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When people ask me about… horror movie Recommendations, usually with the caveat that I should come up with something they’re not familiar with or haven’t seen in a while. One title that comes up regularly is a film that was critically panned when it first hit theaters in the late 1990s.
Well, buckle up because I’m going to tell you why this underrated gem is worth your time.
During a time when the genre was moving towards post-scream Teenage slasher Tales like I Know What You Did Last Summer and Urban Legend released a film that disrupted the status quo and paid homage to the moody, edgy thrillers of the past — four decades ago, if we’re keeping track.
House on Haunted Hill is the movie I’m talking about. I think it’s a must-watch for Halloween, and lucky for you, the movie is streaming for free It’s Toby now.
A loose remake of classic horror films, it’s an outlier that leans heavily into late ’90s style, while retaining a 1950s vibe. It features a very strong cast, a wicked sense of humor, and provides a fun respite for fans who were looking for something other than a group of college students on the run from a masked killer.
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House on Haunted Hill is a 1999 remake of William Castle’s 1959 B-movie classic, which starred Vincent Price and Carol Omart. The gist of both is much the same, centering around a wealthy (and eccentric) couple who invite five guests to play a daring game: survive the night, each person taking home a cash prize. As you might suspect, things never end up that dry.
Geoffrey Rush and Famke Janssen play Stephen Price, an amusement park mogul, and his wife Evelyn Stockard Price. The original film found the couple inviting people to their haunted mansion for a dare. This film raises expectations and places them all in an abandoned asylum with a sinister past.
Jeffrey Combs’ favorite type appears intermittently throughout the film as the sinister Dr. Vanacott, leader of the once-thriving Vanacott Psychiatric Institute for the Criminally Insane. According to legend, patients rioted against the staff in the 1930s, leaving tainted (possibly haunted) energy permeating the building’s walls.
Jeffrey Combs stars in House on Haunted Hill.
From the beginning, you can sense House on Haunted Hill’s malicious intentions through its extravagant gothic design and bombastic directorial style. Director William Malone relied on this aesthetic, which cultivated a sly sense of humor that fueled the film and infused it with elements of psychological horror and surprising bits of gore.
It was disturbing when you consider the fact that we were still two years away from the grizzly torture trend that overtook the genre in the early 20th century. However, as disturbing as these brutal scenes are, Malone’s direction keeps them believable within the film’s bizarre narrative reality.
Famke Janssen and Geoffrey Rush star in House on Haunted Hill.
The dynamic between Rush and Janssen is absolutely fascinating and their dysfunction forms the emotional foundation of this story. Rush’s performance as Steven Pryce feels like a tribute to the likes of Vincent Price and John Waters, and he brings Snidely Whiplash and scenery-eating skill to the role. His cheerful energy is contagious, and it’s hard not to root for him. But, trust me, you shouldn’t support it.
Janssen is calculated and formidable as Evelyn, providing a worthy opponent for her con man husband. As the group explores deeper into the bowels of the building, you can find them enjoying Steven’s pranks and silently plotting his death. It’s a love-hate thing reminiscent of Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner’s 1989 black comedy, The War of the Roses.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the list of talent that carries the film with the duo above. You have a roster of up-and-coming talent from that era, including Taye Diggs, Ali Larter, and SNL alum Chris Kattan, along with Peter Gallagher, an established name who already brought a certain level of clout to the project.
Chris Kattan stars in House on Haunted Hill.
Larter’s Sara (the film’s final girl) and Diggs’ former baseball player Eddie carry a lot of these scenes, and their star quality certainly shines through. But the highlight for me is Kattan, who abandons the comedic tropes of his well-known sketches to bring a bit of satirical logic into the mix as Pritchett, the building’s caretaker.
If you look up critics’ reviews for the 1999 film House on Haunted Hill, you’ll find a lot of negative reactions to the film. Perhaps that’s because it embraces the classic ghost story telling of the original, rather than fitting into the money-making mold of whatever horror trend was bankable at the time.
House on Haunted Hill is not a serious film, and should not be taken seriously. It is an elegant, intense, and sometimes absurd horror story about greed, gluttony, and the ghosts of the past facing the uncertainty of the future. It’s a bridge between decades and could be seen as a sign of things to come in the genre. But through all the ramblings I just talked about, it’s just a very enjoyable movie. Like I said before: Halloween viewing is required.