Although another year of the Halloween Horrors Contributors Series is nearing its conclusion, the fact that we are still 6 days away from October 31st means that there is still ample time left to celebrate our love for Halloween, as well as Horror’s rightful reign over the season. And speaking of celebrations… today’s Halloween Horrors entry is just that! It’s a celebration of the holiday, as evidenced by the Halloween party taking place within today’s film’s topic, as well as something of a celebration of the life and legacy of the film’s star.

As the title of this post implies, today’s film is producer William Castle’s 1959 smash hit House on Haunted Hill. As for its star? Of course, I speak of none other than the iconic Vincent Price, who, 32 years after his passing on October 25th, 1993, is still quite possibly the most recognizable name in in all of Horror film history. Beginning with his first horror film appearance in 1939’s The Tower of London, Price’s legendary career would see him become invisible, cover his victims in boiling wax, try to capture fear, battle a Bat and a Batman, hanging out with Alice Cooper and Kermit the Frog, helping to revitalize the career of Roger Corman, and solve mysteries with Scooby-Doo.  Actually, the less said about that Scooby ordeal the better. 

While it would really take an entire month-long series to really spotlight this legend of film, stage, and radio, we spend today celebrating at least this one memorable performance from Price’s career today. Leading this celebration today is returning contributor Angel Young. Creator of the long-running Wandering Nerdgirl Facebook page and blog, Angel returns to our series for a fifth year with a new project, This Is Your Brain On Horror, where she combines her love of horror with her current academic pursuits in the field of process psychology. If you’re not quite sure what “process psychology” is, you can always Google search it… like I did. While I won’t pretend to be even marginally educated in the subject, I do now feel like a suitable case subject. I should probably be more concerned about this. 

Instead, I’ll just concern myself with Halloween and today’s celebration.

 

“There’ll be food and drink and ghosts, and perhaps even a few murders.” Frederick Loren (House on Haunted Hill, 1959)

When tasked with writing about a Vincent Price film after the prompt of “A Treasury of Great Recipes” – one of the immediate stand-outs was House on Haunted Hill from 1959. Still effective with its mystery and horror aspects to this day, I consider this a truly great film in the treasury of Vincent Price movies. Beyond just the iconic impression he left on film and horror history, Vincent Price is significant in my own life as well. I like to tell people that I “cut teeth on vampire movies”, with my mom letting me watch old horror films and monster movies for as long as I can recall. And with that, of course I was cultured in Vincent Price films before I was out of elementary school. My mom used to tell me the story of how she got to speak to Vincent Price on the phone once, and that thrill of being as close as I can ever get to the legend himself still fills me with pride (albeit second degree, since I was not exactly alive or involved.)

But, on to what we are all here for: a Halloween party! One that from the opening, Vincent’s character Frederick Loren promises us will be one worth remembering. I consider House on Haunted Hill an iconic film for the season for a variety of reasons. Of course, who can deny a high-stakes Halloween party full of strangers, ghosts, and the looming dread of potential murder? It is a film that stands the test of time, with an engaging story, startling scares, mystery that keeps you guessing, and a cast that sells it all. Maybe blame a little less of the events on “women with hysteria” (I’m looking at you, Dr. David Trent – you’re a psychologist in the middle of this mess) but alas, that’s just par for the course at the time. Emotions run high, and some characters are understandably pushed to their limits.

If you are unfamiliar with the premise: House on Haunted Hill is about this lavish Halloween party hosted by the incredibly wealthy Mr. Loren, allegedly for his wife Annabelle, though she doesn’t seem too keen on the idea as it’s happening. A handful of strangers are invited as guests, all in need of money – which is why Mr. Loren dangles a $10,000 prize to everyone who can stay the night at this party on Haunted Hill, a notoriously haunted house with a body count of its own. To intensify the evening, one of the guests is even the relative of some victims of the house, and more than happy to keep raising the tension and reminding everyone of the horrors that have occurred inside the residence. But that money (especially by 1959 standards) is too tempting to not risk life and limb for. Get locked in and survive the night with the ghosts. Simple enough, right? But nothing is ever so simple in these sorts of films, and human nature runs its course.

If you haven’t seen House on Haunted Hill, I implore you to add it to the films you watch this October. Nothing quite sets the mood like a good ghost story tied up with a murder mystery. It’s nothing too frightening, and yet still a classic with some good frights. Make some popcorn, open a window and let the October air in, curl up with a blanket, and see if you can figure out what is going on at the House on Haunted Hill.