House on Haunted Hill (1958) review

With All Hallows Eve only a week away, let's knock out another horror film from decades ago. This time we're looking at the 1958 chiller, House on Haunted Hill. This film, just like the last one I reviewed, has been remade recently, about 40 years after the original. However, unlike the previous film and this one that we're looking at tonight, there's not much of a difference in story, but we'll get into that a little later.

Anyway, this film stars Vincent Price as the eccentric owner of a supposedly haunted mansion. As a proposition, he offers the sum of $10,000 to anyone who can stay in his mansion the entire night starting from midnight to 8 in the morning. The house is supposedly haunted by the victims of several murders that took place on that site, including that of the owner's brother, and as such they vowed vengeance for anyone who comes in. One of the instances is a falling chandelier in the parlor or an attacker where one of the guests is convinced is real. Each guest is armed with a pistol for protection, which comes into play later, but I won't spoil it. 

The film was directed by William Castle, a man known for including crazy gimmicks in his features, with the help of the theaters. For instance, in this feature, there was a gimmick he called "Emergo." With this gimmick, there was a black box next to the movie screen. Inside this box was a plastic skeleton, not unlike a Halloween skeleton. After a certain part in the climax of the film, the skeleton would come flying out of the box and fly around the theater until it made its way back to await the next showing. However, some theaters discontinued the gimmick prematurely after vandals would try to knock down the skeleton or throw small objects like pebbles or popcorn at it while it made its trek. As far as I know, the remake didn't do this.

Speaking of comparing the two, let's get that knocked out now. The main difference I can see, aside from the casting, of course, is the amount of money offered for successfully staying in the house. In the original, it was $10,000, but in the remake, the amount was $1,000,000.

Price, as expected, puts on a brilliant performance and comes off as chilling more than eccentric, constantly taunting his wife into joining in on the "party" or how she'll try to kill him for his riches. The music is very haunting, especially with the use of a theremin in the theme song (A staple of late 50s features like this). The special effects are good for the time, like the skeleton's marionette effect or the fizzing of the acid. There are plenty of jump scares throughout, and like I said, it'll keep you on your toes.

My only complaint here is that other actors come off as hammy at times, especially the wife of one of the guests, Loren. Of course, this being a smaller budget production, and having one of horror's greatest actors as the star, it's not too shocking and I feel like I'm just looking for something to say that's wrong with this picture.

If you're a fan of haunted house movies or supernatural spectacles, House on Haunted Hill is right up your alley! If you see it on DVD or on TV, give it a watch and you'll get right into the Halloween spirit!

*Insert clever title here*

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to this inaugural edition of A Little R&R. Now the title is a bit of a pun, you see, as R&R can refer to rest and relaxation, the state of which I write these and you can read them, and rambles and reviews, the subject matter of this particular blog. So what am I going to do for this first edition? I know, since it's Halloween, I'm going to review an old horror movie I bet not many of you have heard of, and if you have, congratulations! Here's a metric ton of candy corn for your troubles. 

I'm certain many of you know the movie House of Wax, the 2005 bomb featuring Paris Hilton and starring Chad Michael Murray. It was a remake of the 1953 film starring Vincent Price. However, would any of you know that this too was a remake? Yes indeed, it was a remake of the 1933 film Mystery of the Wax Museum, the subject of tonight's review. 

Mystery of the Wax Museum stars Lionel Atwill as Ivan Igor, the owner of a renowned wax museum in London. His work is astonishing, as his statuettes actually look lifelike and stun anyone who looks at them. However, his business partner decides it'd be better if he burned down the place in an attempt to collect insurance money, but Igor won't let that happen, and what follows is an all out brawl as he watches his work literally melt away from the flames. In addition, Igor's hands are burnt and as a result, he can no longer make any more wax figures. So what does he do? At first we see him try to teach some apprentices how to sculpt, but he has a keen eye and won't accept any work less than what he was able to do. Instead he decides to use dead bodies as a base and work with them, covering them in a coating of wax.

A few facts about this film before I go into the good and bad: This film was shot using two-strip technicolor, an early form of colorization sparingly in the early 30s. It wasn't used much because it looked faded and it was more expensive than black and white. Also, the reason why the statues in the beginning look lifelike is because they are, indeed, actors. They tried using real wax statues, but they melted under the stage lights. However, they were used in the scene where the museum burns to the ground. 

Now my major problem with this and the 50s remake was the fact that the opening scene was so good, the rest of the movie couldn't stack up to it. Sure it was entertaining, but the opening fight was the biggest highlight. On a positive note, at least to me, the two-strip technicolor made the film have a chilling vibe. I'm not sure if it looked this way some 80 years ago or if it look like this over time, but it just gave me a shiver down my spine. 

Comparing it to the 50s version, the plot's the same, this time Vincent Price taking the reigns as Mr. Igor. The main difference is the three-strip technicolor that was used and the addition of 3-D, this being one of Warner Bros. first forays in this technology. However, some bits come off as forced, such as the man in the beginning with the paddle-ball and breaking the fourth wall at the same time. Compared to the 2005 film, it's completely different. The "People being used as wax sculptures" thing still remained, but the premise is different, and I didn't find it all that scary. The only real frightening thing was the movie poster and Paris Hilton's acting. (I take that back, she was the scariest part of the film). 

So all in all, I highly recommend Mystery of the Wax Museum if you happen to find it on DVD or catch it on TV soon. If you liked the 50s or 2000s House of Wax, it would be nice to give this film a try to see where it all began.