The Legend of Hell House
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Movie Reviews of The Legend of Hell House
Movie Review: Legend of Hell House
Summary: 5 Stars
Original horror, mystery, and suspense about a very old haunted mansion. It is filmed mostly in different degrees of dark greys and black which adds to the drama of the movie, and in the end; it's truly amazing to find the original owner still residing in the house-though he's dead.Movie Review: An excellent B-Horror Movie
Summary: 5 Stars
It is amazing with the variety of unique horror movies that we used to produce, almost all horror movies have become a slew of horny teenagers getting slaughtered by one psycho. This is a movie with a very tight script. There are really only four characters in the story, all unique in reason for being in Hell House. The pace starts slow, and then builds into a very suspenseful and un-nerving movie. It was very entertaining. Recomended.Movie Review: Decent horror effort, but the plot makes no sense when you think about it!
Summary: 3 Stars
Ahh, Hell House. The Legend of Hell House is by no means a bad horror movie. It's moody and atmospheric, if a bit over the top. A doorknob subtly turning is much creepier than everything in the room being violently overturned--which is one reason why Hill House is a much scarier place than Hell House (referring of course to Robert Wise's The Haunting--though whether Hill House was actually haunted is debatable). The Legend of Hell House is, at least, an actual horror film, something filmmakers today have forgotten how to make. (Sorry, torture porn and teeny-bopper startle flicks do not count.) With that said, however, I can't resist adding that the plot of Legend of Hell House makes absolutely no sense. (Spoiler ahead.) Dr. Barrett's ghostbusting machine works because, in the film, a "ghost" is just a form of energy left over after bodily death. A house acts like a battery that can store this energy. Barrett's machine sends out an opposite charge of the same kind of energy, and when this meets the field of energy that comprises the "ghost," the two cancel each other out, and the ghost is gone, or, "ghostbusted." Well, it turns out that the reason that Dr. Barrett's machine doesn't completely wipe out Belasco's "ghost" is that Emeric Belasco's body is sealed in a lead-lined room at the center of the house. Now, if Belasco died in the room and the energy from the machine couldn't get in the room to neutralize his "ghost energy," then how did his "ghost energy" ever get OUT of the room to haunt the house in the first place? Did his ghost energy run and hide in the room when it saw the machine coming, and then exit the room to destroy the machine? No, because if this was the case, then when Fisher opened the door to the lead-lined room and then went to run the machine again, Belasco would have just shut the door again. Further, if his "ghost energy" was spread evenly throughout the house and the machine wiped it all but that in the room, then again, how did Belasco get out to destroy the machine and kill Dr. Barrett? Further, why didn't Belasco kill Fisher when he went back to turn on the machine the last time? I guess these are minor points, but in the end the movie does not make sense, and this irks me.
By the way, I am an avid horror fan. My wife and I owned more than 400 horror DVDs (we sold them) and have seen thousands. Of all the horror films I've seen, the only really good haunted house movies are The Shining (Kubrick's version), The Haunting (Wise's--the original) and The Changeling. That's it! Does anyone know of any other creepy haunted house films? If so, please leave a comment. Are there no old haunted house movies? The Haunting seems to be the first serious one. James Whale's The Old Dark House is EXCELLENT, but alas, it's not really a haunted house movie; it's rather about a house and a weird family. Again, anyone, please feel free to start a post below listing what are, in your opinion, the best and creepiest haunted house films. I've seen several decent ones, like Legend of Hell House and Burnt Offerings, but none as good as The Changeling or The Haunting.
Movie Review: Not scary--- no ghosts, nothing spooky
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought this movie because it had so many high-star ratings. So, I was very surprised when I watched it and found there were no, meaning zero, ghosts, skeletons and scary scenes. The movie takes place in an old, dark house with cob webs all over. There are some strange sounds that are supposed to represent haunted spirits. The scariest scene is when a black cat chases the "mental-medium" character and scratches her.
The 4 characters in the movie went to the haunted house with the task of finding out if people survive after death i.e. determine if the owner of the house who was supposed to be dead but no body was ever found is still living in the house "in spirit". In the end of the movie, 2 of them leave the house alive. The other 2 had died from things falling on them. Overall, the movie was disappointing.
Movie Review: The Legend of Hell House
Summary: 3 Stars
On a scale where THE HAUNTING is rated as a five star movie I have to assign this film three stars. I enjoyed THE LEGEND more than that rating would convey. Despite the several faults it has, it was a lively, entertaining and enjoyable movie.
It is too bad that the DVD did not include some extras like a brief documentary on the making of the film. It was a decent enough transfer (though not a great one), and well worth the current price. I didn't quite know what to make of the statement credited to one psychic who stated during the opening titles that what we in the audience were about to witness could very well be based on authentic phenomena. However, this only added to the fun.
I first saw the LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE in a Bergenfield New Jersey theater with a friend with a common interest in horror films on a work night way back in 1973. Neither of us expected too much from it. I was very pleased and surprised with the LEGEND, and my friend who happens to be a great fan of THE HAUNTING, was very disappointed. I am certain the merits of THE LEGEND can't be compared to those of THE HAUNTING. Nevertheles, THE LEGEND gets a good score from me for good intentions, great sets and performances.