The House on Haunted Hill

The previews for this looked really cool, but I reminded myself that I fell for that with The Haunting, too. Glad I kept that straight in my mind.
In this little lark, an eccentric millionaire offers $1 million to anyone who survives the night in a "haunted house". Unbeknownst to him, the house really does have an ingrained evil presence, which immediately sees the interlopers as an opportunity to settle scores from the past. The murders commence, with the characters turning on each other because they don't actually believe the rumors about the house. Only too late do they learn the truth. Nyeh, heh, heh!
Frankly, some of the special effects were really good and even some of the acting. The best bit in the movie is the elevator at the beginning, but I won't spoil it for you. None of the characters are really well fleshed out, but the house serves as a good enough distraction to make you forget it for a while. Although the movie did do a much better job than the other "horror" stinker released earlier this year, when the going got tough, the gore came out to play. In the original version, most of the horror was psychological; in this remake, the R rating is well-deserved for some of the more gruesome effects. Nothing that will make you blow your cookies, but a lot of it was totally unnecessary.
Although it has a weak ending, the film is better than any other horror flick this year, and may encourage you to shut the closet doors. I would recommend a matinee of this one, but these movies are meant to be seen at night. Your call.

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