The Legend of Hell House (1973)

As I was saying on Friday, Halloween is approaching and I feel sort of obliged to do something here to mark it.  So, I thought that I'd do some 'Random Movie Trailers' on the theme of haunted/spooky houses.  The 'Haunted House' sub genre of horror movies is one that I've always had a soft spot for - I think that it is something we can all relate to.  We've all encountered, as children, that run down, possibly abandoned, local house which was reputedly haunted - the one that you didn't like walking past, especially after dark.  The ramshackle house where lights sometimes showed at the windows, despite nobody supposedly living there.  We've all also, I suspect, had the experience as children or teenagers, of being left alone in the house, where, despite the familiarity of the setting, every strange sound and creak becomes menacing due to the sudden feeling of isolation.  Anyway, first up in our brief 'Haunted House Movie Trailer' season is 1973's Legend of Hell House.

Based on a Richard Matheson novel and directed by John Hough, who had recently directed Twins of Evil for Hammer, Legend of Hell House is a reasonably effective example of the genre.  Not as intellectual as The Haunting, but nowhere near as schlocky as House on Haunted Hill, delivers some effective shocks in its middle section, but tends to run out of steam a bit before its conclusion.  The set up is familiar from the earlier films mentioned: a small group of people spend time in an isolated property with an evil reputation in order to establish the authenticity or otherwise of its status as a haunted house.  In this instance we have scientist Clive Revill, the rationalist determined to explain all of the phenomena by scientific means, assisted by his wife, played by Gayle Hunnicutt, te token 'normal' person in the party and a pair of psychics: Pamela Franklin and Roddy McDowell.  The latter is the sole survivor of a previous expedition to unlock the secrets of 'Hell House'.

As always in this genre, the house itself is as much a character as any cast member and boasts a complex back story.  In this case, it was once home to a notoriously evil man who presided over all the usual Satanic orgies and rites expected of his sort. All of which has left an indelible psychic 'mark' on the building.  Good production values and brisk direction mean that Legend of Hell House never quite outstays its welcome and provides plenty poltergeist activity, possessions and general supernatural shenanigans to keep the viewer distracted from plot holes and improbabilities.  The whole thing has an agreeably chilly atmosphere, aided by an effective musical score. In essence, Legend of Hell House presents the viewer with a compendium of haunted house movie tropes and cliches.  But it does them all reasonably well and is, by and large, and enjoyable watch.  my main reservation about it is that the script seems to be moving toward some kind of Freudian inspired psycho-sexual explanation for the haunting, building toward a horrific revelation, possibly involving castration, which it ultimately shies away from.  It's as if, at some point, either the writer, producers or distributors lost their nerve and substituted amputation for castration as the ultimate revelation in order to appease the censors.  Oh, and not to forget that the film provides low budget horror icon Michael Gough with possibly his easiest role: playing an embalmed corpse.