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The Legend of Hell House (1973)
Rate:
6
Viewed:
6/25
6/25:
Creating a successful haunted house motion picture is a difficult achievement.
The Legend of Hell House somewhat has it but isn't on the same level as
Burnt Offerings.
Prince of Darkness is more convincing in terms of carrying out
a proper investigation. The Legend of Hell House has a strong start, thanks to the
atmosphere. After a while, the momentum goes down steadily because of Dr. Barrett's technobabble, causing me to
quip, "Yeah, whatever. There's no scientific proof to support that."
As a result, Clive Revill plays a hated character who's so pedantic to the point of putting down Florence
Tanner as much as he can, even in front of his consenting wife. I want to yell at him, "Oh, lighten up! Focus
on teamwork." Eventually, he dies, but it's too late. If I were everybody, I would have more people working
on the house with rotating shifts. There's no reason for anyone to stay there 24/7. While at that, they
should all shut up; otherwise, too much revealing information has been given away in the "presence" of the house.
Regardless, the performances, most notably by Pamela Franklin, are well-done, being one of the two major
reasons why the film comes through. The other is the stylized camera work. I usually complain about close-ups
being suffocating, but here, they're comfortably done. Roddy McDowell deserves credit for closing the
show on a high note, but I don't feel he realistically portrayed the lone survivor from the last time when
he should be more scared and reluctant to go back again.
All in all, although not that suspenseful, I prefer The Legend of Hell House over
The Haunting.