Horror House (1969)
"The Haunted House of Horror" (original title)

Teenagers gathered in an old mansion are being murdered one by one. The survivors must discover who among them is the killer before he finishes off everybody.

Director:

Michael Armstrong

Writers:

Michael Armstrong (screenplay), Gerry Levy (additional material)

Stars:

Frankie Avalon, Jill Haworth, Dennis Price

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Frankie Avalon	...	Chris
Jill Haworth	...	Sheila
Dennis Price	...	Inspector Bill Bradley
Mark Wynter	...	Gary Scott
George Sewell	...	Bob Kellett
Gina Warwick	...	Sylvia Fuller
Richard O'Sullivan	...	Peter
Carol Dilworth	...	Dorothy Pulman
Julian Barnes	...	Richard
Veronica Doran	...	Madge
Robin Stewart	...	Henry
Jan Holden	...	Peggy
Clifford Earl	...	Police Sergeant Pelley
Robert Raglan	...	John Bradley

Storyline

A group of sixties teenagers bored with the party they're at drive out to a deserted old mansion, but their laughter turns to fear when one of them is killed in a frenzied knife attack. Another of them persuades the rest that they should solve the murder themselves rather than go to the police, not surprisingly opening the way to further carnage.

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Plot Keywords:

teenager | party | knife | murder | whodunit | 

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Taglines:

Behind its forbidden doors an evil secret hides!

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

GP

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 April 1970 (USA)

Also Known As:

Horror House

Filming Locations:

Bank Hall, Bretherton, Lancashire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tigon, Tigon British Film Productions, American International Pictures (AIP)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor) (uncredited)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was drastically re-written, re-shot and re-cut by writer/director Gerry Levy (under the name Peter Marcus) at the insistence of one of the US producers. Original writer/director Michael Armstrong's commentary on at least one version of the DVD goes into this in detail. Relatively little of the material outside the house was originally in the film and much of what remains was used differently. None of the material featuring George Sewell was shot by Armstrong and only one scene with Dennis Price (in the nightclub) was his. The motivation of the killer was changed and the relationships between the young people were considerably softened.

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Connections

Referenced in Blue Murder: Make Believe (2006)

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Soundtracks

"Responsibilty"
Words and Music by Gerry Levy (as Peter Marcus)

User Reviews

Tense finale in an otherwise routine camp-fest.

London "hepcats" grow bored at a party one night and decide to go explore an old nearby estate that's supposedly haunted. Once there one of the gang is brutally knifed to death and the group is left to wonder if one of their own is a killer.

The Haunted House of Horror (also known simply as Horror House) is a swinging 60's British chiller that's a bit of a mixed-bag for horror fans. On the good side there's a couple of effectively shocking (and bloody) murder scenes, a nicely moody music score by Reg Tilsley, and the climax of the film is pleasingly intense. Unfortunately the rest of the film is hampered by a sluggish pacing and a fairly routine setup. The uneven performances from the cast don't help things either.

Still, overall Haunted House of Horror has enough going for it to make it an interesting watch - particularly for fans of British horror from this era or maybe for people who just hate Frankie Avalon.

** out of ****