House on Haunted Hill
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I am Frederick Loren, and I have rented the house on haunted hill tonight so that my wife can give a party. A haunted house party. She's so amusing. There'll be food and drink and ghosts, and perhaps even a few murders. You're all invited. If any of you will spend the next twelve hours in this house, I will give you each ten thousand dollars, or your next of kin in case you don't survive. Ah, but here come our other guests. |
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House on Haunted Hill is a 1959 low budget Horror Film directed by William Castle, regarding five people who have been invited to stay the night in a haunted castle. Frederick Loren (Vincent Price), an eccentric millionaire, is throwing his "party" for his fourth wife, Annabelle, with the stipulation that the power will be out and all doors will be locked at midnight, allowing no accessible escape. Anyone who survives the night in the castle will be awarded $10,000. As the night progresses, however, it becomes clear that this is no game by the host - the partygoers are indeed trapped here with malevolent ghosts, murderers, and other terrors.
A remake was filmed in 1999, directed by William Malone and starring Geoffrey Rush, Taye Diggs, Ali Larter, and Jeffrey Combs. The remake marked the debut of Dark Castle Entertainment, which went on to produce Thir13en Ghosts and House of Wax, both also remakes of William Castle movies. It was followed by a sequel, Return to House on Haunted Hill, in 2007.
- The Alcoholic: Pritchard, after his brother and sister-in-law were murdered in the house.
- Batman Gambit: Terrorize Nora into a state of hysteria thinking Loren is trying to kill her, causing her to kill him in "self-defense".
- Out-Gambitted: "Little did you know, as you were playing your game... that I was playing too."
- The Bluebeard: Loren is on his fourth wife. The first one disappeared, and the second two died of heart attacks, despite being in their 20s. The fourth one is scared to death during the course of the party. She was a Gold Digger planning to murder Loren for his money, however, casting an unsavory light on the intentions of the first three.
- In retrospect however We can't be sure that his first three wives did die under such mysterious circumstances, since the person who described them was trying to create an alibi for Loren's eventual demise.
- Character as Himself: The skeleton is credited as "by itself".
- Colliding Criminal Conspiracies
- Closed Circle
- Creepy Housekeeper
- Dem Bones
- Domestic Abuse: Loren skates along the edge of this as he prepares his reluctant wife for her party.
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Loren: Are you ready, dear? |
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- Annabelle, meanwhile, has tried to poison him at least once when the film starts.
- Empathic Environment: That House is easily believable as haunted.
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- Enclosed Space
- Haunted House
- Haunted House Historian
- Hollywood Acid: Doesn't eat at bone or for that matter, strings.
- Implied Love Interest: Lance and Nora. He saves her several times, keeps her secret, and when he goes to look for a way out he says he'll come back for her if he finds one. She's very concerned when he gets locked in the basement, and even after she accuses him of not believing her she begs him to get her out. They also happen to have adjoining rooms.
- It Was Here, I Swear: Happens to Nora a lot. When Lance finally sees one of the severed heads that she insisted was there, he just grabs it by the hair and brings it with him to show everyone.
- Kansas City Shuffle
- Large Ham: Frederick Loren. He's played by Vincent Price, so would you expect anything less?
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: After all is said and done, the existence of actual ghosts is left ambiguous.
- No Fourth Wall: The film opens with both Pritchard and Loren speaking directly to the audience. This would have been even more blurry in the original theatrical run, where William Castle would dangle plastic skeletons from the ceiling during scare moments.
- The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You: "They're coming for me now... and then they'll come for you."
- Old Dark House
- Ominous Pipe Organ
- On One Condition
- Out, Damned Spot!: The House has a blood stain that cannot be cleaned up, nomatter what. It gets even creepier when it starts dripping on Ruth's hand.
- The Place
- Prophet Eyes: Mrs. Slydes.
- Screaming Woman: Nora Manning. Justified in that Annabelle's plan is entirely reliant on keeping Nora on edge the whole time.
- Taking You with Me / Ghostly Goals: Subverted as part of Frederick's scheme.
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But you're not going to live to enjoy it! |
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