Okay, first off, it's a very scary name for a very mediocre movie. Originally a TV-movie created by TV legend Aaron Spelling, who was known for much better stuff that this, the movie is one of eight haunted house films on a single DVD under the title, "Haunted Hollows," and is the oldest movie in the set, the rest having been made in the years of 2000 to 2010. It's not scary, nor is it very suspenseful, but then it was made as a television movie. Actress Barbara Stanwyck was a prominent leading lady through the Fifties and the Sixties and is possibly best known as the matriarch from the series, "The Big Valley." She plays a woman who inherits a home from a distant relative and moves into it with her niece. There are some strange occurrences, some weak séance scenes and a lot of mystery concerning the house, but we never see any ghosts. The activity is basically limited to voices in the night, gusts of wind and a door opening and closing by itself. The rest of the supposed paranormal are left to what the actors can do to pretend to be possessed. Richard Egan gets to act mean and nasty, but the rest of Katherine Winn's acting abilities seem to be limited to how fast or weird she can manipulate her eyebrows or how loud she can scream. Michael Anderson rounds out the cast as the next rational mind to not let the supposed hauntings get to him. One of the most noticeable parts is just how fast the movie zips along through the scene changes. In one scene, a portrait falls and gets ripped, but jump to the next morning, and its fixed! Another thing, I'm not sure where the movie is filmed, but the exterior of the house looks like it could be the same house from "The Waltons." It's a little campy, but Stanwyck plays it very seriously. Overall, it's worth a look just out of curiosity, but it is not very memorable.
Review of The House That Would Not Die
The House That Would Not Die
(1970 TV Movie)
Weak Haunted House, Ghosts Phone In Their Performance
30 January 2013
Warning: Spoilers