House on Haunted Hill (1999)

An amusement park mogul 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 & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Geoffrey Rush	...	Stephen Price
Famke Janssen	...	Evelyn
Taye Diggs	...	Eddie
Peter Gallagher	...	Blackburn
Chris Kattan	...	Pritchett
Ali Larter	...	Sara
Bridgette Wilson-Sampras	...	Melissa Marr (as Bridgette Wilson)
Max Perlich	...	Schecter
Jeffrey Combs	...	Dr. 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 hospital | characters killed one by one | haunted house | strapped to a bed | breasts | 

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Taglines:

Six strangers have the chance to make $1,000,000 EACH. All they have to do is make it through the night alive.

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Genres:

Crime | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

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

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Goofs

When Sara and Eddie are in the lobby en route to the attic (which is at the top of the tower, proven by the fact that when they escape out the window, that is where they end up), "the house" is right behind them. It is not plausible for them to be able to run all the way to the attic without being engulfed by the house.

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Quotes

Pritchett: [walking slowly to Sara] You don't... get it... do you? This house is pissed. It has no morals, 'cause it's a fucking *house*!

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Crazy Credits

The Warner Bros. logo is grey in color and is surrounded by thunder and lightning.

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Alternate Versions

In the scene where Sara and Eddie go into Dr. Vannicut's office and discover an old picture of the staff of the hospital, the scene in the final cut of the film is a lot shorter. In the original version of the scene they explore the room a lot more before finding the picture, in fact they find lots of body parts in pickel jars and a lot of creepy paperwork! This scene was also shortened due to pacing and running time.

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Connections

References They Live (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

NOT A BAD REMAKE

This is not a bad remake. It is "R" rated, so parents beware, this is NOT the Price classic of 1958. Within the first scene there is gore (surgery on a wide awake man), violence (the inmates of the asylum break loose and attack the staff), and nudity (uniforms ripped open on the women). This is crucial to the plot (Hill House is not the same murder house from the original, it's a former asylum for the criminally insane where torture and experimentations are done on the inmates). A fire breaks out and all but five die.

Jump to present day. Multimillionaire Steven Price (is the name a nod to Vincent?) played by Geoffrey Rush, doing his best sideshow barker impersonation/Williams Castle impersonation, and wife (Famke Janssen) are having a party, in the restored former asylum. The guest's trip to the house is still via several hearse and from this point much of the original plot is maintained.

The part that bothered me about the arrival scene at the house, was the inappropriate song. It set the wrong mood, and I worried about what was going to be next. Thankfully, the rest of the score (except the end title) was strictly orchestral, and sent a nice dark mood to try to help to scare you. Applause to Don Davis.

House does rely rather heavily on special effects as do all the current re-makes. Is it really better or worse for it? I think it adds, and they didn't just redo the same show. It's spooky and a good Halloween movie, and a dark theater is excellent for it's effect. I am sorry, but there was nothing that I found really scary or horrifying. Of course, I haven't really been scared by a movie since I saw the Wolf Man (1941), with Lon Chaney jr, in 1958.

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. (alternate)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 October 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

House on Haunted Hill

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$37,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$15,946,032, 31 October 1999

Gross USA:

$40,846,082

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$42,593,455

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dark Castle Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1