VINCE'S MOVIE REVIEWS |
You can't keep a bad house down when a party is going on. |
|
It was fun watching this remake as it had lots of chills. I enjoyed it, except for the ending. We will get to that later. The black and white opening showing the insane goings on at Vannacutt Psychiatric Institute For The Criminally Insane was beautifull staged and quickly set the mood. We see patients tortured in unspeakable manner until the patients escape and get their revenge. All that remained was the building, HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL.  Academy Award(c) Winner, Geoffrey Rush stars as Steven Price a billionaire theme park inventor. Hmm, do you thing the Price thing is a tribute to the original actor, you think? The roller coaster ride at the beginning is worth the admission price. Anyway, good old Steven figures that he is fullfilling his spoiled, shrew of a wifes morbid wishes by having her birthady party in the haunted house. A list of guests mysteriously appears on his computer. He thinks his wife, played by, Famke Janssen put that guest list their, but we know better don't we? The trick here is to see who can last the night in the haunted house. Those who stay the night will receive one million dollars each. If any leave or do not survive then the others split up their share. It does not take long for the insanity to begin. The appartions of the former doctors and inmates show up in weird fashion. The effects photography when we see these ghosts is beautifully handled and really eerie. The movie moves along when we see what the real plot is...betrayl anyone??? Ahh, but those ghosts are real. Unfortunately, as I said at the beginning the ending was too Hollywood. Just like in THE HAUNTING the director copes out to a hollywood ending. The houses evil becomes solid and it loses something. Don't get me wrong here, the effects on this enttiy was still excellent but it would have been much better if they had concentrated on the ghosts of the victims that perished in the insane ayslum fire. Five guests, two hosts, the house owner and an employee hidden away...9 people... will even one survive. Nope they all die and the butler did it. Gee did you really think I was going to tell you? |
Starring: Famke Janssen , Lisa Loeb , Geoffrey Rush , Ali Larter , Peter Gallagher Directed by William Malone Written by Robb White & Dick Beebe Produced by Gilbert Adler , Joel Silver, Robert Zemeckis & Terry Castle. Distributed by Warner Brothers Rating USA... Rated R for horror violence and gore, sexual images and language. Rating Canada... Rated R for horror violence and gore, sexual images and language. Read Another Review Of This Film Read Still Another Review Of This Film |
 |
vjm@metrocity.com