House on Haunted Hill (1999)

A millionaire offers a group of diverse people $1,000,000 to spend the night in a haunted house with a horrifying past.

Director:

William Malone

Writers:

Robb White (story), Dick Beebe (screenplay)

Stars:

Geoffrey Rush, Famke Janssen, Taye Diggs

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Geoffrey Rush	...	Stephen H. Price
Famke Janssen	...	Evelyn Stockard-Price
Taye Diggs	...	Eddie Baker
Peter Gallagher	...	Donald W. Blackburn, M.D.
Chris Kattan	...	Watson Pritchett
Ali Larter	...	Sara Wolfe
Bridgette Wilson-Sampras	...	Melissa Margaret Marr (as Bridgette Wilson)
Max Perlich	...	Carl Schecter
Jeffrey Combs	...	Dr. Richard Benjamin Vannacutt
Dick Beebe	...	Male Nurse
Slavitza Jovan	...	Twisted Nurse
Lisa Loeb	...	Channel 3 Reporter
James Marsters	...	Channel 3 Cameraman
Jeannette Lewis	...	Price's Secretary
Janet Tracy Keijser	...	Girl on Wires

Storyline

When an eccentric millionaire offer a group of opposites $1,000,000 to spend the night in a so called "Haunted House" with a murderous past, they figure it is a quick way to get quick money and leave. All of them are sure it is some made up story just to mess with their heads a little and test their courage. But, once they stay in the house they start to think about the mistake they made in coming there when mysterious things start to happen.

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Plot Keywords:

haunted house | money | doctor | stranger | ghost | 

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Taglines:

Evil Loves To Party.

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for horror violence and gore, sexual images and language

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. (alternate)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 October 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Casa da Colina

Filming Locations:

Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$19,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,068,862 (UK) (4 February 2000)

Gross:

£3,469,882 (UK) (10 March 2000)

Company Credits

Production Co:

J&M Entertainment, CLT-UFA International, Dark Castle Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Cindy Crawford was considered for the role of Melissa Margaret Marr.

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Goofs

Some of the warnings in the basement are in very bad German - it seems somebody just used a dictionary and translated the English lines word-for-word. For example, one sign has the phrase "Steh zurück!" which means something like "Stay back!". A correct translation would be "Zurückbleiben" or in this context "Eintritt verboten" ("No admittance").

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Quotes

Evelyn Stockard-Price: Who invited them?
Steven H. Price: I don't know, it wasn't me and you say it wasn't you, who then, Evelyn? Ghosts?
Evelyn Stockard-Price: Ooh, spooky.

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Crazy Credits

After the final credits, there is an additional scene that features Steven and Evelyn strapped down on Vannacut's vivisection table. The scene ends with Vannacut watching as one hears Steven and Evelyn's screams.

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Connections

References Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)

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Soundtracks

"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"
Written by Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart (as Dave Stewart)
Performed by Marilyn Manson
Courtesy of Nothing/Interscope Records
Under License from Universal Music Special Markets

User Reviews

Good scary movie

I was expecting the worst--a remake of a lousy 1950s Vincent Price flick (I HATE the original--talk about boring!) and there were no previews--never a good sign. I was surprised to find an intelligent, scary movie. There was gore and violence, but they didn't overdo it (except for the part when someone was given shock treatment--talk about harrowing!). The script was intelligent--all the characters talk and, sometimes, act like real people. And, thankfully, no stupid in-jokes or character to provide "comic" relief. Everything is dealt with seriously which just adds to the tension. The setting is scary--the "house" (actually an abandoned asylum) LOOKS evil, and inside it's all darkness and cobwebs. The acting...well...Rush is having a GREAT time in his role, and it rubbed off on me. Every time he was on screen I enjoyed it. The rest of the cast is OK, but anyone could have played these roles...they were just mostly reacting to special effects. The only real disappointment here was Taye Diggs. He showed that he had charisma, could act and has a GREAT body in previous flicks ("How Stella Got Her Groove Back"; "GO"; "The Wood"). So why does he give such a so-so performance here--he's even worse in "The Best Man". Hopefully he'll start acting again...soon.

I also heard about lousy CGI effects in this movie. When the CGI effects go barreling out of control at the end though, I was scared! I'm a veteran of hundreds (literally) of horror films so I don't scare easy. The only weak part was a real stupid "surprise" at the end that comes out of nowhere. Other than that it worked.

So, this is a good, scary horror film. Worth shelling out full price at a cinema--DON'T wait for the video. This works great in a dark theatre with excellent stereo sound--it won't work on a TV.