The Legend of Hell House (1973)

Physicist Lionel Barrett and his wife lead a team of mediums into the Belasco House, which is supposedly haunted by the victims of its late owner, a six-foot-five serial killer.

Director:

John Hough

Writers:

Richard Matheson (novel), Richard Matheson (screenplay)

Stars:

Roddy McDowall, Gayle Hunnicutt, Pamela Franklin

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview:
Pamela Franklin	...	Florence Tanner
Roddy McDowall	...	Benjamin Franklin Fischer
Clive Revill	...	Dr. Lionel Barrett
Gayle Hunnicutt	...	Ann Barrett
Roland Culver	...	Mr. (Rudolph) Deutsch
Peter Bowles	...	Hanley

Storyline

A team consisting of a physicist, his wife, a young female psychic and the only survivor of the previous visit are sent to the notorious Hell House to prove/disprove survival after death. Previous visitors have either been killed or gone mad, and it is up to the team to survive a full week in isolation, and solve the mystery of the Hell House.

---

Plot Keywords:

physicist | medium | psychic | gothic | sex with a ghost | 

---

Taglines:

For the sake of your sanity, pray it isn't true!

---

Genres:

Horror

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 June 1973 (USA)

Also Known As:

La leyenda de la casa infernal

Filming Locations:

Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Academy Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Once James H. Nicholson left AIP to become an independent producer, this and Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (1974) turned out to be his only post-AIP productions, as he was stricken by a brain tumor and died shortly thereafter.

---

Goofs

When Ben removes the glass of wine out of Belasco's hand, Belasco's fingers move.

---

Quotes

Florence Tanner: [speaking to Benjamin Fischer while temporarily possessed by Belasco] Who the hell do you think you are, you bastard? You might have been hot stuff when you were fifteen, but now you're shit!

---

Alternate Versions

"SPOILER ALERT" When Dr. Barrett meets his demise towards the end of the film, most video releases depict one of his instruments exploding, then cut to the scene in which Mr. Fischer & Mrs. Barrett return to the laboratory and find his dead body under a fallen chandelier. However, in at least one edited for television version the scene continues as Dr. Barraett recoils from the explosion, then begins staggering through his laboratory as a supernatural wind picks up and his instruments are exploding around him. He then stumbles to the ground, and the chandelier falls on his head.

---

Connections

Featured in TCM Underground: The Legend of Hell House (2009)

User Reviews

Nice and creepy

Now that it's spooky time again, one should plug this in at night and watch during windy weather, eventho' the timeline of the story unwinds around Christmas. Was this intentional? Imagine spending the holidays in this place!

Yes, the highlight is the possessed stuffed black cat but the real big scene that will leave you breathless is the haunted sequence at the dinner table, with the table itself going nuts and the dishes slamming about, the chair tipping backwards, the fireplace burping out a huge fireball, etc. I always look forward to that moment everytime I re-view this, since it is a great movie to watch again.

Probably Mcdowall's best role, until he camped it up in Fright Night. And Pamela Franlkin? Well, she's just ducky. ... wait until that ghost machine explodes. Dynamite stuff.