THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE (1973)

An old man hires a psychic investigator (Clive Revill) to stay at the infamous Belasco mansion, referred to as the "Mt. Everest of haunted houses," to get the facts on whether or not there is survival after death. The house is supposedly haunted by the malevolent spirit of the decadent Emeric Belasco, and previous attempts at finding the truth were disastrous. Revill brings his wife (Gayle Hunnicutt), a young medium (Pamela Franklin) and a young man who barely escaped with his life during a previous investigation of the house (Roddy McDowell). Franklin is a mental medium, McDowell a physical one, but somehow Franklin is involved in some physical manifestations—chandeliers swinging, tables jumping, ectoplasm extruding. The invisible spirit of Belasco's son Daniel plays shenanigans in Franklin's room. In addition to these apparently ghostly doings, mental and emotional strains appear among the four. Eventually, Revill uses electronics to "de-energize" the house, but it doesn't work and "mindless directionless power" is unleashed even as the investigators try to put the restless spirit of Belasco to rest.

Throughout this movie, I couldn't help but make comparisons to the far superior film THE HAUNTING (1963), with its similar plotlines about psychic experts in a haunted house. This is like a Hammer remake of THE HAUNTING, with the main difference being that any ambiguity about the existence of ghosts is gone; from early on, we see phenomena that cannot be explained away rationally. (Even the occasionally distorting camera angles from THE HAUNTING are used here.) The issue to be solved isn't whether or not the supernatural activity is real, but why Emeric Belasco is haunting the house—and is it actually Belasco behind it all? But the set-up, the house, and even the characters—the academic lead investigator, the emotionally off-balance team member (McDowell is the stand-in here for Julie Harris)—all call up the earlier movie, and this film, though it has its moments, will always lose out to Robert Wise's creepy classic. Still, this is worth seeing for horror fans. The screenplay is by the reliable Richard Matheson who wrote the original novel, the acting is fine if not stellar, with McDowell giving an "old pro" performance as the nervous and neurotic ghostbuster, and Revill nicely in command as the rational one. Not a masterpiece, but recommended for horror fans. Pictured are McDowell and Hunnicut. [DVD]