Golden Oldies: House on Haunted Hill (1959)

Williams Castle's House on Haunted Hill stars Vincent Price as an aberrant millionaire playboy named Fredrick Loren who has taken the liberty of inviting five individuals to a house known for its strange occurrences and fatalities. Fredrick promises that each guess, if still living by the following morning, will leave with a whopping 1,000 dollars (way bigger deal back then). As the night unfolds strange events continue occur, from sightings of ghouls to appearances of severed heads. This night is not only beginning to seem stranger and stranger, it is beginning to appear hardly survivable. This cult classic is a perfect formula for a horror film- it's eerie, humorous, black and white, and it features the legendary Vincent Price. Haunted Hill not only treats its audience to fine filmmaking, it simulates a halloween fun house in the viewer's living room. The film serves as a great reminder that not all horror shows have to include computer generated monsters and Michael Bay explosions. If nothing else, House accomplishes thrills and laughs through Price alone with his historically charismatic performance. Additionally, the old-fashioned music of the film only improves on the spectral atmosphere. Whether the viewer's intentions are to take a time capsule back to 1959 for some antique chills or rather laugh at the anti-hero black humor of Price, House on Haunted Hill pleases on all levels without flaw- earning it 4 stars.