The Legend of Hell House starts as ageing millionaire Rudolph Deutsch (Roland Culver) hires a physicist named Lionel Barrett (Clive Revill) to investigate the spooky goings on in the notorious Belasco mansion dubbed by many Hell House in an attempt to prove the existence of an after life since he'll be there soon, Deutsch also hires a couple of spiritual mediums named Florence Tanner (Pamela Franklin) & Benjamin Franklin Fischer (Roddy McDowall) the only survivor of the previous expedition into the house several years prior. Deutsch will pay each of them £100,000 if they can prove the existence of the after life so they get right on with the job at hand & judging by the first 24 hours they spend there proving the existence of ghosts & spirits isn't going to be a problem, what might be a problem though is the fact that might not live to collect their cash...
This British production was directed by John Hough & I have to admit that I rather liked it, I didn't think I would because I'm not a big fan of the haunted house genre, I don't even like The Haunting (1963) that much, but The Legend of Hell House impressed me. The script by Richard Matheson was based on his own novel 'Hell House' & takes itself very seriously which just about works & it's more than just a clone of House on Haunted Hill (1959) or The Haunting which it bears more than a passing resemblance to, it moves along like a rocket with all the main character's introduced, who they are & what they do & inside Hell House ready for action within the first ten minutes & while that might seem rushed it's done very well. Spooky things start to happen straight away as the house begins to affect it's new tenant's in different ways with some nice set pieces which are thankfully more imaginative than just a door opening & closing on it's own or a light switching on & off. I also liked the minimalist dialogue here & they way the film is broken up into segments as there are constant captions which tell us the date & time even if it's an hour or so since the last one, it actually fees like a scientist's note book with the entries of all the major incidents in chronological order timed & documented precisely & nothing else is of any importance. The character's are standard for this type of film with the scientist who has a logical explanation for everything & the spiritualists who believe in the supernatural, the dialogue between them is good as they argue the point with pretty reasonable arguments on both sides. The ending is pretty good as well even if it's a bit silly, overall I really liked this film although I could see why many might not.
Director Hough does a great job here & the film looks fantastic with wonderful sets & a terrific English stately home as it's primary location, it was actually Wykehurst Park House in East Sussex that was used as the constant fog enshrouded exterior. There's a great atmosphere throughout, it's not that scary but it's sort of eerie at times. The film has a real style to it with some gorgeous cinematography, colour & use of light & shadow, this is a great looking film throughout. There's not much blood or gore, there's a dead cat in a shower, someones back is scratched, a chandelier falls on someone & there's a bit of blood but nothing excessive.
Technically the film is top notch & probably had a fair amount of money behind it, it has high production values, a creepy musical score & is very well made. The acting is very good from a small cast.
The Legend of Hell House may not be for everyone but I liked it a lot, I thought it was very well made with good acting & a spooky atmosphere which is a lot more than can be said for many haunted house horror flicks out there. Personally I think it's well worth a watch especially for those who have a particular interest in the horror genre.
This British production was directed by John Hough & I have to admit that I rather liked it, I didn't think I would because I'm not a big fan of the haunted house genre, I don't even like The Haunting (1963) that much, but The Legend of Hell House impressed me. The script by Richard Matheson was based on his own novel 'Hell House' & takes itself very seriously which just about works & it's more than just a clone of House on Haunted Hill (1959) or The Haunting which it bears more than a passing resemblance to, it moves along like a rocket with all the main character's introduced, who they are & what they do & inside Hell House ready for action within the first ten minutes & while that might seem rushed it's done very well. Spooky things start to happen straight away as the house begins to affect it's new tenant's in different ways with some nice set pieces which are thankfully more imaginative than just a door opening & closing on it's own or a light switching on & off. I also liked the minimalist dialogue here & they way the film is broken up into segments as there are constant captions which tell us the date & time even if it's an hour or so since the last one, it actually fees like a scientist's note book with the entries of all the major incidents in chronological order timed & documented precisely & nothing else is of any importance. The character's are standard for this type of film with the scientist who has a logical explanation for everything & the spiritualists who believe in the supernatural, the dialogue between them is good as they argue the point with pretty reasonable arguments on both sides. The ending is pretty good as well even if it's a bit silly, overall I really liked this film although I could see why many might not.
Director Hough does a great job here & the film looks fantastic with wonderful sets & a terrific English stately home as it's primary location, it was actually Wykehurst Park House in East Sussex that was used as the constant fog enshrouded exterior. There's a great atmosphere throughout, it's not that scary but it's sort of eerie at times. The film has a real style to it with some gorgeous cinematography, colour & use of light & shadow, this is a great looking film throughout. There's not much blood or gore, there's a dead cat in a shower, someones back is scratched, a chandelier falls on someone & there's a bit of blood but nothing excessive.
Technically the film is top notch & probably had a fair amount of money behind it, it has high production values, a creepy musical score & is very well made. The acting is very good from a small cast.
The Legend of Hell House may not be for everyone but I liked it a lot, I thought it was very well made with good acting & a spooky atmosphere which is a lot more than can be said for many haunted house horror flicks out there. Personally I think it's well worth a watch especially for those who have a particular interest in the horror genre.