A rich Millionaire named Frederick Loren (Vincent Price) and his 4th wife Annabell (Carol Ohmart) is throwing a party at a Haunted House. Five people are invited to the party and will be given Ten thousand dollars if they stay at the house till morning and survive. There will be Ghost's, secret passages, and perhaps maybe a few murders.
The acting in the film is good, and is one of the reasons why the film is so memorable, but with that said; the film does suffer from a few bland characters. Richard Long as the test pilot Lance Schroeder is the film's hero who wants to solve the mystery of the Haunted House. He does look and act like one, and even if his performance and character is very standard, you can still find him as a likable character. Ilan Marshal as Dr. David Trent is the character who wants everubody to remain calm as he thinks things out. He's very believable, but he also helps add to the tone that this film's going for. The only character I thought was useless and acted so blandly is Julie Mithchum as Newspaper writer Ruth Bridgers. She acts more like a movie extra than as a supporting character. Even when she's being marked by a blood stain on the ceiling, she puts very little effort into her acting. Carolyn Craig as the innocent woman, Nora Manning who so much energy in her screams that not only does it sound realistic, but also helps make the scary scene's frightening. With that said, her character is a bit bland, but still likable, and I'd be lying if I said that her screams don't get annoying from time to time. Seriously, she probably has more screams then actual dialogue. Carol Ohmart plays her character as someone you can either trust or not. When she's with Vincent Price you can't tell if she's an innocent character or not. Trust me, by the end of the movie you'll know for sure. I also have to admit her scene when she's a ghost floating in Nora's window is just plain scary. Elisha Cook Jr. as the house owner Watson Pritchard is the best out of all the supporting characters. Every time you see him you get nervous, you don't what he's going to do. When he talks about ghosts or murder, he sounds like someone who belongs in a mental hospital. Is what he saying true or is it just his mind. He even breaks the fourth wall at the end of the movie to tell the audience that "They're" coming for you". Even when you meet him at the beginning of the movie, he starts giving you the creeps. But as unstable as his character and performance is, it does get pretty comical at times for how mellow-dramatic his performance is.
Now of course what about the master at being scary....Vincent Price? He doesn't fail at all; his performance is straight out creepy. He acts kind and shows his elegance, but there's something so creepy about him that you just can't put your finger on it. When he smiles its inviting but doesn't look too friendly, almost as if he's got something planned. When you hear his voice you can't help but feel intimidated. Does he really want to see if his guests can risk their lives to get the ten thousand or does he need them for something he's planning? Like his wife, he keeps you guessing and guessing till the end. Even at the end of the movie, there's still something about his character that leaves you into thinking. This is indeed one of Vincent Prices best performances.
One of my many favorite things about the film is the dialogue. The dialogue is written so cleverly that its part of the reason why the film's scary and why the actors especially Vincent Price are so good. Some of the best dialogue is about the backstory of the haunted house on why it's haunted, which by the way are all told by Watson Pritchard. One of my favorite lines in the film is when Vincent Price tells the people what will happen if they don't leave with the caretakers by midnight. "The Caretakers will leave at midnight, locking us in here until they come back in the morning. Once the door is locked, there's no way out. The windows have bars that a jail would be proud of and the only door to the outside locks like a vault. There’s no electricity, no phone, no one within miles, so no way to call for help." Then Watson Pritchard says "Like a Coffin." A film with excellent dialogue, but is the story good? For the most part yes. The idea that a rich man would throw a party in a haunted house by inviting people that never met him and wants to see if they'll risk their lives for money is extremely clever. What's also interesting is we aren't sure if the house is really haunted. Are there really ghosts; could the guests be suffering from serious hysteria; are they just seeing things; are all the ghosts in the house just gags planed by Vincent Price? We don't know for sure, all we know is that everybody is going nuts. The film also has enough plot twists to make the film even more interesting. Some of the things that happen aren't explained and are left for the audience to think for themselves. But there are sadly tons of plot holes that don't really make any sense.
The visuals in the film are a bit disappointing. Though some of the scenes are pretty frightening there was still a lot of silliness's going on at the same time. When Nora sees the head of a woman, it's scary at first, but when you see it again, it looks like something made from an art class in high school. Another scene that's similar to the scene is when Nora encounters the ghost she first saw a second time, it was a complete surprise and the face looked scary, but when you saw the ghost's face again, I couldn't help but laugh, and how the ghost walks out of the room made me laugh on the floor. With that said the effects are decently scary and scared a lot of people who saw this film. In fact, in most theaters the director would use a gimmick called "Emergo". In the scene when the skeleton rises out of a pool of acid, a big black box that's next to a movie screen would have a lightened plastic skeleton on a wire would rise out of the box and fly over the audience’s heads. I will admit the film had great shadowing. In some scenes you see ghosts or people walk out of the shadows and even disappear when they walk into the shadows. The film being shot in glorious black and white makes the film even scarier. The music is also chilling, especially when you hear a ghost's wailing noise as the music plays.
Even though the film does show its low budget, it's still a scary movie with some good acting; some scary visuals; great cinematography; creative and scary writing; a haunting atmosphere; and a great performance from Vincent Price. Oh, and a little fun fact; when Alfred Hitchcock saw this film and saw the film's large grosses he wanted make his own low budget horror film, which later became a classic, that film was "Psycho". For those Vincent Price and Haunted House fans don't miss this one.
Rating 4/5
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