House on Haunted Hill (1999)

Urged by a sexy red-head to watch this movie again, I did so. And like the last time I saw it, I enjoyed it. A remake of a classic that became a classic itself. Fun movie.
When Eddie (Taye Diggs), Melissa (Bridgette Wilson), Sara (Ali Larter), Donald (Peter Gallagher) and Watson (Chris Kattan) accept tycoon Steven Price's (Geoffrey Rush) $1 million proposal to stay one night in a former insane asylum, they think it's child's play until Price's rigged antics are accompanied by real menacing spirits. Can everyone make it till dawn and win the prize money? Famke Janssen co-stars as Price's haughty wife, Evelyn.

A surprisingly multilayered plot/whodunit and a creepy atmosphere more than make up for an ending that wasn't quite up to par. You can tell the director is really passionate about the horror genre. Quite possibly the creepiest haunted house sets I've ever seen.

Some disagree but for a formula-genre movie, I have found this one to be quite original, spooky and welcome for repeat viewings. It really holds my interest and makes me sit on the edge of my seat! By definition, a movie like this has to have cheesy and inexplicable plot twists (esp. the classic “let’s split up and wander about aimlessly until we get killed off one by one”) but I just really like the actors (esp. Geoff Rush) and the premise. (By the way, I gave 5 stars to the remake of 13 Ghosts.) The acting here isn’t inspired but it has its moments — and sufficient plot twists. Some think a CGI ghost is a copout but why should this movie be expected to follow different rules than every other (horror as well as sci-fi)?


****/*****

4/5 Stars