"The Ghosts are moving tonight..."

As you may have guessed, Vincent Price and Alfred Hitchcock are my two favorite people when it comes to suspense and horror movies. Price to me is the undisputed king of Horror Film Actors and I have always loved his work. Another great public domain film you can watch here is one of my all time favorite scary films and the first film I ever saw with Price in the lead role. The House on Haunted Hill was made in 1959 and is still one of the most suspenseful, terrifying, atmospheric films I have ever seen. To this day, I still have to watch this film in the middle of the day with all the lights on so it doesn't cause me to have nightmares. Maybe I'm a chicken and maybe this film won't be as scary to you, but I am still utterly frightened by it.

The remake in 1999 was good, but didn't manage to recreate the wonderful acting that Vincent Price did. The premise seems simple enough. The frightening millionaire Frederick Loren (Price) rented what might be the most haunted house in the world so his equally dark and depraved wifeAnnabelle (Carol Omhart) can through a "ghost party". Loren has offered each of the guests $10,000 if they can stay in the house for one full night and each of the guests has their own reasons for needing the money Loren is offering. The film begins with introductions as the cast rides to the haunted house in funeral cars, preparing for the spooky night ahead. Chandeliers fall, doors shut themselves, blood drips from the ceiling, and strange murderers are recounted only in the first fifteen minutes of the film. At midnight, the group is locked in the mansion for the night by the creepy caretakers and it is then that the truly scary stuff begins to happen.

The music is absolutely haunting and fits in perfectly with the atmosphere of the film. The cast does not overact but does their job superbly, making the plot very believeable and very spooky. The special effects are spectacular for the period and gruesome heads as well as moving skeletons manage to strike fear into viewers. This film is still one of the best horror films ever made and belongs on anyone's list of films to watch if you're planning a scary movie night.