The Legend of Hell House

It doesn't hold a candle to The Haunting - it's far too unfocused and underdeveloped for that - but it has a few cool bits for haunted house fans. Deserves a remake that more fully explores its ideas.

A talented and atmospheric horror tale that is drastically brought down by its finale & a reliance on a very typical haunted house formula. This is still worth the ticket though, folks. A genuine creepiness factor permeates this experience boosted by some exemplary cinematography.

Ah the olden days where a PG rating guaranteed full frontal nudity. "We've got bush. We've got bush!" Slowly becomes a Christmas movie.

Some genuinely creepy atmosphere and solid performances are let down by a silly plot and an even sillier "villain." I also found character motivations and reactions to the supernatural odd and unnatural. I do appreciate the pervasive sense of unease created by Hough's eccentric directing choices. One of the better haunted house movies.

The ending might not make a lot of impact, but the ride up to that point was very atmospheric and enjoyable. No need for gore or jump-scares when creepy (and sometimes sexually charged) moans will do the trick just fine. As an added bonus the camerawork is really wonderful at times, leading to some very creative and cool shots.

Generally good and creepy. I was pretty satisfied. The end didn't make much sense, though, and Dr. "It's stupid to believe in ghosts; it's just evil psychic stuff" Barrett got annoying.

From the start, Richard Matheson seems just to have read Shirley Jackson's THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE and decided that he could shoot the same exact story up on steroids, and make it scarier. He was forced to tone his novel HELL HOUSE down considerably for the movie, but I'm grateful for that. The cast sells this one, even poor Michael Gough who gets one line of dialogue and plays a corpse at the end. Some nice chills and good atmosphere. Worth a look. Wish Pamela Franklin had made more movies.

I rather enjoyed this. It definitely reminded me of The Haunting, albeit far more overwrought, and certainly lacking the subtlety or ambiguity of Robert Wise's film. The cast was good; in particular MacDowall was giving it everything towards the end. The electronic score from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop team lent some appeal, and I found myself having some appreciation for the camerawork. It's a bit messy overall, perhaps a tad silly in places, but definitely worth a look.

First rate chiller is helped by deliciously overwrought performances (especially an astonishingly intense one from McDowall) which help sell the fever-dream erotic elements of this particular haunting. Explosive climax is beautifully staged and crafted, though one oddly distracting note: the specific festive season setting in a world where it appears Christmas is never acknowledged by anyone!

Except for the '99 remake of The Haunting, this is the worst haunted house movie I have ever seen. Hough builds atmosphere well enough but never understands how to use it for scares. The whole thing is unbearably awkward, burdened by shoddy scriptwriting and hammy acting. The "big revelation" at the end, however, is what really plummets this into the pit of deserved obscurity. For all the acclaim the decade gets, there were a lot of bad horror films made in the 70s. This is one of the worst.

Decent if unspectacular tale. The electronic score is a plus; Randy Newman's "Short People" would have made for an ideal closer.

To my surprise, Matheson's script is the weak link here. Everything else is fantastic. Cinematography maximizes the haunted atmosphere & extreme close ups & off-kilter shots create a sense something's off w/out overdoing it. There's all-around great performances too. The problem is that the physicist character doesn't explain his view of the world until an hour in & so you spend that time wondering why he believes in psychics, but not ghosts. & the climactic reveal? Let's say it comes up short.

Incredibly underwhelming. Hell House had some fun aspects, I'll say that. But a shoddy script and typical 70's horror pacing bring this down in my eyes. The cast is pretty good though, so it has that going for it. It's either too typical or too provocative to ever focus on being good, unfortunately.

The Legend of Hell House is a fine of example of an atmospheric thriller film. This is a movie that gives its scares on a more pschological level without all the gore. This would be an entertaining film for people who would enjoy a good thriller without all the blood and brutality of current horror films.

Oh, so that's where the bit about fighting the cat comes from in SCARY MOVIE 2.

I like most of Matheson's work but I thought the book was bad too, I don't understand why it's acclaimed.

Passes the time.

Classic

The Legend is an enjoyable movie although I spent a lot of time not paying attention to what was happening on screen. There's some really good stuff in here (weird camera angles and careful stage-setting among others), but the narrative arc was way off.

The British are a lot more patient with Hell Houses than I could ever be.

hough does a good job with atmosphere. the cast does great with their characters and the writing treats them all well. those are both enough to keep the film chuggin' along despite the fact that the overall story itself isn't especially gripping. but hough makes it spooky and the cast makes it tense so its still a solid haunted house film.

Pretty obnoxious all around but some pretty sumptuous Hammer setpieces. I don't remember the book being this stupid...

Starts off quite promising, although the set up all seems a bit predictable (a bit scooby do) but all the screaming and silliness became a bit dull.

63.500

The MPAA interpreted the PG rating verrry differently back in 1973.

64.000

Good cast. Not so good story.

Very corny and mostly dull. There isn't a lot of story and the creepy atmosphere only works for so long. If you're a fan of The Haunting, maybe give this a try but don't go in expecting a lot.

Chilling & creepy haunted house flick that relies mostly on atmosphere. Roddy McDowall is good as always.

A dumbed-down, hornier version on The Haunting with the added bonus of an incredibly ridiculous ending.

lanetli ev, cehennem evi, medyum, sapik ruh, hayalet, ruh cagirma (Lanetli bir evin gizemini çözmek için kollari sivayan bir bilim adami ve esi, ve iki medyumun Belasco isimli sapigin ruhun dolandigi evde yasadiklarini konu edinir. icinde bolca mantik hatasi var. sacma)

A rather silly twist ending cannot negate the truly gorgeous atmosphere and beauty dripping from every frame. The kinky, sexual undercurrent also sets it apart from the pack of uptight British haunted house films, its soundtrack full of ghostly, erotic moans.

Too outdated for me! A little overrated!

Hauntingly stupid, and hellishly boring.

It rips off The Haunting more than a little, but what it lacks in originality, it makes up for in scares.

Good

Well-done ghost story

A casa da noite eterna estreava há 50 anos nos EUA. Devo confessar que fiquei muito mais impressionada com esse quando eu era adolescente e, justamente, impressionável. Não lembrava dessa conclusão tão boba, mas ainda é filmaço em se tratando de suspense. Box Versátil Obras-primas do Terror volume 17.