This film did pretty good box office back in '73, but it might be a little too slow for today's ADD crowd that can't sit still beyond five minutes unless bodies are spurting blood and MTV-like camera-work is dancing all over the place. Everything nowadays has to be instantaneous so 'we' throw out things little things like plot & character development and a gradual suspense buildup. This movie is full of things like that which makes it a classic in my book.
Rich multi-millionaire Rudolph Deutsch (Roland Culver) hires Lionel Barrett and his wife (Clive Revill & Gayle Hunnicutt) to investigate the hauntings that are taking place at the notorious Belasco manor. It seems plenty of atrocities took place in the mansion some 50 years previously by Emeric Belasco and their spirits are not at peace. Barrett takes along Benjamin Fisher (Roddy McDowell) and Florence Tanner (Pamela Franklin) as mediums to flesh out the spirits and find out how to dispel them from the property.
What THE HAUNTING was for the 60s, and POLTERGEIST was for the 80s, THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE is what I consider one of the definitive ghost stories (it ties with THE CHANGELING) of the 1970s. If you like a good story on top of some shocks that come from out of nowhere, then I would suggest you check this one out.
The Fox DVD looks good for a film of this age in widescreen anamorphic vivid color. The black levels look clean and there's no digital artifacts to be found. The DVD has no extras beyond a scratchy looking trailer and some previews for other Fox DVD releases.
Even so, it sends chills up my spine and the ending is a kicker. Recommended!
8 out of 10
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Rich multi-millionaire Rudolph Deutsch (Roland Culver) hires Lionel Barrett and his wife (Clive Revill & Gayle Hunnicutt) to investigate the hauntings that are taking place at the notorious Belasco manor. It seems plenty of atrocities took place in the mansion some 50 years previously by Emeric Belasco and their spirits are not at peace. Barrett takes along Benjamin Fisher (Roddy McDowell) and Florence Tanner (Pamela Franklin) as mediums to flesh out the spirits and find out how to dispel them from the property.
What THE HAUNTING was for the 60s, and POLTERGEIST was for the 80s, THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE is what I consider one of the definitive ghost stories (it ties with THE CHANGELING) of the 1970s. If you like a good story on top of some shocks that come from out of nowhere, then I would suggest you check this one out.
The Fox DVD looks good for a film of this age in widescreen anamorphic vivid color. The black levels look clean and there's no digital artifacts to be found. The DVD has no extras beyond a scratchy looking trailer and some previews for other Fox DVD releases.
Even so, it sends chills up my spine and the ending is a kicker. Recommended!
8 out of 10
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