La Maison des damnés

A very creepy tale of a haunted house. Not only was the film creepy and scary it was also a mystery. You sit there and try to pay attention so you don't miss any clues, but then something creepy comes up and you get side tracked. This made the film a really good horror flick. The cast was pretty good. I am not too sure if I liked Gayle Hunnicutt in the film though. My favorite character was played by Roddy McDowall. He really brought out the feeling in his character. There were some interesting camera shots in this film which I think brought it more to life. The film was not that gory at all. It focuses on scaring the viewer mentally and I believe it does a pretty decent job. So see if you can figure out the mystery of Hell House.

In spite of some questionable motivations and a fairly silly ending,

this horror drama has become a real favorite.

The excellent cast has a field day with the talky script; and

director John Hough (best known for "The Avengers) does an imaginative

job using fresh, distorted set ups that keep you off center. And The

movie looks great. High praise must also go to the score and use of sound effects. If

the ending was a little better, this would be a real classic. But for

horror fans, it's a nine out of ten. Roddy, you were enjoyed.

This eerie movie starts when a multi-millionaire enlists a team of subjects formed by a medium (Pamela Franklyn) and parapsychologist scientists (Clive Revill , his wife Gayle Hunnicutt and Roddy McDowall) to stay for a study and resolve weird deeds into his newly acquired house . It seems which the eerie mansion has been the place of several killing deaths . 'Although the story of this film is fictitious , the events depicted involving psychic phenomenon are not only very much within the bounds of possibility but could well be true' , as explain on film prologue a clairvoyant and psychic consultant to European Royalty named Corbett .

This is a chilling adaptation from Richard Matheson's novel based on an assortment of ghouls and ghosts . Innovation theme about possession posteriorly taken by ¨The Exorcist¨ . Middling budget makes for big scary scream-feast and frights . Splendid Pamela Franklyn as a fragile youth who results to have unexpected ties to creepy ghost . Furthermore , it appears briefly Michael Gough . Magnificent cinematography by Alan Hume accompanied by an electronic and rare musical score . Writer Richard Matheson toned down the graphic violence and more intense sexual scenes of his novel to give the screenplay for the film a more brooding atmosphere . 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 . While the film was released in the US with a P.G. rating, in the UK it curiously received an X rating at first.

The picture was very well directed by John Hough . He often uses visual and sound recourses , echos , zooms and imaginative camera movements . He's a craftsman with eclectic and long directing career . Beginning in television series (Avengers, Protectors) , making Hammer films (Twins of Evil) , Adventures (Island treasure, Black arrow) , wholesome Disney fare (Return and escape to witch mountain) , regency romantic drama (Duel of hearts , Ghost in Montecarlo , Hazard of hearts , The lady and the highwayman) and Horror movies (Howling , American Gothic , Bad karma) and his best film , Legend of Hell House . Other movies about ¨haunted mansions¨ genre are the followings : The innocents (Jack Clayton , 1961), ¨Haunting¨ (Robert Wise , 1963) , ¨Amytiville Horror¨ (Stuart Rosemberg,1979), Changeling(Peter Medak,180), ¨House¨ (Steve Miner).. among others .

The wealthy Mr. Rudolph Deutsch (Roland Culver) promises a small fortune to the physicist Dr. Lionel Barrett (Clive Revill); to the mental medium Florence Tanner (Pamela Franklin); and to the physical parapsychologist Benjamin Franklin Fischer (Roddy McDowall) to investigate survival after death in the notorious Belasco House, a.k.a. Hell House. The house belonged to "Roaring Giant" Emeric Belasco that promoted orgies in the house and had mysteriously disappeared after a massacre. Fischer is the only survival of a previous investigation and the Dr. Barrett goes with his wife Ann Barrett (Gayle Hunnicutt). Along the days, Florence believes that there are entities in the house, including Belasco's son Daniel; Fischer keeps his mind closed expecting only to earn the promised money, and the skeptical Dr. Barrett brings a machine to drain the energy in the house. Will they be successful in their intent?

"The Legend of Hell House" is a creepy and atmospheric horror movie with a good story of haunted house. The ghost story is supported in lighting, make-up and camera work and only few special effects and is effective. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "A Casa da Noite Eterna" ("The House of the Eternal Night")

Now that it's spooky time again, one should plug this in at night and watch during windy weather, eventho' the timeline of the story unwinds around Christmas. Was this intentional? Imagine spending the holidays in this place!

Yes, the highlight is the possessed stuffed black cat but the real big scene that will leave you breathless is the haunted sequence at the dinner table, with the table itself going nuts and the dishes slamming about, the chair tipping backwards, the fireplace burping out a huge fireball, etc. I always look forward to that moment everytime I re-view this, since it is a great movie to watch again.

Probably Mcdowall's best role, until he camped it up in Fright Night. And Pamela Franlkin? Well, she's just ducky. ... wait until that ghost machine explodes. Dynamite stuff.