Janae Milner
Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.
Bumpy Chip
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
Paynbob
It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
a_chinn
Weak horror film is mainly interesting because of how closely the plot hews to the teen body count horror film formula long before the formula was firmly established a decade later with the "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th" films. Frankie Avalon and a group of British teens go to an old mansion where they are then killed one by one. Who is the murderer? (SPOILER ALERT!) I was really hoping it would be Frankie of Beach Party fame, but sadly it was not. Writer/director Michael Armstrong, the man who made the notorious (and poorly made in my opinion) "Mark of the Devil," delivers another weak film here. I do think this film could have been better if Armstrong got his original choice of David Bowie as the killer. Unfortunately AIP felt Bowie would clash with Frankie. Too bad. That might have made this a much more memorable of film.
slick_moon
Right. Where to begin? Let's start with the title. Although it's not possible to prove the house wasn't haunted, there is no evidence to suggest that it might be, either in the script or actually on screen. But that's not the only thing that makes no sense. Not by a long chalk. Sure there are continuity errors, such as the outside shots filmed in daylight supposed to take place during the pitch dark night, but the worst incongruities are in the plotting. Nothing anybody does or says makes any sense whatsoever. From discussing complicity in a covered up murder while standing outside a police station, to the clichéd girl who "just can't stand to be in this old house" with all her friends, who therefore elects instead to walk alone across a dark forest and hitchhike from the road while dressed as a sci-fi hooker. All that said, if you're the sort of person who reacts to the sight of a policeman saying "I know we're supposed to be ogres, but I assure you we're not biting today" by thinking "WTF? Since when are ogres famed for biting?" you might just enjoy it on as many levels as I did.
Muldwych
In the highly-alliterative and genre-suggestive Haunted House Of Horror, a group of teenagers, bored with the party they're attending one evening, decide to liven things up by trooping off to a supposedly, and unsurprisingly, haunted house to conduct a seance, wherein deadly consequences soon occur.Having known little about this film for years other than its title, I found myself expecting a far different tale to the one that actually unfolded. Was there in fact any supernatural activity as the title suggested, or was the horror more conventional, leading to an earthbound whodunnit with B-movie slasher overtones? I must admit I was kept guessing for a while until those answers resolved themselves. All the meanwhile, I found myself reasonably entertained by the look and feel of a contemporary British sixties horror, from the swinging fashions to the unbelievable amount of smoking - actor George Sewell alone gives his best cigarette acting in this film. The musical score is fairly standard for the day and place - a good deal of brass, strings, moody piano and dramatic drum riffs. In fact, there were times when I felt sure this was a Bill ('Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150') McGuffie special, so either Reg Tilsley was familiar with his work, or these musical motifs were in vogue at the time. The lighting too is fairly conventional, though the day-for-night shooting became a little annoying after a while. Murky blue skies do not suggest midnight no matter how you dress them up, and must've been even more obvious on the silver screen.The acting is competent if restrained - in part due to the lack of any really meaty roles on offer, though there are several luminaries of the period to help breathe life into the whole effort. Besides Sewell, we also have the soon-to-be Man About The House himself, Richard O'Sullivan, frequent TV guest star Jill Hawarth, and Robin Stewart, also soon to become well-known in Bless This House. Why we didn't get to see a lot more of the gorgeous Gina Warwick on the other hand, is a bit of a mystery. She and Hawarth almost make up for what is in the end, a rather pedestrian adventure.And this in the end is what it is. I give it points for casting, period novelty, and for playing a little with audience expectations to avoid predictable plot trappings, but in the end, there is nothing ultimately remarkable about Haunted House Of Horror that helps it stand out from the competition of the day, like the popular Hammer Horror films. Which is not to say that their offerings are not sometimes prone to character cyphers, uneven pacing and abrupt endings, but more practiced hands on their part tend to make these things less of an issue. Interestingly, Tigon Films did snag horror veterans Karloff, Price, Cushing and Lee on a couple of occasions to produce horror-thrillers better received than what you find here - Scream And Scream Again, anybody? Nonetheless, Haunted House Of Horror should not be summarily dismissed - it's worth a look, but only if you've gotten a ways down through your must-view list.
juliusdownes
I watched this movie not expecting much and still think I was short-changed somehow. The film is well photographed and although it sometimes appears to keep changing the time of day between shots in the same scene, the overall art direction is good. The film is never dull to look at with good use of camera, colour, angle and lighting. The music, except that awful pub song at the start, is at least good and sometimes better. I wasn't expecting great acting either but it's generally adequate even though the actors have nothing really to work with - this leads me onto the main problem... The plot, or lack of, as the characters appear to be going through the paces with no internal motivation whatsoever for anything they do, nor does there appear to be any logic to explain or give meaning to other events which occur either. Unfortunately, after a while I was hoping that the killer would just get on with it so I could put this disc away and watch the next movie in the pile. 3.5 stars, I would not recommend this movie for general entertainment.
