William Castle directed House on Haunted Hill, an effective supernatural horror film, written by Robb White and starring Vincent Price, Carol Ohmart, Richard Long, Alan Marshal, Carolyn Craig and Elisha Cook Jr.
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Theatrical release poster
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The Premise:
Frederick Loren (Vincent Price, well cast), an eccentric millionaire, invites five people to a party for his fourth wife, Annabelle, in an allegedly haunted house that he has rented.
He promises to give each guest $10,000 with the stipulation that they stay the entire night in the house after the doors are locked at midnight, all the windows are barred, and there are no phones or radios to use.
The guests are test pilot Lance Schroeder, newspaper columnist Ruth Bridges, psychiatrist Dr. David Trent, who specializes in hysteria, Nora Manning, who works for one of Loren’s companies, and the house’s owner, Watson Pritchard.
All are strangers to both the Lorens and each other, their only commonality is their greedy lust for money.
Frederick emerges from the shadows, holding the puppeteer control unit that he used to manipulate the skeleton and revealing he had known their plot all along.
After Nora, Watson, and Ruth release Lance from the secret room, Nora tells them that she shot Frederick. When they arrive in the cellar, Frederick explains that he loaded her gun with blanks, that his wife and David plotted to kill him, and that they both met their ends in the vat of acid. He says he is ready for justice to decide if he’s innocent or guilty.
Watson remains convinced that the house is haunted, with David and Annabelle now added to its ranks of ghosts.
Will he be the next victim?
In order to generate fear and terror, the movie displays many props used in carnival haunted houses.
Vincent Price in House on Haunted Hill
Cast:
Vincent Price as Frederick Loren
Carol Ohmart as Annabelle Loren
Richard Long as Lance Schroeder
Alan Marshal as Dr. David Trent
Carolyn Craig as Nora Manning
Elisha Cook Jr. as Watson Pritchard
Julie Mitchum as Ruth Bridgers
Leona Anderson as Mrs. Slydes
Howard Hoffman as Jonas Slydes
Skeleton as Himself
Credits:
Written by Robb White
Produced by William Castle; Robb White (associate producer); Carl E. Guthrie
Edited by Roy Livingston
Music by Von Dexter
Production: William Castle Productions
Distributed by Allied Artists
Release date: February 17, 1959
Running time: 75 minutes
Budget $200,000 (estimated)
Box office $2.5 million
