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.

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Plot Keywords:

house | physicist | medium | visit | isolation | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Horror

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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

The original novel was set in New England, with an American team of psychic investigators. The storyline was changed, to fit the movie's production in England, with British actors playing the investigators.

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Goofs

When Ben and Anne discover Emeric Belascoe's body in the hidden room in the chapel, at one point Belasco starts swaying back and forth.

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Quotes

Ann Barrett: What did he do to make this house so evil, Mr. Fischer?
Benjamin Franklin Fischer: Drug addiction, alcoholism, sadism, beastiality, mutilation, murder, vampirism, necrophilia, cannibalism, not to mention a gamut of sexual goodies. Shall I go on?
Ann Barrett: How did it end?
Benjamin Franklin Fischer: If it had ended, we would not be here.

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Connections

Referenced in Waxwork II: Lost in Time (1992)

User Reviews

if only for a couple of scenes ...

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.