[Vincent] Price plays an eccentric millionaire, Frederick Loren, who, along with his wife Annabelle, has invited five people to the house for a "haunted house" party. Whoever stays in the house for one night will earn $10,000. As the night progresses, the guests are trapped within the house with an assortment of terrors.
...
Numerous critics praised House on Haunted Hill for its classical style, likening it to old-fashioned haunted house films.[ii] Paine Knickerbocker of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote... : "The film is far better than one might suspect from its title, and yet it actually pretends to be no more: it is merely an old-fashioned mystery suspense film and a pretty good one."[30] The Oregonian similarly compared the film favorably to classic horror films such as The Bat (1926) and The Cat and the Canary (1927), heralding it as a "ghost story of the highest excellence" and "pure entertainment from the first reel forward."[31] Jean Walrath of the Democrat and Chronicle similarly praised the film's "classic approach" and commended the performances by Price, Carol Ohmart, and Alan Marshal.[32]
Kate Cameron of the New York Daily News awarded the film two and a half out of four stars, praising Price's performance.[33] Howard Thompson of The New York Times alternately panned the film, deeming it "a stale spook concoction."[34]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 80% of 44 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "Campy by modern standards but spooky and atmospheric, House on Haunted Hill is a fun, well-executed cult classic featuring a memorable performance from genre icon Vincent Price."[35] AllMovie has praised the film retrospectively, writing, "Campy and creepy in equal measures, House on Haunted Hill deserves its status as a horror classic."
House on Haunted Hill (1959) is the movie for this Sunday's "monsterdon" watch party over on Mastodon, our fediverse sibling!
- Just start watching that movie this Sunday, October 4 at 9pm ET / 8pm CT / 6pm PT which is 1am Monday UTC
- and follow #monsterdon over on mastodon for live text commentary. For example, you can follow that hashtag here: https://mastodon.social/tags/monsterdon
- I usually open two web browser windows side-by-side on a computer. But you could follow the mastodon commentary on a phone app while watching the movie on TV or something.
How to watch the movie:
BEWARE: we are watching the 1959 version, but there is also a 1999 remake!
- for info on how to block ads, see: https://ohai.social/@klu9/115245207831850566
- tubi: https://tubitv.com/...
- tubi (colorized): https://tubitv.com/...
- fawesome (colorized): https://fawesome.tv/...
- youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09w7isSx650
- youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ5paTwRA_k
- dailymotion: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xawhaiy
- archive: https://archive.org/...
- archive: https://archive.org/...
- peertube: https://vod.newellijay.tv/...
- it's usually streamed on https://miru.miyaku.media/ at that time
- if you want to pay and/or watch ads, look here: https://www.justwatch.com/...
- for trigger warnings see: https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/50712
The 1999 remake is my jam.
save