First off let me deal with a VERY IMPORTANT issue: I just read all the other comments IMDB users have left regarding this film, and a number of them said that the movie 'THE HAUNTING' is much better. It is CRITICAL that nobody, BUT NOBODY, think that they are talking about last year's Liam Neeson/Catherine Zeta-Jones super-budget crap-o-rama from Dreamworks. That movie sucked (forgive me for using the vernacular, but it really is the best word here). Don't watch it. What they are talking about is The Haunting circa 1963, which is almost universally regarded as the best haunted-house film ever made. Which means you should see it. It probably means I should see it, too...
Anyhow, on to The Legend of Hell House, which I HAVE seen, and which I absolutely love (which makes me wonder how in Sam Hill any movie could be better). Now, let's look at what makes Hell House so darn good...
1) Every actor and actress in this film puts in a solid performance, and therefore every character has an appropriate effect on the audience. For example, a panicky character will start to annoy the heck out of you, as well it should.
2) The film is, for the most part, visually simple. Watch both versions of 'The House on Haunted Hill' (1958 and 1999) and you'll appreciate how the KISS ('keep it simple, stupid') principle applies just as well to haunted-house movies as it does to other things in life. The original is every bit as scary, but far more believable. It makes sense, then, that The Legend of Hell House, a movie which relies very little on high-tech special effects, is, I must say, the scariest movie I've ever seen.
3) Hell House has probably the most bizarre and unpredictable ending you will ever see in a haunted-house movie. Some people don't like it, but when I watched 1999's 'The Haunting', I found myself hoping it had a similar ending. The ending is more satisfying than many endings in the horror genre, and, in a weird way, is more believable than most - instead of the evil spirit finally manifesting itself as an oversized, quasi-corporeal, loud and violent spectre which the surviving heroes somehow deal with or flee from, the entity behind Hell House ... well ... you'll have to watch it for yourself, I'm afraid.
4) The interior of the house itself it perfect. The colours are simple and dulled from age, the place is full of dust and cobwebs, and, remarkably, there are plenty of moments where the old house is actually silent - remember it well, friends, because silence is not something you're likely to hear in the cinema nowadays, now is it? Sometimes silence really is golden; like a calm before a storm, nothing is more frightening than some well-placed silence, causing you to bite your nails and shift to the edge of your seat because you just know something is about to happen. Ahh, what fun!
So there you have it. I love Hell House. It's scary, it's fun, it's BETTER THAN 'GHOST STORY' (ahem!), and it's definitely worth watching. Some say The Haunting (**circa 1963!**) is better, but I wouldn't know. What I do know is that I can't get enough of The Legend of Hell House. So watch both.
Anyhow, on to The Legend of Hell House, which I HAVE seen, and which I absolutely love (which makes me wonder how in Sam Hill any movie could be better). Now, let's look at what makes Hell House so darn good...
1) Every actor and actress in this film puts in a solid performance, and therefore every character has an appropriate effect on the audience. For example, a panicky character will start to annoy the heck out of you, as well it should.
2) The film is, for the most part, visually simple. Watch both versions of 'The House on Haunted Hill' (1958 and 1999) and you'll appreciate how the KISS ('keep it simple, stupid') principle applies just as well to haunted-house movies as it does to other things in life. The original is every bit as scary, but far more believable. It makes sense, then, that The Legend of Hell House, a movie which relies very little on high-tech special effects, is, I must say, the scariest movie I've ever seen.
3) Hell House has probably the most bizarre and unpredictable ending you will ever see in a haunted-house movie. Some people don't like it, but when I watched 1999's 'The Haunting', I found myself hoping it had a similar ending. The ending is more satisfying than many endings in the horror genre, and, in a weird way, is more believable than most - instead of the evil spirit finally manifesting itself as an oversized, quasi-corporeal, loud and violent spectre which the surviving heroes somehow deal with or flee from, the entity behind Hell House ... well ... you'll have to watch it for yourself, I'm afraid.
4) The interior of the house itself it perfect. The colours are simple and dulled from age, the place is full of dust and cobwebs, and, remarkably, there are plenty of moments where the old house is actually silent - remember it well, friends, because silence is not something you're likely to hear in the cinema nowadays, now is it? Sometimes silence really is golden; like a calm before a storm, nothing is more frightening than some well-placed silence, causing you to bite your nails and shift to the edge of your seat because you just know something is about to happen. Ahh, what fun!
So there you have it. I love Hell House. It's scary, it's fun, it's BETTER THAN 'GHOST STORY' (ahem!), and it's definitely worth watching. Some say The Haunting (**circa 1963!**) is better, but I wouldn't know. What I do know is that I can't get enough of The Legend of Hell House. So watch both.
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