Warner Bros. Pictures / Warner Bros. Pictures
Twenty - five days ago today , managing director William Malone’sHouse on Haunted Hillpremiered in theaters . Based on conductor William Castle ’s 1959 flick of the same name , this repugnance movie follows an flaky millionaire who pay for a group of people to an abandoned psychiatric hospital and provide $ 1 million to anyone who can stay in the allegedly obsess institution for a whole night .
Same story, different execution (no pun intended)
The nitty-gritty concept of both taradiddle is basically the same , with the key difference being the nature of the haunted house itself . The remake portrays the business firm as a haunted psychiatric hospital where doctors used to subject their patients to horrible experiments in a manner cheer by the Nazis . The house is also inhabit by an malign entity have it away only as “ The wickedness , ” which is the culmination of all the hard liquor that repose in the house . Though the house in the original plastic film is the land site of a few murders , it is n’t haunted at all . The “ supernatural ” natural event that come about in the picture show are revealed to be present as part of an elaborate murder plan straight out of an Agatha Christie mystery novel .
The want of an existent stalk mansion in the original film makes its story a clever psychological horror story about the destructive effect of lust , covetousness , and paranoia . While the remaking retains the bastard murder twist , it still goes against that by showing the house is actually haunt in the remainder , resulting in a cliché ghost report that fail to modernize the source material . coincidently , this film fail to reinvent the narrative in the same way asThe Haunting , the remake of a standardized horror classic released that same year .
Cast is stacked, but their characters are underwhelming
House on Haunted Hillfeatures a cavalcade of ’ XC hotshot like Geoffrey Rush ( buccaneer of the Caribbean ) , Famke Janssen ( X - Men ) , Taye Diggs ( How Stella Got Her Groove Back ) , Ali Larter ( Final Destination ) , Chris Kattan ( Saturday Night Live ) , Peter Gallagher ( Grace & Frankie ) , andJeffrey Combs ( Justice League Unlimited).Despite such a talented shape , they give such wry portrayals of their loathsome , one - dimensional characters and are saddled with unrealistic dialogue that it ’s no surprise that they bomb to pluck the picture ’s audience . However , it ’s only fairish to mention that some footage about Larter ’s protagonist lose her job was get rid of from the theatrical cut .
In contrast , horror icon Vincent Price leads the cast of the original movie with a performance ooze with his excellently fiendish personal appeal . Though not every quality in the informant film is supposed to be likeable , each thespian portrays them with their own brand of camp , classical charm that make them fun to view . The photographic film also introduces each of them very well , make their specific reasons for wanting the money promise by their inscrutable host . The remaking may have the guest be descendent of the house ’s original staff , making them targets of the Darkness , but that barely adds anything of true interest to their character or their arcs .
Classic scares vs. heavy metal horror
The originalHouse on Haunted Hillbuilds tension and suspense to the peak that it achieves some terrific leap panic . Despite how tawdry the film may look today , it more than makes up for it and its lack of R - rated gore by enervate and take aback its hearing the import it begins .
Meanwhile , the remaking present what is basically “ heavy metal ” horror , pelt interview with fierce , gory trope of malign ghostwriter doctor and dead hospital patients . It ’s the form of matter audiences would see walking through a haunt hospital theme green ride . It also does n’t help that the film features unbelievable ’ 90 visual effect when presenting the eldritch Darkness , which undermine its clever design that is reminiscent of a Rorschach test .
All in all , 1999’sHouse on Haunted Hillfeels more like an amusement ballpark ride than an genuine film . Its sparse narrative and flat , unappealing characters betray to get audiences invested in what happen in the story . Even the flick ’s talented hurl could n’t hold open it with the fabric they were given . It tries to do something new by adding a supernatural element surrounding the house ’s former patient role . Not only does it adulterate the theme that made the original so distinctive , but it also go against its well intention with its sensationalized and dehumanizing portrayal of people with genial health issues .
Warner Bros. Pictures / Warner Bros. Pictures
The 1959 version ofHouse on Haunted Hillis cyclosis onTubi . mind : it ’s the colorized version . The 1999 interpretation is also streaming onTubi .
