William Malone’s “House on Haunted Hill” (1999) was the start of the Dark House Entertainment production company, in which Robert Zemeckis and Joel Silver produced genre films to open around October.
The promise of Zemeckis/Silver overseeing horror films (several of which, like this one, were remakes) suggested that they weren’t finished making “Tales from the Crypt” spinoff movies.
Thankfully, “House on Haunted Hill,” which is depraved, slick and a lot of fun, is closer to their “Demon Knight” (1995) than “Bordello of Blood” (1996). It’s also the best of the lot from Dark House Entertainment, as the experiment peaked early.
Malone’s film gets off to a strong start – a pre-credits sequence showing the sick Dr. Vannacutt (the reliably great Jeffrey Combs) abusing his patients is gnarly. The opening credits, with Don Davis’ great organ-fused score, is wonderful.
Once we get to the character introductions, it shows its age.
A group of strangers, played by Taye Diggs, Bridgette Wilson, Ali Larter and Peter Gallagher, agree to meet in a haunted mansion where, if they survive the night, they win a million-dollar prize. Once they all arrive, they learn they weren’t actually invited and that there’s something off about the arrangement.
The hosts, Steven Price and his wife, Evelyn, played by Geoffrey Rush and Famke Jannsen, remain in glib showmanship mode until things quickly go wrong. Or, as they are sternly warned, “the house is alive, you’re all gonna die.”
This is a very 1990s movie, with garish colors and lots of “attitude” in the filming, as well as the acting. While Malone tends to overdo it with the in-your-face presentation, his movie has a showmanship and carnival fun ride feel that matches Rush’s character.
The performances all have the same lip-curling, sinister eyebrow raise one would expect from actors in a “Tales from the Crypt” episode. The acting isn’t subtle, as Rush appears to be having far too much fun and “Saturday Night Live” alumni Chris Kattan, cast as the sole voice of reason, gets away with going over the top by being the only reliable character.
Wilson has the scariest scene, which appears “Blair Witch”-inspired, where her character’s camcorder can’t shield her from a presence that surrounds her. There’s also a great bit where Rush is trapped in a spinning apparatus that mimics the old timey science of zoetrope films and unveils a lurking menace.
The sequence also utilizes a famously axed special effect from “Ghost Story” (1981) which was cut from that movie and finally put to use here (be on the lookout for the ghost with no eyes and a big mouth).
The gore is often startling, as are the use of jittery, sped-up effects out of “Jacobs Ladder” (1990) to create an otherworldly movement for the ghosts. Nothing here is subtle but, as late-night fodder to have on while having a Halloween party, it’s a fun diversion.
The most critical thing I can state about it is how William Castle’s original “House on Haunted Hill” (1959), starring the wonderful Vincent Price, is creakier but actually better.
House on Haunted Hill, Vincent Price, 1959 pic.twitter.com/JOpWSRyo9L
— Classic Horror Films (@HorrorHammer1) October 17, 2024
Later Dark House films included the tacky “13 Ghosts” (2001), “Ghost Ship” (2002), “Gothika” (2003), “House of Wax” (2005), “Orphan” (2009), and, the lone bright spot, “Splice” (2010). Otherwise, their best production is still this one.
I was fortunate to see “House on Haunted Hill” when it opened Halloween weekend of 1999. The theater was packed, the cheering and screams were frequent, and it left me feeling enthralled.
It made me recall my father telling me of his similar experiences of seeing “House of Wax” (1953) and “Invaders from Mars” (also 1953) in the theater during his childhood. Alas, when I revisited “House on Haunted Hill” on DVD years later, I found it suffered from what I call the Snakes on a Plane Effect: a B-movie that was a blast in the theater, with an audible crowd, that plays differently when you’re wide awake, watching a fun but dopey B-movie by yourself.
Nevertheless, taken as a Halloween movie that misses classic status but is startling and fun enough, “House on Haunted Hill” has enough showmanship to be worth seeing, preferably with a rowdy group of horror movie buffs and buckets of candy corn.
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