Review – The House on Haunted Hill (1999)

Here’s an experience I haven’t had for awhile: seeing a movie in an almost completely deserted theater. Aside from two other people – one of whom was a moron with a cell phone – I pretty much got a private screening. Now, I did catch an afternoon show a few weeks after the opening, so it was probably a little more popular than I’m making it sound. Further, I was more than a little surprised by the film itself. I figured it would be a cheap attempt to cash in on what was supposed to have been the popularity of The Haunting. But if anything, this film surpassed the bigger-budget production. The stay-the-night-in-a-haunted-house-and-win-a-million plot was more than a bit hackneyed (not to mention that the whole thing is a remake of an old Vincent Price movie), even when mixed with the house-possessed-by-the-evil-of-deeds-done-therein. Much of the art direction was a little over-wrought (including exteriors that looked like they should have included a big neon sign that said “Mad Scientist, Boo!” on the side). However, the effects and editing more than make up for most of the film’s shortcomings. I genuinely admired the film-makers’ willingness to under-use effects to maximize the impact of some really creepy stuff, even if it did make the whole thing look a little like a heavy metal video. The DVD includes feature-length commentary by the director, but the really good bonuses are a quick documentary about the original and the remake and a couple of scenes deleted from the theatrical release (at least one of which would have supplied the female lead with some badly-needed character development). Mildly amusing