FreakFest Friday!

Hello Friends,


Well, it's that time again! Today the 1959 masterpiece The House on Haunted Hill, starring Vincent Price (a personal hero of mine), Carol Ohmmart and Richard Long.


William Castle, the notorious director that used genius gimmicks to fill seats in theaters, used a pulley system that when audiences were watching the movie a plastic skeleton would drop down from the ceiling just like the skeleton in the film. Castle,who used military motors,was the first person to put under-the-seat buzzers in theaters and now that technology is used at major theme parks, had a great professional relationship with Vincent Price and worked with him on several films besides House on Haunted Hill. Price starred in the cult hit The Tingler the same year, but the reception of House on Haunted Hill inspired one of the best horror films...Alfred Hitchcock's 1960's classic Psycho. Castle also, during the release of The Tingler, spoke into a intercom during the presentation and told audiences members to remain calm because the creature is loose in the theater (another gimmick). If you don't know too much about William Castle, I encourage you to read about him, he because was a great director and a pioneer in the horror film genre.


The film's plot centers around  millionaire Frederick Loren (Vincent Price) invites five people to a "party" he is throwing for his wife, Annabelle (Carol Ohmart), in an allegedly haunted house he has rented, promising to give them each $10,000. But there is a catch: each guest must stay the entire night in the house after the doors are locked at midnight. 

I love Vincent Price with his cryptic voice and mischievous looks, he instilled a quite fear in every film he was in. As a kid I remember watching Michael Jackson's Thriller music video, as being terrified at the voice who laughs at the end of it. Later, I found out it was Vincent Price and it blew my mind!

The film is campy and creepy at the same time and that's why it's a timeless classic. It is a a relic of a genre within horror movies, when slashers and blood and guts weren't needed to "scare" people. I think the industry needs to go back to the less-is more style of scary movies, let the audience imagine what happens and leave them watching their backs.

Thanks for reading and remember,

Keep Watching and Get Scared