House on Haunted Hill - 1999 - P.F.F.

House on Haunted Hill - 1999 - PFF

I am not usually a fan of remakes. Especially, remakes of films that I count as classics or personal favorites. So, I was really nervous when this film debuted in 1999. I have never been so happy to be so wrong about a film. This film is an updated version of the original, but with its own twists and turns, which makes it stand on its own pretty well. The atmosphere is eerie and delightful, the asylum itself, a character with a part to play, as well as everything inside the building. The use of light and sound, as well as subtle camera tricks, adds to the sense of dread and frustration you get to feel along with the cast as they work their way through the film. As for this cast, this film has a great one. With actors and actresses like Geoffrey Rush, Ali Larter, Chris Kattan and, horror movie staple, Jeffrey Combs, they all play off each other extremely well. It is wonderful that each actor is believable in their role, from Rush as our ringmaster for the evening and the man with the ego and the money, to Kattan as the flighty Mr. Pritchard, who tends to be the comic relief in this film.

The story is pretty simple. Mrs. Price wants to have a birthday party, but she wants to have it at the notorious Vannacutt Psychiatric Institute for the Criminally Insane, the sight of a horrific tragedy in 1931. For reasons only the movie can explain, (because I don’t do spoilers, haha), five people are invited to the party, all unknown to each other and the hosts of the party. Each party guest is offered 1 million dollars each if they can last the night, should they not survive, their money is divided up among the survivors. Each person has accepted the invitation to the party for their own reasons and motivations that you get to learn as the story moves forward. This movie does not move at a breakneck pace, but it does move forward pretty steadily, with only a couple spots that are a bit of a drag. However, all in all, the movie holds your attention pretty well from beginning to end. There is blood, though it is not over the top as well as the violence though there, is not too traumatic, aside from one or two scenes that might bother the faint of stomach.

There are a few fun facts I really want to share about the movie as well. The first is that Rush’s character name is Price, a fun little tip of the hat to Vincent Price, the leading actor of the original film. Rush was also never intended to look like Price either. When told that Price was to look like an ordinary businessman, Rush suggested instead that he should look more like film director John Waters. The director of the film decided to test the look and after all the wardrobe and makeup he looked so much like Price that the director decided to run with it. A historical point of fact, the unethical psychiatry methods, and procedures used in the film were actually loosely based on medical experiments conducted by the Nazi’s during WWII.

Most specifically, and this is purely from my own research, much of the experiments done by Mengele. There is an amazing CGI effect used in the film that was inspired by the visuals of H.P. Lovecraft’s novels, as well as resembling the Rorschach inkblots used in psychiatry. Before Combs was considered for the role of Dr. Vannacutt, Marilyn Manson was also considered, as well as Sir Christopher Lee was considered for the role held by Peter Graves in the beginning in the film. Director William Malone got the idea to use a former insane asylum as the setting for the film when he was filming an episode of “Tales from the Crypt” in a former asylum and he noticed that crew members were running out of the basement of the building, running because they did not want to film there.

Alright, it is time to talk about the cast, and first up is Jennifer, played by the talented and beautiful Ali Larter. Ali got her start in the 1999 football hit “Varsity Blues’ in which she had the infamous whipped cream bikini scene. Moving on from that to “House on Haunted Hill” (1999) and “Final Destination” (2000), helped cement her as a very talented and versatile actress. After a dismal opening for one of her films she moved back to New York to reassess things and decided to pick back up the role she had played in the original “Final Destination’ film for the second (2003), after which she moved back to L.A. and auditioned for the television series “Heroes” (2006), the show gathering almost a cult following and critics called it “The new “Lost” (2004)”. During her tenure on “Heroes”, she made several film appearances. One of those endeared her back into the hearts of horror fans everywhere by starring as Claire Redfield in the wildly popular “Resident Evil: Extinction” (2007), part 3 of the series based on the popular video game franchise. A little known fact is that in “Varsity Blues” when she has the whipped cream bikini, it was actually shaving cream because the whipped cream would not stick to her skin the way it was supposed to. In 2009, she married longtime boyfriend, Hayes MacArthur in Kennebunkport, Maine. In 2010, she picked up the mantle of Claire Redfield again for “Resident Evil: Afterlife”. 2014 saw Ali having a role in the series “Legends” and she is again going to once more play our favorite character, Claire, in the final installment of the “Resident Evil” franchise, “Resident Evil: The Final Chapter” (2017).

Our next cast member is Eddie, played by the handsome Taye Diggs. Diggs is known to both those on stage and screen. He has had roles in the Broadway musicals “Rent” and “Wicked” both with his wife at the time, Idina Menzel. Taye got his start in such tv shows as “Guiding Light” (1997), ‘New York Undercover’ (1996), and ‘Law and Order” (1996) before getting what could be considered a big break with a role in the 1998 film “How Stella got her Groove Back” which opened the door for roles in such films and tv shows as “The Wood” (1999), “Ally McBeal” (2001), “Chicago’ (2002) and the film adaptation of the Broadway musical “Rent” (2005). 2006 saw a resurgence in his tv roles as he landed recurring roles in such series as “Will and Grace’ (2006), “Daybreak” (2007), and “Gray’s Anatomy” (2007-2009). Currently, he has a recurring role in the wildly popular FOX series “Empire”(2016) and “Murder in the First’ (2016). As well as a role in the 2017 release of My Little Pony: The Movie”. Eddie is a former baseball player with his own motives to come to the house. He is no-nonsense and pretty logical in his reasoning and approach to the entire situation.

Our third and final cast member is a face well known to the horror community even if you don’t always remember his name, that is Jeffrey Combs, playing the creepy and demented Dr. Vannacutt. With a career spanning over 40 years, and a face that can be seen in many “B” horror films, Jeffrey Combs is one of those people that you might not always remember his name, but there is a good chance you have seen something he was in or have seen his face somewhere before. He often plays characters that are either eccentric on the verge of going over the edge to psychosis, or psychotic anti-heroes. He is also well known for his roles in horror films, most usually adaptations of the works of H.P. Lovecraft. One of his first films was the 1983 “Frightmare” and then he went on to have roles in such films as “The Re-Animator” (1985), “Cellar Dweller” (1988), a personal favorite of mine “Necronomicon: Book of the Dead” (1993), in 1996 he starred beside Michael J. Fox in the cult classic “The Frighteners” 2001 saw him in “The Attic Expeditions” with Seth Greene. The early 2000s saw him with roles in such tv shows as “Star Trek: Enterprise” (2001-2005) and “Justice League Unlimited” (2004-2006), and “The 4400” (2005-2007). Most recently he plays the Rat King in the reboot of the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” (2012-2016). While not really a character actor, his characters always seem to give off the same creepy vibe. At 5’7”, he is not a tall actor, and it helps him pull off some of the creepy roles as he looks like the creepy guy your mother crosses the street to keep you away from. I can say there is nothing on this man’s resume that I have not enjoyed him in.

This movie is a PFF, but it runs on the scarier and a bit gorier side of the spectrum. This is one of those movies that is a bridge from PFF to full-blown horror movies. It does have nudity, it has violence and it has blood and gore. But, it is also a fun Saturday afternoon movie when you are looking for something that is scary but has its comedic moments. Should you ever receive an invitation to a birthday party, for someone you don’t know in a known haunted house. No matter how much money they are willing to pay. Cut your losses and stay home.