SnoopyStyle Wealthy Frederick Loren (Vincent Price) invites five strangers to a party for his wife Annabelle in a haunted house. He offers them $10k each to stay the night.This has both Vincent Price and a terrific B-horror premise. The first scare attempt comes from a ridiculous creepy dummy. I laughed when the dummy is rolled across the floor. The special effects are in its infancy. It's all campy done seriously. I can't really endorse this. The acting is stiff. I don't care about the character. The only actor I recognize is Price and he's a charismatic co-star. After the initial chuckle at its campiness, it becomes a bore since I don't care anybody or anything in this. It's an old classic with which I don't have anything memorable to take away.

joshfedderson The House on Haunted hill was a great picture, this movie was from a generation where Horror was in it's prime. The 20's, 30's,40's, and 50's and some 60's were great horror decades. This movie is from that era.The story goes as follows, a rich man and his wife invite five people to his mansion. But this is not any ordinary mansion, supposedly it's haunted. He invites them for a "Ghost Party" and starting at midnight, whoever survives the night until the morning will win $10,000. At first everyone thinks this guys party is a joke, but then things start to get creepier and out of place. Heads appear, ghost appear, a woman kills herself (or so we think). And the night becomes a living hell for each individual person.The Five Guest 1. A Doctor 2. An old Widowed woman 3. A pilot 4. A young woman who works for the host company 5. A previous owner of the mansion, who knows it's haunted and dangerousAs things play out, we find out that some things have been a scary joke,and and some things have not. Out of these seven people the host and his wife included, three of them play major roles in the nights events. As the movie progressed I knew something was fishy about the whole event, it's not until halfway into the film I found out what was really going on, and I loved how the story play's out. I won't spoil anything then what I have already. Let's just say it's a game of cat and mouse sort of. I loved The House on Haunted Hill, a classic 50's movie that never gets old. 10/10.

tomgillespie2002 Horror icon Vincent Price has played the role of a wealthy eccentric countless times, usually holed up in a beautiful if macabre and mysterious castle while toying with his visitors. It's a role that fits his slightly creepy yet irresistibly likable persona like a glove, and served him well throughout his extensive career. Before he became the wink-to-the-camera rogue in the films of Roger Corman and many others, he tended to play his parts more straight-faced, but always with a playful aura. One of his most enjoyable roles is in William Castle's House on Haunted Hill, a film that embraces cliché and camp, yet undoubtedly inspired countless haunted house movies that came in the years that followed.Price plays a charismatic millionaire named Frederick Loren who, at the request of his wife Annabelle (Carol Ohmart), rents a supposedly haunted house to throw a party. He invites five guests - test pilot Lance Schroeder (Richard Long), psychiatrist Dr. David Trent (Alan Marshal), newspaper columnist Ruth Bridgers (Julie Mitchum), one of Loren's employees Nora Manning (Carolyn Craig), and the house's owner Watson Pritchard (Elisha Cook Jr.) - to survive the night for a $10,000 reward. They are each given a small coffin containing a gun, and are offered one last chance to leave before the doors close and lock at midnight. Needing the money and believing the spooky occurrences to be the work of cheap tricks, they all stay, but regret the decision when one of the group is found hanged.It's incredibly basic stuff and only runs for 75 minutes, but Castle's ability to keep the audience guessing and Price's wonderful, brooding performance makes House on Haunted Hill stand out above its many imitators. Castle was known for his gimmicks in the theatre, and here employed 'Emergo', which involved a skeleton being dangled above its terrified audience. Watching it at home, the fun to be had back in the day is of course lost, but the film offers enough genuine jump frights and camp-yet-charming effects to make this an incredibly fun experience on its own. It's certainly not scary, and one scene in particular had me laughing out loud (if you've seen the film, you'll know which moment I mean), but Castle's finest movie makes for a nice alternative to the blood and guts that dominated the genre in the years to come. A silly, deliciously entertaining throwback.

jacobjohntaylor1 6.9 is underrating this movie. It is a very scary movie. A rich couple find a gorp of people who need money. And offer then a lot of money if the send the night in a haunted house. The remake from 1999 it a scarier. The follow up to the 1999 version The Return to the house on haunted hill is also scarier. But still this is one of the scariest movies to come before 1999. This movie has a great story line. It also has great acting. It also has great special effects. Vincent Price was a great actor. Carol Olmart was a great actress. Richard Long was a great actor. Alan Marshal was a great actor. Carolyn Craig was great actress. All The House on Haunted hill movies are must sees.