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.
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.Written by
Bloody Disgusting
Filmed during October and November 1972. See more »
Goofs
In the film's opening credits, there is a spelling mistake. The copyright line reads "... 20th Century Fox Film Corpoation". See more »
Quotes
Ann Barrett:
You... me... that girl... Lionel... all together... naked... drunk... clutching... sweating... biting...
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Crazy Credits
Opening credits prologue: Although the story of this film is fictitious, the events depicted involving psychic phenomena are not only very much within the bounds of possibility, but could well be true. Tom Corbett Clairvoyant and Psychic Consultant to European Royalty. See more »
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. See more »
For one or two reasons, this film (despite the flaws others have pointed out) stands as a perfect example of what is scary as opposed to what ... just isn't. At least for me, of course. Here's what I mean ...
When I first saw this film, I was working as a Security Dispatcher at a small college in Northeastern Ohio, making a few dollars over the very long (6 week) winter break. Because I worked for Security, I was allowed to remain in my single room in my usual dormitory rather than be herded into another dorm along with the foreign students and others who stayed on campus over the long break. So there I was, all alone in a very big building during a long, dark and very snowy winter ...
I saw THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE at a friend's place in town, and enjoyed it greatly. I found the brief scene where Florence sees the awful shadow of, well, something _dead_ sort of ... dancing in the shower stall particularly creepy. But then I went back uphill to the silent dorm ...
Since it was winter and there was no one (but me!) in the building, the Security guards would sort of wander through on autopilot and make sure all the lights were out. So I was returning, night after night, to a _dark_, deserted dormitory.
In a nutshell, let's just say that after seeing this film, I found committing to showering very, VERY difficult ... and I tried to do it very QUICKLY, all winter long! I was 20 years old, by the way. You may argue that this is all due to my peculiar living situation -- but it is THIS, for me, that is the essence of effective horror. This is what good horror DOES to you: it comes back into your head, makes you look over your shoulder and causes the hairs on the back of your neck to stand up when you remember it ... whether you remember it because of where you are, because it comes up in conversation, or what have you. No amount of liquid plastics, animated goo or CGI can replace -- or increase -- the shudder-power of one blasting, ghostly image. And THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE has at least one of those.
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For one or two reasons, this film (despite the flaws others have pointed out) stands as a perfect example of what is scary as opposed to what ... just isn't. At least for me, of course. Here's what I mean ...
When I first saw this film, I was working as a Security Dispatcher at a small college in Northeastern Ohio, making a few dollars over the very long (6 week) winter break. Because I worked for Security, I was allowed to remain in my single room in my usual dormitory rather than be herded into another dorm along with the foreign students and others who stayed on campus over the long break. So there I was, all alone in a very big building during a long, dark and very snowy winter ...
I saw THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE at a friend's place in town, and enjoyed it greatly. I found the brief scene where Florence sees the awful shadow of, well, something _dead_ sort of ... dancing in the shower stall particularly creepy. But then I went back uphill to the silent dorm ...
Since it was winter and there was no one (but me!) in the building, the Security guards would sort of wander through on autopilot and make sure all the lights were out. So I was returning, night after night, to a _dark_, deserted dormitory.
In a nutshell, let's just say that after seeing this film, I found committing to showering very, VERY difficult ... and I tried to do it very QUICKLY, all winter long! I was 20 years old, by the way. You may argue that this is all due to my peculiar living situation -- but it is THIS, for me, that is the essence of effective horror. This is what good horror DOES to you: it comes back into your head, makes you look over your shoulder and causes the hairs on the back of your neck to stand up when you remember it ... whether you remember it because of where you are, because it comes up in conversation, or what have you. No amount of liquid plastics, animated goo or CGI can replace -- or increase -- the shudder-power of one blasting, ghostly image. And THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE has at least one of those.