Review of House on Haunted Hill (1999) by Carouse97 — 14 May 2021

Very entertaining with fun twists. This is a remake of William Castle's 1959 film, and tells of how an eccentric millionaire invites a small group of chosen to a haunted house, challenging them to spend a night there in exchange for a huge sum of money for those who survive to tell it.

The rich man's idea is to get the ultimate scary experience, but it's spoiled when everyone realizes that the house is truly haunted. OK... the plot is not new, it has been seen several times in cinema.

What makes this movie enjoyable is that it can really improve its predecessor and really scare us. Contrary to the formula of American terror, this film doesn't just make us jump, it does it every ten minutes and, in the middle, it creates a deeply tense and strong atmosphere that doesn't let the audience rest.

There is intense gore but it's not a movie that only bets on that to scare us. The ending is disappointing, though. Rather than improving, the climax is extremely based on CGI. As far as the cast's work is concerned, the strongest actor is clearly the veteran Geoffrey Rush, with a characterization clearly inspired by Frederic Loren, a character played in 1959 by Vincent Price.

Famke Janssen, Chris Kattan and Jeffrey Combs also pleased me. The soundtrack was well chosen, fitting well in the film, especially the song "Sweet Dreams (are made of this)", in a cover by Marilyn Manson.