THE
LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE (1973)Director: John Hough
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
THE
LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE (1973)Richard Matheson's screen adaptation of his novel, Hell House, translates onto the big screen in what is arguably the best haunted house flick ever (though diehard fans of the original THE HAUNTING will dispute this). The PG-rated British production has little gore and minimal special effects, but after viewing it you'll discover that sometimes less really is more, and it still holds up quite well after more than 25 years.
Emeric Belasco was a sort of bohemian who had a huge mansion built to harbor his depraved way of life. After his death, the embarrassed family closed the house up and tried to pretend that it and Emeric never existed, and it's now deemed "Hell House" due to its evil nature ("the Mount Everest of Haunted Houses"). Even though the house has been abandoned for years, a dying industrialist hires a team to enter and study it around Christmas time. Along for the ride are Dr. Barrett (Clive Revill), a scientist specializing in the paranormal and his wife Ann (Gayle Hunnicut), mental medium Florence Tanner (Pamela Franklin) and Ben Fischer (Roddy McDowall), a physical medium who barely escaped Hell House during a visit there 20 years earlier.
When asked what Belasco did to make the house so evil, Fischer replies, "Drug addiction, alcoholism, sadism, bestiality, mutilation, murder, vampirism, nechropillia, cannibalism, not to mention a gambit of sexual goodies." This is a great basis as to why the house is surrounded by such powerful evil spirits, and they waste no time preying on the vulnerability of the four guests. Franklin (a child actress from THE INNOCENTS) portrays Tanner as a sensitive, strong-willed, deeply religious girl who defends the paranormal as a manifestation of God's will on Earth. Because the character is sympathetic to the spirit of the house, she also becomes its defenseless victim, constantly being physically and psychically tortured by Belasco's ghost (at one point in the form of a vicious black cat). In addition, her opposing relationship with Dr. Barrett illustrates a tense rivalry between hard science and Tanner and Fischer's more natural, humanistic approach to what's going on.
With great atmosphere and a cast of only four principal players, this is a fine example of well-executed horror done with the bare essentials. The cast is excellent, and although McDowall tends to be hammy at tims, it's still a worthy credit to his fantasy résumé. This film was the first production from James Nicholson's Academy Films after he left American International (he died in '72), and it's superbly directed by John Hough (TWINS OF EVIL), so it definitely comes from the school of Hammer/AIP. Forget about the recent flood of Hollywood haunted house thrillers with overblown CGI effects, dumb plotting and silly characters--watch this instead.
Fox has released LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE on DVD letterboxed at 1.85:1 and it's (thankfully) anamorphic, even though the packaging doesn't dictate so. The widescreen presentation brings much better composition than the previous full frame video versions, and the colors now look more stable with solid blacks. There is minimal wear in the source material, but overall the appearance is outstanding. The new Dolby Digital 4.0 track suitably separates the film's eerie music and sound effects, making it all the more scarier. There is also a French language Dolby Digital 2.0 mono track, as well as optional English and Spanish subtitles. The only extras are the theatrical trailer and trailers for other Fox DVD releases. By the way, the disappointing cover obviously reveals to much information! (George R. Reis)