Who is the Audience for This Movie?

People who like movies about ghosts.

What I Liked About This Movie

A long time ago I saw the 1999 remake of this movie. It was a bit of a mess structurally but it did have a few solid horror moments that are fairly memorable. When I sat down to watch the original I put my expectations in check because judging by the date the movie was made it was fair to make the assumption that it would be much tamer. To my surprise its lack of flashiness and in your face shocks ended up suiting the premise very well.

Vincent Price was in quite a few horror movies in his time and as soon as he comes on screen it is easy to see why. His appearance fits the mood, his voice is creepy, and his facial movements are perfect. The rest of the cast is average just don’t expect too much from their acting. What is most interesting about the movie though is its deceptive story structure. It starts out as a simple scary house movie but a series of bait and switches are thrown into the mix that lead to an ending you probably will not see coming. Considering its age and the state of the horror genre at the time this movie was made it still holds up fairly well today.

What Didn’t Work For Me

Every good horror movie that has a singular setting needs the setting to be as on point as the characters in it. For the most part the house in the movie is fairly bland with only a few interesting elements to give it character. I stated above that you will not see the ending coming and it seems like the creators did not see it coming either. The fallout from it is handled very poorly and after a small amount of exposition the credits start rolling. In a major way it cheapens the whole affair.

Should You Watch This Movie?

Only if you can tolerate old fashioned horror movies.

My Rating (Out of 13)