House on Haunted Hill (1999)

just watch it!

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

As far as remakes go, I thought this was a pretty solid update. It kept to the spirit of the original, but at the same time did its own thing. The acting worked well and I was actually surprised by the amount of gore it had. I didn't remember it being that gory when I first watched it. While it wasn't too gratuitous there was enough there to sate the gorehound in me. Overall, it was a good blend of jump scare moments, gore, and a fairly solid story. One of the few things I didn't like about it was the constant flashing imagery. At times, it made it hard to concentrate on what was going on and distracting. I adore the original. It's in my Top 3 favorite Vincent Price films. The fact I didn't feel like this was tarnishing the name of the original caught me a bit off guard. Looking back I wonder if maybe that's why I didn't enjoy it as much the first time I saw it. It was also around that time period when I was sick and tired of remake after remake coming out. I think I may have gone in with a bit of pre-conceived hatred before I even viewed it.I'm glad I threw it on and watched it. I really enjoyed it, way more than I was expecting. It's far from perfect, but it's a solid film that I'll watch again. With that being said, I still don't think it's as good as the original. There was a lasting fun creepiness about that one that still holds up, which I don't think this one quite delivers on the same level. My Rating: 7/10

This remake of the 50s classic horror movie is overall so so. I'll go over the things about it that I liked, then I'll list what I disliked about it. I liked the cast, I thought every actor did a pretty good job with their role, especially Famke. I thought she was the best and by far the most interesting person in the film. The plot has a few things in it you may not see coming, or at least I didn't. I was glad the film at least had a few surprises because I didn't want to watch a completely generic horror film. Now don't think that the entire film is original or interesting because it's not. There are many parts of the movie that are very predictable and really not all that good. One thing that I especially took notice of as being terrible was the special effects towards the end of the film. It's literally impossible for this movie to be scary when it's this predictable and the effects are so terribly done. This movie isn't one that I recommend seeing. I suggest watching a more worthy horror movie, one that's actually scary. 5/10.

Good cast in this, Geoffrey Rush is probably best utilized and Famke Janssen never looked better. I really like Chris Kattan, but I have mixed feelings on his character in this. He oddly goes from being the concerned prophet of doom to the character most blase about the situation very quickly, but he still has his moments.The movie really does embrace and modernize the William Castle "thrills and chills" style from the very beginning, starting with a horror sequence at a mental asylum that immediately moves into a fun roller-coaster sequence with a bit of light suspense. Once we get to the "house" of the title, the surprises begin. Some of these twists can be pretty contrived, but that's OK - it's all in silly fun.Comparing this to the other haunted house remake of 1999, The Haunting, this definitely has a more consistent tone and better characters, and though both movies have CGI creatures that arrive in the third act, House On Haunted Hill's monster is a little creepier and nowhere nearly as ridiculous.

An amusement park owner has refurbished a former asylum where a doctor had murdered many patients. He (Geoffrey Rush) and his wife (Famke Janssen) has invited guests (Taye Diggs, Peter Gallagher, Ali Larter, Bridgette Wilson, Chris Kattan) for her unique birthday party. He offers them $1M each to spend the night in the haunted house.Like the amusement park rides in the beginning, it's all flash and amusing. You know everything is fake, and it's nothing to be taken seriously. It's very cheesy. Whether it's Rush's mustache or Kattan's silliness, you just have to shake your head at it all. The set is completely fake and the people too. Sadly they didn't embrace the cheese fully to draw out a couple of chuckles.