The Legend of Hell House (1973)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

John Hough

Writers:

Richard Matheson (novel)
Richard Matheson (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 June 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery

Tagline:

For the sake of your sanity, pray it isn't true!

Plot:

A team consisting of a physicist, his wife, a young female psychic and the only survivor of the previous...

Plot Keywords:

Good Versus Evil | Mansion | Sex | Psychic Power | Phenomenon

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Pamela Franklin	...	Florence Tanner
Roddy McDowall	...	Benjamin Franklin Fischer
Clive Revill	...	Mr. (Lionel) Barrett
Gayle Hunnicutt	...	Ann Barrett
Roland Culver	...	Mr. (Rudolph) Deutsch
Peter Bowles	...	Hanley

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Iceland:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | UK:15 (video rating) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:PG | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Academy Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The original novel was set in New England, with an American team of psychic investigators. The storyline was changed, to fit the movie's production in England, with British actors playing the investigators.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: In the film's opening credits, there is a spelling mistake. The copyright line reads "... 20th Century Fox Film Corpoation".

Quotes:

Benjamin Franklin Fischer: I was the only one to make it out of here alive and sane in 1953, and I will be the only one to make it out of here alive and sane this time.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Ride the Wild Side (2005) (V)

Nice and creepy

Now that it's spooky time again, one should plug this in at night and watch during windy weather, eventho' the timeline of the story unwinds around Christmas. Was this intentional? Imagine spending the holidays in this place!

Yes, the highlight is the possessed stuffed black cat but the real big scene that will leave you breathless is the haunted sequence at the dinner table, with the table itself going nuts and the dishes slamming about, the chair tipping backwards, the fireplace burping out a huge fireball, etc. I always look forward to that moment everytime I re-view this, since it is a great movie to watch again.

Probably Mcdowall's best role, until he camped it up in Fright Night. And Pamela Franlkin? Well, she's just ducky. ... wait until that ghost machine explodes. Dynamite stuff.