Advantages: Good, gruesome effects, interesting storyline Disadvantages: unbelievable ending, not for the faint hearted.
...This story centres on a house that is genuinely haunted, and these ghosts are looking for revenge! The house on haunted hill used to be an insane asylum back in the 1920’s, owned by a Dr Vannicutt, who liked to try out experimental treatments on his patients, including electrocution and surgery without anesthetic (nice!). The beginning of the film shows that the patients don’t like this torturous treatment too much, and start a mad rampage ... ...they can stay in the house all night! Led into the house by the current owner, and descendant of the original owner, Watson Pritchard is highly agitated and in a hurry to get away from the house, but before he can leave, the house mysteriosuly goes into lockdown, and everyone is trapped inside. Things take a turn for the worse, when one of the guests goes missing leaving behind grisely clues as to what happened, and everyone starts to realise that ...
claires_cult 05.09.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of House On Haunted Hill (DVD)
Advantages: None! Disadvantages: Too many to list - see op!
...of the patients. The house has been restored (WHY?!) to its original state, but is uninhabited as it is believed to be haunted.
Wifey decides she wants to have her birthday party there, and faxes off the guest list to hubby. He makes some changes, but then unbeknown to him, his computer makes more changes, and when he and his wife arrive, 4 strangers are there, waiting for the party. The one other character is a kind of caretaker, whose father and ... ...survive a night in the house without doing a runner, or dying. Then, the security shutters close over all the doors and windows, and they realise there is no way out. Still promising, still believable. Unfortunately this is where that ends!
A serious of strange, confusing and unexplained events follow - people disappear, die and are mutilated and we are left guessing as to who or what the cause is. The caretaker still maintains that the house is ...
Pumpkin 07.05.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of House On Haunted Hill (DVD)
Advantages: Has many twists that keep you guessing. Disadvantages: None.
...we find is actually the house from the title, originally run by a mad surgeon.
The inmates escape and a mass killing and mutilation spree follow. This is how and where the rumours of ghostly goings on come from. But are they just rumours?
Enter the real cast starting with Price, a man with the need for speed so to speak. He runs an amusement park that is second to none with outrageous special effects designed to scare the pants off of anyone.
... ...of 5 strangers to the house begins the tale of terror where Price is supposedly throwing a party for his wife, Evelyn, who apparently rearranges the guest list.
The bottom line is that Price offers One Million dollars to anyone who can survive the whole night in the house. All is not as it seems. LOCK DOWN!!!!!
After numerous bloodthirsty scenes and a little humour for good measure, everyone has come to believe that the house really is haunted ...
Trev1000 26.03.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of House On Haunted Hill (DVD)
Advantages: frightens you at first, great acting, fresh horror Disadvantages: not frightening once viewed again
...turning up at the haunted house with her husbands
and some random hasbeens.
The catch to the whole HAunted House is not a
simple, 'person dies now haunting' storyline, but it
was an old asylum for the mental and they had a really freakish doctor who tortured them with several methods such as one machine which screws up your brain
which is quoted,
'makes a sane man mad and a mad man sane.'
However at the beginning of the film you see what
... ...mad
people assault every nurse and doctor, creating one
huge massacre. And they return the 'favour' of
putting through all the doctors and nurses through
the same methods that they did.
However, once Mr and Mrs Price and the owner and
the several hasbeens are gathered, they are proposed
a deal/game to hotten up the party. They are written
a check each for 1 million dollars .... but only if
they stay the whole night. And at first they are ...
GrUnGe_GaL 28.02.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of House On Haunted Hill (DVD)
...stay alive in this haunted house for one whole day, so they all go to the house not noing what to expect, but everything is not as it seems, the house is alive!!!!!!!!!!! and it wants the people!!!!!!!!!!!!
the house used to be a house for the insane, but was shut down because everyone suddenly disapeared!
i personally dont think this is scary at all, infact, i think its really funny in places, which is all the way through the film. they tryed ...
Roden 09.09.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of House On Haunted Hill (DVD)
Advantages: A couple of good ideas, good soundtrack Disadvantages: Not scary
Well this film was not scary in the least usually in a good real horror movie i jump at least once this film however i did not.
so i fell that this film had no real motive or storyline, very unoriginal, but none the less not boring i was very interested to see what happened next i thought that maybe i would get a scare but dissapointed. I feel that there was only one point where i thought cool, but was still not chilling because it was an unoriginal ... ...would be fine with this film, this is because i sometimes think about things in the film when i go to sleep or when i look in the mirror or something but this film didn't bother me at all. Oh and i wrote this 1 hour after i saw the film.
Its one of those films that you want to like but you can't bbecause you were expecting more! ...
littlegit 03.09.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of House On Haunted Hill (DVD)
Advantages: Some good effects and sub-plots Disadvantages: Corny in places, far fetched, some weak acting
...haunted house. Of course, the house is 'Alive' and on this occasion it appears to bear a grudge against everyone within. The similarities to the recent 'Haunting' re-make are more than passing.
There is evidence of a big budget, the sets are stupendous, the special effects are well produced and the sound staging is fabulous. This all makes for a spectacular DVD. If you have seen the film and think it stands repeated viewing then the DVD is a shining ...
shaun 26.11.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of House On Haunted Hill (DVD)
House on a Haunted Hill has been one of my favourite films of the year. I am a horror film fan and this film did not disappoint me, it was creepy, strange and a little weird!!
There are a few twists that you don't expect throughout the film and although there aren't really any special actors in it the acting overall was great.
The film is set in a creepy old house and the scenery/sets are brilliant, really spooky. There are a few special effects ... ...film and a big scene access selection menu where you can choose which scene to watch including the Marilyn Manson 'Sweet Dreams' song at the end credits.
Hopefully there will be a follow up to House on a Haunted Hill because I would love to see what happens next! ...
annette_tr9 02.12.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of House On Haunted Hill (DVD)
Advantages: Very Original, Very Scary Disadvantages: Could have better special effects but the actors make up for it
After all the 'post-modern' horror spin-offs from Scream, finally a film that lives up to the term 'horror'. "House On Haunted Hill" impressed me because it doesn't pretend to be intelligent or witty. When I watch a horror film I want drama, tension, and lots and lots of blood and gore. What really sets this apart from any other horror films I've seen recently is the cast: there is a chemistry between the actors that gives strong and realistic performances ... ...comes from the actors rather than special effects, while the film's script is very good as horror movies go. Although not the most terrifying horror film, it is still has a lot going for it. More original than most, and a hell of a lot more enjoyable, the 'House on Haunted Hill' is a great DVD. ...
ChrisCooper 15.08.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of House On Haunted Hill (DVD)
Advantages: decent idea Disadvantages: Corny lines, wooden actors, and bad effects
...in the house. This house of course has a sinister past.
It used to be run by a mad doctor, who was killed by his patients, so of course the house is now haunted.
Unfortunately, from there on its all downhill. The acting is very wooden, from the token blond bimbo, to the be-spectacled doctor. It is also quite a 'sick' film. I actually said 'yuk' outloud when the doctor looked like he was about to commit necrofilia.
And as for the ending, could ...
AmandaFreer 20.09.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of House On Haunted Hill (DVD)
Advantages: Entertaining to the extreme Disadvantages: There's just something missing.
Okay, I bought House on Haunted Hill because I am a bit of a sucker for this kind of movie. Anyways, having watched it, I have to admit that, while the film is quite interesting, has some wonderful twists and some truly amazing performances from Janssen and Rush, there is just something truly unengaging about this film.
I can't quite put my finger on it, but amongst all the gore, humour and mayhem, there is a good story line that, for some unknown ... ...asylum that has become The House on Haunted Hill.
It has a truly scary opening, and an even more stunning ending (after credits have stopped rolling), but it is the meat in between that really gets you, discovering the horror, watching as the various people meet grisly ends, observing the fantastically slick interactions between the Janssen and Rush. Yet, despite all this, there is just something missing, something intangible, that leaves it all ...
Chatshow 20.08.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of House On Haunted Hill (DVD)
Advantages: Lots more on the DVD Disadvantages: It's okay, but not worth buying on DVD
...the story of an old house that used to be a lunatic asylum run by some mad doctors that did horrible experiments on the inmates. The inmates revolted and got revenge on the doctors, but not before one of the doctors pulled a switch, locking them all in, and they ended up being burnt alive. Years later, a wealthy man arranges a party for his wife's birthday in this old house. He also lays on some special effects as his wealth has come about by him ... ...spend the night in the house he will give them one million dollars, and if anyone diesm their share will be divided amongst whoever is left. As with all creepy films, no matter how much you do not want the actors to go wandering off on their own you can be assured they do!! Very predicatable. The film effects are very good, but have been done before in other films. It soon dawns on the guests that their host is not responsible for the happenings ...
carolinesite 23.02.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of House On Haunted Hill (DVD)
house on the hounted hillwhat an abserlout naf film. how any one could fin this film good i just do not no. it was all blood and goor. i did not like this film whats so ever and if you are thinking of renting it please think again. i think its not worth the money unless you are in to blood and goor and other sikkining stuff like that my advise is to stay home and have that curry in the fridge and wathc that western on the telle fom a scale of 1 to ...
mani_13 23.09.2000
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Review of House On Haunted Hill (DVD)
Advantages: Superb settings and typical jumpy music Disadvantages: Bad story, bad acting, bad ending.
House on Haunted Hill is your typical, "lets lock ourselves in a scary looking and house and see who lives" story. The start is superb (in the theme park), but as soon as the story moves to the Haunted House, it slips. Acting is poor, and characters unbelievably stupid.
The film had a good concept (well I say concept, people always) see ghosts with cameras, but it worked well. Shame it didn't develop the idea further. Instead it ends with a cloud ...
Crossfield 21.09.2000
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Review of House On Haunted Hill (DVD)
Advantages: It's above average for a horror. Very stylish and some cool effects Disadvantages: Unoriginal
Hard to claim that House on Haunted Hill is a classic, but it's probably worth investing in for horror fans. Better, in my opinion, than Castle's original, it sees a desperate group of strangers being carved up by a house cursed by its dark and unpleasant past as a mental institution. The story is just the standard Old Dark House routine, but the effects are something else, particularly with the marvellous serpentine phantom that appears at the end. ... ...Rush and X-Men's Famke Janssen are wonderfully OTT as the scheming couple who start the whole mess off, while Peter Gallagher is his usual unctuous self as one of the doomed group. The credits sequence, all animated barbed wire and screams, and the sadistic flashback at the start are far more unnerving than the deliberately comic main action, but this is a stylish and witty film, with fine dialogue and design. The extras, including a documentary ...
Creative 26.08.2000
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Review of House On Haunted Hill (DVD)
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