The Legend of Hell House
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Movie Reviews of The Legend of Hell House
Movie Review: A truly evil haunted house
Summary: 5 Stars
If you like watching haunted house movies where the scares are plentiful, a lot of the horror is psychological, and the special effects are non-CGI and still believable, then The Legend Of Hell House (1973) is your movie. The movie is based on Richard Matheson's novel "Hell House" (1971). The basic story is about four paranormal investigators who investigate Hell House, an old mansion that houses evil and mysterious things. A previous team of eight researchers once visited the house many years earlier and all but one person in the party perished. The movie stars Pamela Franklin (of "The Innocents", "The Witching", and "Satan's School For Girls" fame), Roddy McDowall, Clive Revill, and Gayle Hunnicutt.
The movie wastes little time, as it has this team of investigators arriving at the Belasco mansion in Maine that they describe as "The Mount Everest of Haunted Houses" right at the beginning of the movie and the action never really lets up from that point on. There is a constant dose of haunted happenings throughout the movie, yet is never overdone. One of the creepiest scenes is when a record plays Belasco's voice and says that the answer the investigators seek can be found in the house. I couldn't help but think of the Scooby Doo episode A Night Of Fright Is No Delight (1969) when I saw this. Another great scene is when the Belasco spirit is communicating through Florence (Pamela Franklin). Very cool.
This movie is often compared to The Haunting (1963) because of the striking similarities in the plots. The Haunting is based on a novel as well (Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting Of Hill House" from 1959) and also features a team of four paranormal investigators who get on each other's nerves while investigating the haunted happenings inside Hill House in New England. I think the similarities start to erode away as The Legend Of Hell House progresses, and by the end of the movie you'll pretty much forget about the similarities to The Haunting. For one thing, The Haunting was filmed in black and white, whereas The Legend Of Hell House is in color. Black and white was perfect for The Haunting, but in my opinion color was perfect for The Legend Of Hell House. Also, two people die in The Legend Of Hell House, whereas in The Haunting, one person dies. Another thing -- in The Legend Of Hell House, the evilness of the house and its effect on the four people is more apparent and obvious. This is a movie that has a little bit of blood and some disturbing scenes. The haunts are more over-the-top and obvious compared to The Haunting. Check out the scene when they're eating at the dining room table. Perfect example. This movie also differs from The Haunting in that the paranormal investigators are taking a very scientific approach to their research. Also, the movie has a subtle hint of eroticism and sexuality at times. Actually, more than subtle. Just as in The Haunting, the outside of the house is shown many times during the movie, but always during daylight hours with an ever-present eerie fog. In The Haunting, it was a balance of daytime and nighttime shots.
The movie's soundtrack is very unique. It's electronic music that is quite "out there" and very simple, yet very effective.
The acting is good in this movie. Hot and sexy Gayle Hunnicutt was perfectly cast as Ann. The scene where she's sleepwalking is a classic. Pamela Franklin is hot as well and did a fine job acting. Roddy McDowall gives a great performance, especially at the end of the movie. Clive Revill's performance as the lead scientist is also great.
If you like older haunted house movies that rely on what you don't see more than on blood and guts and have no cheesy CGIs, then this haunted house movie will be right up your alley. You can see black strings attached to the bedspread when the ghost pulled it off the bed and threw it at Florence, but I'll take these raw special effects over CGI effects any day. At least you don't actually see the ghost. This movie makes you use your imagination and is pretty unpredictable. This movie has an early '70s feel to it that is hard to describe. Highly recommended.
Movie Review: Fantastically scary haunted house chiller.
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great haunted house film, I think it's one of the best I've ever seen. This film is an outstanding example of what you can achieve in a horror film without resorting to special effects trickery or blood and gore (even though I love that kind of thing). And what also makes this film so effective is it's claustrophobic atmosphere and wonderfully creepy music and sound effects. Kudos to everyone in the cast especially Roddy McDowall as Fisher, the only man to survive a previous expedition. A team consisting of a physicist, his wife, a female medium and the only survivor of the previous visit by researchers are sent to Hell House to prove that the house is really haunted and that there is life after death. Every other team has failed either by going mad or getting murdered inside the walls. These four investigators hope to enter one more time to catch a glimpse, they however might not like what they see. Based on the novel Hell House written by Richard Matheson who also wrote I Am Legend, this almost has a similar plot to The Haunting (1963), which is far more critically acclaimed but I much prefer Hell House.
The biggest complaint anyone makes about the film is the similarities to the 1963 film The Haunting. In that film and in the awful 1999 re-make, 4 people go into a haunted house to see if ghosts really do exist. In this film made in 1973, it's about 4 people who go into a house to see if ghosts really exist. Both of them based on stories from a novel, they are quite similar ideas but end up with differences by the time the credits roll. This film has a great and promising start and then gets spookier and more creepy as the film goes on, the setup was very nice and there was some tension between each of these interesting characters. The four main players are Clive Revill, Gayle Hunnicutt, Roddy McDowell and Pamela Franklin and they are all first-rate, most particularly McDowell as the somewhat eerie Mr Fisher and Pamela Franklin as the eccentric medium Florence Tanner.
The Belasco house in the film is described as "the Mount Everest of haunted houses", built by a strange, reclusive tycoon who had an Aleister Crowley-style obsession with exploring all the darker side of life, and manipulating his guests for his own amusement. There were some great and memorable scenes in this film one in particular is where Clive Revill experiences a violent haunting where he nearly gets killed by a falling chandelier and almost get burnt by the fire place, another great and spooky scene involves a dark and shadowy figure behind the shower curtain (What the hell was that!!?).
This was definitely the ultimate haunted house film, it was terrific and well worth watching, I highly recommend this.
Movie Review: STILL FRIGHTENING after all these years
Summary: 5 Stars
I first saw THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE on TV probably a year or two after it played in theatres. I was all of 12 years old, sitting in my darkened living room, when the opening frames of the movie display a "quotation" from an "expert" on paranormal phenomena that says something or other about the investigations into life after death. I literally thought I was watching a documentary as the opening scene of the house and subsequent set pieces were time-stamped with the date and time. This still gives me the sense today of watching a non-fiction account and not a superbly suspenseful film!The soundtrack is totally electronic and repetitive, but completely effective and unsettling throughout the movie. There are sparse interjections of minor chords played on what sounds like a church organ--just the right Gothic touch!
The casting is highlighted by the performances of both Roddy McDowall and Pamela Franklin. Roddy McDowall plays the lone survivor of the last attempt to solve the riddle of the house's evil spirits. Pamela Franklin is a spiritual not physical medium who immediately senses all is not right with the house and its prior "occupants." Rounding out the foursome are Clive Revill who plays the highly skeptical scientist who's determined to explain away the evil with good, old-fashioned scientific investigation. Gayle Hunnicutt plays his wife, Ann, who accompanies him on this ghost hunt, and is soon involved in the whole matter more than she could ever have imagined.
The house itself is really the fifth player or character in this tale of malevolence and subtle terror. The physical setting of the house, shrouded in clouds and seemingly permanent English fog, is most disturbing. Inside there are many dark hallways and passages that hold yet undiscovered secrets. Interestingly, Miss Tanner's (Pamela Franklin's character) room is papered in red-velvet cloth-- a very passionate color. More than one scene of ghostly violence occurs upon her person in that room. The scariest scene, even now that I'm much older, is the first "sitting" wherein Miss Tanner's experience is quite unusual for a spiritual medium. You'll have to watch it to know what I mean.
I get goosebumps just writing this review, the movie is still that chilling in my mind. The best way to maximize the chills-and-thrills is to watch it really, really late at night, when it's really dark outside. Turn the lights off, turn the phone off, and give yourself an authentic and lasting scare!
Movie Review: The thinking man's horror story.
Summary: 5 Stars
Unfortunately, this movie doesn't begin to touch the truly perverse and horrifying depths as written in the novel of which it is based, Richard Matheson's "Hell House". There are many key elements to the story which were barely mentioned but not explored due to the times when this was released. A more faithful film adaptation would be welcomed, so long as the CGI was kept to a minimum and if competant actors are hired for the project.
Belasco House is the Mount Everest of haunted houses, a private Hell built and orchestrated by its owner, Emeric Belasco. A large number of atrocities, horrors and criminal activity occurred there, and nearly all paranormal investigators called to the house had died in violent circumstances. The only survivor of the previous investigations is Ben Fischer, a physical medium who is called to return to the house along with Florence Tanner, a mental medium, and Dr. Lionel Barrett, a physicist who has brought along his wife Edith despite his protests. They are being paid princely sums of money each by an elderly millionaire to uncover absolute proof of life after death. What happens following their arrival is a series of red herrings woven into the plot consisting of ghostly apparitions, possessions and restless spirits wreaking havoc.
This might be a boring film for those who are accustomed to seeing lots of blood, gore and violence in their horror movies. Indeed, it is rather tame in comparison to the original novel. Still, it boasts a VERY fine cast in Roddy McDowall, Pamela Franklin, Clive Revill and Gayle Hunnicutt, who all give excellent performances. The storyline is worthy of discussion and dissection for devoted fans of both the book and movie, and there is usually something new to find with each viewing of the film. Until its DVD release nearly ten years ago, this film was somewhat hard to find and rarely shown on TV. It was years before I met someone else who'd even seen it before! Today it is still rather elusive, but now much easier to buy a copy for your own film library.
"The Legend of Hell House" is a great classic horror film which makes you think...something that not many other movies in the genre tend to do. It is scary without being gory, and is sure to be a reliable favorite in your household for many years. Buy a copy of it today!
Movie Review: EXCELLENT AND INTELLIGENT HORROR MYSTERY!
Summary: 5 Stars
I first saw this film as a young teenager when it was first released. And I must admit, it has stood the test of time very well. It is just as great and suspenseful today as it was when I first viewed the film. Not only that, it is an intelligentally well done film. The film begins with a dying millionaire who hires a team of investigators to look into the possibility of life after death. They are given one week to give him conclusive evidence if indeed there is life after death.
The investigators are a physicist named Lionel Barrett (Clive Revill) who is also accompanied by his wife Anne (Gale Hunnicutt). Also, there are two mediums, Florence Tanner (Pamela Franklin) [she portrayed the young girl in Deborah Kerr's "The Innocents"], and finally Ben Fisher (Roddy McDowell), the only survivor of the previous attempt to find out the secrets of Hell House. Florence is a religious medium, while Ben Fisher is a medium who intends to collect the money being offered by the millionaire, without opening up his paranormal powers to the house.
Fisher knows that the house is evil, and does not wish to involve himself in the investigation. He tells the others that the house's malevolent spirits do not mind a visitor or two, but it does not like to be challenged. The physicist has a machine that he claims will clean the house of negative energy. He refuses to listen to Fisher, and claims that science is the key to solving the secrets of Hell House, which he earlier told his wife, Anne, is the "Mt. Everest of Haunted Houses."
Friction develops immediately between Florence and Dr. Barrett. She claims the spirits need to be shown the way out and released from there terrible suffering. While Dr. Barrett believes his science will be the key. Fisher meanwhile is dawdling away the time when the week will be over. The house harbors many evils. It belonged to Emeric Belasco (Michael Gough), where every evil under the sun occurred. The film is great; I don't wish to put spoilers in here for you if you haven't seen the film, but it is highly recommended. A terrific film! [Stars: 5+]