Reviews

A solid horror flick, unfortunately. The original House on Haunted Hill is my favorite all time scary movie, and the new one doesn't measure up. First of all, this isn't a remake. A remake is a movie that follows the same plot and has the same title. This movie has the same title, but the original plot line about the gold digging wife and doctor trying to murder a millionaire was relegated to a poorly developed sub-plot. To be fair I understand why they removed some of the more ridiculous items such as the walking skeleton and the acid bath. I feel the addition of real ghosts makes it to much like the remake of The Huanting (which in the trailer was entitled The Haunting of Hill House, seem familiar) which came out the same year.

The characters needed some work. Geoffrey Rush makes a better Peter Sellers that Vincent Price. He was creepy, but seems to try to hard. While Vincent Price was creepy because that's what Vincent Price was. Taye Diggs is in it. He's a solid actor but when he is an a movie I have to listen to my sisters talk about how hansom they say he is. Elisha Cook Jr.'s character Watson Pritchard was played by Chris Kattan which I wasn't to sure of at first, I'm not a particular fan of anything he's done since SNL. After I thought about it; however, I could only think of one actor who could have played the original Pritchard as well Kattan could have and that would have been Jon Lovitz. Unfortunately the new film removes Pritchard from the role of comic relief, and makes him more of a guide and prophet of doom.

Oh, and the other thing I disliked about this version of the film is the sincere lack of wax figures on roller skates.

Maybe the title is a bit off putting. You probably shouldn't tell your parents or girlfriend that your watching this film unless they're already familiar with the film. The movie isn't necessarily great, but its funnier than that Flint guy (If you aren't familiar with 1967's Our Man Flint then consider yourself lucky). Not quite as good as Casino Royale(the old one not the 2006 film) but its fairly close.The Pit and the Pendulum scene was hilarious. As usual the Doctor in the Vincent Price movie dies, but this time Price is the doctor. I recommend this movie if you enjoy slap-stick, Vincent Price making an idiot out of himself, or fans of the sixties bikini comedies.

Horror movies especially today depend to much on gore to create fear. Modern lunatics are all random slashers with chainsaws and knives. The movies today aren't scary they're just disgusting. Dr. Phibes is different. Maybe not so much in how the villain, Dr. Phibes, kills, but more because of the kind of killer Phibes is portrayed as. Phibes, unlike his contemporaries Mike Meyers (The murderer in the "Halloween" movie series not the comedic actor) and Jason, is a well developed character. He chooses his victims for a reason albeit a demented reason, and after they are dead he stops (at least for the purposes of this movie I haven't yet seen the sequel). Dr. Phibes environment also sets it apart from modern horror. Most movies made now take place in dark creepy abandoned houses or ghost towns. While the lair of Dr. Phibes is an elegant chamber with art work and a grand organ as a center piece. Yet it retains an equally powerful sinister feel about it. One of the thing I particularly enjoyed about the movie is that it does one thing particularly rare in horror movies, it was funny. Thanks mostly to Inspector Pike oh... I mean Trout, the movie has a major comedic element. As I generally prefer comedy to horror I found this vastly improved the movie for me. I especially liked "Some Where Over the Rainbow" being played during the end credits. the It is however quite similar to other Vincent Price films in plot. Doctors in Vincent Price movies really live to the end of the film, and their down falls usually involve the Price's character's wives. Other examples would include: "Pit and the Pendulum", "Tales of Terror" (which the doctor does survive with Price's Wife),and my favorite "House on Haunted Hill". I know I've seen others but those are the three I can think of. Over all a great cult movie for the Halloween season.

Great Movie with a near perfect cast Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Lon Cheney Jr., Bela Lugosi, and even an "appearence" by my favorite creepy movie actor Vincent Price. Boris Karloff is strangely absent, but I'm sure some movie buff out there knows exactly why he wasn't in the movie. Heck! if I read some of the other comments their is a good chance I'd find out. Abbott and Costello did do a movie around a year later with Karloff so it works out. The title of the movie is a little misleading as well. "Abbott and Costello meet the Wolf Man" or "Abbott and Costello meet Dracula" would be more accurate. Out of the three monsters in the movie Frankenstein has the least air-time, and maybe I'm splitting hairs but the monster never really meets Abbott or Costello he just chases Costello around the castle a couple of times.

A movie with a great cast Peter Sellers, David Niven, Ursula Andress, Orson Welles, and Woody Allen. The plot needed work,a lot of work, but have you ever seen a Bond film. Out of the twenty some odd bond movies there are three plot lines. At least there wasn't a giant solar powered lazer cannon in space or secret volcanic island, or George Lazenby. The movie is even funnier when you watch it now. If you squint when Peter Sellers comes on screen you can tell that Austin Powers is mirrored off his character Evelyn Tremble/James Bond 007. Thats not the only similarity between Austin Powers and Casino Royale, such as the fact that the women wear nothing but incredibly revealing clothing in both movies. Prehaps not the funniest movie ever, but if you're ever looking for a movie that's a little different then check it out.

If you're like me then you hate it when people say "the book was better then the movie." If you are like me then stop reading this comment now. The pitch for this movie must of been something like this... "Lets take the last twenty minutes of the Return of the King, you know the part of the movie when the audience stops caring and just wishes that the movie will end, and stretch it into a full length feature film." Now I'm not one to just watch movies for senseless violence, but for an epic adventure movie based on the greatest hero of Celtic mythology it should be at least a lot more exciting. The first three minutes of the movie and the last fifteen to twenty minutes contain all the action. The remaining 83 minutes are spent talking, and riding horses, and talking, and some sex, and talking, and sailing, and oh yeah, taaaalking! Please stop the talking! Why won't they stop!?! So I'd recommend this film to those who enjoy a slow movies such as tortoises, snails, sloths, Joe Lieberman, and some species of fish. Their is good news however another Beowulf film is slated for released in November 2007, hopefully its an improvement.

My favorite thriller. A horror movie for people who love a comedy. "Playboy kills wife with Champaign cork would make an excellent headline" is one of my favorite movie quotes of all time. It may have been scary by the standards of 1959, but when I watch it now I can't help but laugh. Did Vincent Price's character kill his wife in every movie he starred in? Why does Price's wife always cheat on him with a doctor?(Don't believe me, watch Pit and the Pendulum.) Maybe Price just should have avoided doctors, or doctors should have avoided Price. Also, I acknowledge she was scared, but at the end why didn't Annabell realize that her husband's skeleton was 3/4 her husband's height? Oh, and beware of the blind women on roller blade... BOO!