The Haunting of Hell House

This movie had a message: Do not allow the past to destroy your future. It delivers that message under no uncertain terms. But the point is, that it entertains while so doing. The story is rather graphic and the execution was, sadly, mediocre.

Was I scared? Was my adrenaline piqued? No. But I was entertained. The story is dark, but fun, and moves along with a decent pace. There are some serious slow spots, and the version I viewed at least, had an editing problem. Some people should not be allowed near a roll of shot film, with sharp objects, you know? This movie felt edited. Heavily edited. And in all the wrong spots. Perhaps your copy will not have suffered the same fate as mine.

I would recommend its viewing on a rainy Sunday afternoon, as it is a good story, and renders a decent telling of said story, but as it is not riveting, it does not belong on the Friday/Saturday night line-up.

It is a nice suspense/psychological thriller with a good twist or two.

It rates a 4.6/10 from...

the Fiend :.

A mysterious, morbid professor (Michael York) who has suffered a number of horrid events in his life tries to help a young troubled man (Andrew Bowen), whose girl friend was killed during an illegal abortion.

I had some issues with this, particularly that the age looks all wrong, despite the costumes and mustaches. The time period is unclear, but it strikes me as 1990s people dressed up as people fro ma century ago. An that just takes the magic out of it, makes it more like a theater production. That would not be bad in itself, but I am sure this was not the intent.

The film was directed by Mitch Marcus and based on "The Ghostly Rental" by Henry James. I have not read the James story (unfortunately -- I should) and this was Marcus' first time out as director, so he can be excused. Just such a shame that producer Roger Corman had Michael York to work with (who does excellently) and pairs him with a cast and crew that is not on his level.

Loosely based on Henry James' literary works, "The Haunting of Hell House" is a ghost story directed by newcomer Mitch Marcus and produced by the legendary Roger Corman. While without a doubt this is a low-budget B-movie, surprisingly it captures the feeling of old Corman movies and manages to be very entertaining and way different than what could be expected. Marcus & Corman really put a lot of heart in this little flick.

James Farrow (Andrew Bowen) is a young college student in New England in the late 1800s, he seems to have a bright future in his father's company after he graduates, but he has other desires. He dreams with becoming a famous artist and is in love with Sarah (Aideen O'Donnell), a woman his family would never accept.

Things go wrong when Sarah announces she is pregnant; since this seems to botch James' plans for the future, he convinces her of getting an abortion, but due to the bad medical practices of the time, she finally dies. After the tragic event, her ghost seems to haunt James' mind to the point he is beginning to go insane.

The movie is beautifully shot in amazing locations in Ireland. While the budget is very low, it seems that Marcus & Corman truly made the most of it as the movie is very believable for a period movie. The movie has a haunting atmosphere that works perfectly with the story it tells. truly a very good deal of work was done in this department.

Andrew Bowen is at times unconvincing as lead hero, however, he manages to carry the film with the aid of veteran Michael York, in the role of an old professor who is also haunted by his own ghosts. Jason Cottle as James' best friend Fletcher is superb and gives good intelligent comic relief, something quite unusual in the genre these days. Cottle is a natural scene stealer.

The movie's biggest flaw is probably that the story doesn't work completely. The script feels underdeveloped and truly hurts a film that could had been a new cult classic. The story drags a bit and on a few occasions gets a bit boring, but still it works. It's a real shame since the movie had the potential of becoming Corman's best movie in years. The low-budget hurts the film in the effects department, as the gore looks a bit cheap and unconvincing. Fortunately, the movie focuses on atmosphere and its characters rather than on gore.

To summarize, this is a sadly overlooked movie that deserves a chance,if only to realize that when movies are done with heart, they can be a very enjoyable experience. 6/10

Roger Corman produced, but not really typical of Corman, yet there's a bit of the style of the old Corman/Poe/Vincent Price series from the 60s here. I'd say that the title would be about the only thing "Cormanesque" about this in regards to making it interesting commercially, to kind of cash in on the same-time remakes of "Haunting" and "House on Haunted Hill". Other than that, it's a nice, yet small, psychological thriller, with some plot elements influenced by The Tell-Tale Heart. York gives a nice and slightly hammy performance as the tortured old professor, and the others are more than adequate. It will keep the interest of those who don't mind a gradual build and don't care for the lack of real terror and/or gruesome displays of killing. There's some violence and slight gore, but nothing gratuitous. Nothing here ever gets beyond being just a grade more than mediocre, say about B-, EXCEPT the really nice use of the Irish countryside as a substitute for old New England, which is an A grade. Nothing grand, but better than average.

A young college student is haunted after his pregnant girlfriend dies during a slipshod abortion.

THE HAUNTING OF HELL HOUSE is a tale of remorse spiraling into obsessive guilt, punctuated by horrible nightmares and possible ghostly visitations. Slow-paced, even plodding in spots, it still has a certain dark charm. Loosely based on a story by Henry James.

Co-stars Michael York as the mysterious Dr. Ambrose, who lives in the titular abode. Claudia Christian plays Ambrose's daughter Lucy...