrooms! Why oh why?, and how can anyone be that ill advised when staying in a place with a reputation suggesting that something bad is bound to happen. It just doesn't make sense except in films like this, and even then it doesn't make sense. And by the way, I saw Vincent Price's "House on Haunted Hill" when I was about ten years old, and didn't come out from under the bed for about a week.
No such trauma here, I don't even recall a good jump scare in the entire run. Adding to my disillusionment with the picture was when Professor Reardon placed a bandage on Annie's bloody forehead slightly to the right of center, but for the entire rest of the picture, it was seen positioned left of center. Only to be outdone by Cathy Kramer's (Judith Ivey) dry dress immediately after walking through knee deep water in the Mirror Room. Would it have been that hard to maintain continuity if someone were paying attention?
Best scene for me was the pizza delivery man. He seemed like the kind of guy who could have written this story.