HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL

On the occasion of his wife's birthday, the eccentric billionaire Steven Price organizes a chilling evening in an old asylum, the setting, in the 1930s, of a terrible massacre and atrocious experiments that a mad doctor performed on the patients. Four strangers are invited to the evening and are promised a million dollars if they manage to arrive safely at dawn. What had begun as an evening of jokes and fun will soon turn into a nightmare, as the four unlucky ones, along with the caretaker and the Price couple, will realize that the house is alive and strange presences hover through its corridors. "The Mystery of the Hill House" is the revised and corrected remake of a classic of chills from the 1950s, "The Haunted House" by William Castle, skillfully readapted to the taste of the more modern spectator. This film represents the first work produced by Dark Castle, a production company dedicated to genre cinema and founded by Robert Zemeckis and Joel Silver, with the intention of making a series of remakes of old horror classics (indeed, "13 Ghosts," "Ghost Ship," and "The Wax Mask" will follow). The film in question, although it represents very little in the vast horror cinema panorama of recent years, proves to be quite entertaining and shows a remarkable rhythm supported by an elementary but engaging story, a lively direction, and a cast of all respect, among whom Geoffrey Rush (in the role of the billionaire Steven Price) stands out, citing, in name and appearance, the mythical Vincent Price, protagonist of the 1958 film. A special mention must be made to the suggestive sets that reproduce the spectral haunted asylum and the excellent soundtrack, which includes the magnificent cover "Sweet dreams" performed by Marilyn Manson. Generous also is the gore department, which features vivisections and numerous bloody scenes. But not everything is positive in "The Mystery of the Hill House": the most visible sore point is undoubtedly represented by the poor realization of the digital special effects and the disappointing visual rendering of the "thing" that lives in the asylum, which appears as a sort of giant Rorschach blot poorly integrated with the environment. The rest of the cast includes Famke Janssen ("Golnedeye," "X-Men" 1&2) in the role of Price's wife, Ali Larter ("Final Destination" 1&2) and Jeffrey Combs (the "Re-Animator" saga) in the role of the evil Dr. Vannacut. In conclusion, "The Mystery of the Hill House" is a decent horror film of the end of the millennium, entertaining and fluid, but lacking elements that could make it memorable. It certainly deserves a viewing, especially if you are looking for a "light" film to enjoy during an evening with friends. Do not miss the end credits. Curiosity. Director William Malone introduced a scene in the film in which actress Famke Janssen appears dressed in white, with a child's dress, playing with a ball that then macabrely turns into a severed head. The scene in question immediately calls to mind the episode directed by Fellini in the film "Three Steps in Delirium," in turn inspired, in some elements, by the beautiful "Operation Fear" by Mario Bava. Malone will later direct "Fear.com," in which the character of a blonde girl playing with a red ball appears, even more clearly recalling Bava's film.