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MOVIE REVIEW: "The Legend of Hell House"

THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE directed by John Hough (1973, 95 min)

Based on the novel by Richard Matheson, author of such venerable horror movie fodder as I Am Legend and The Shrinking Man, Hell House has a lot going for it, with strong acting, effective sets, and a good premise which promises a nice creepy tale. This makes it all the more disappointing when the film loses steam halfway through. I blame the cat. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Hell House opens as well-known ghost hunter Lionel Barrett awaits an audience with a wealthy eccentric, who wishes to hire him to explore the infamous Belasco House. Lionel is to be accompanied in his quest by two mediums, Florence Tanner and Benjamin Fischer, news to which Barrett responds less than enthusiastically. It seems that mediums are not tops on his list. However, the temptation of a hundred-thousand-pound fee, and the promise of notoriety should he succeed, overcomes any reservations he may have about the company. Lionel's modest goal is to prove once and for all whether there is life after death.

The Belasco House, as we learn in some convenient exposition between Lionel and his wife Ann, is certainly the place to try. Known as "the Mount Everest of haunted houses," Belasco House has been the site of two previous psychic investigations, both of which ended in vaguely hinted at disaster. Naturally, this foreboding news causes Ann to insist that she join the party because it's just so exciting.

Wasting no time, we speed right along to the big day. Lionel and Ann pick up Florence and Fischer (played by Roddy McDowall, who doesn't even bother chewing the scenery -- he just swallows it whole), who, wouldn't you know it, was a part of the last Belasco House expedition. According to Lionel, it's a wonder he escaped with his sanity. So, you know, naturally, he'd want to come back. I guess a hundred thousand pounds stretched pretty far back then. The chaste Florence, on the other hand, is clearly the idealist in the group. She likes to help lost souls. Uh-huh. You know, ghosts can smell sucker a mile away, lady.

Allow me to digress for a moment to note that, yes, there is a strangely familiar ring to Hell House's story. Hmm. Group of psychic investigators, joined by a civilian or two, visit a legendary haunted house. Where have we seen this before? The Haunting (the original, please, not that ghastly crime against nature of a remake)? Well, yes. Looks like old Richard was having trouble coming up with a plot of his very own. However, I'm willing to overlook this because, really, how much variation is there in haunted house tales? There are, what, four? So although Hell House really walks the plagiarism line a bit, I contend that what most people look for in a ghost tale are well-done scares, not innovative story. Disagree with me if you will, in which case I highly recommend The Haunting. In fact, you should really watch The Haunting regardless. That scene in the middle of the night, with the hand-holding? Brrr. Still gives me the willies to this day.

Anyhoo, back to our actual subject here. That's The Legend of Hell House, for those of you just joining us. Lionel, Ann, Florence and Fischer arrive at the Belasco mansion, naturally a big, dark, creepy, gothic, dusty monstrosity, get the lights turned on, and with true ghost-hunting instinct, head straight for what is always the scariest place in movies of this sort, the chapel. No restful sanctuary is to be found here. Florence's reaction to the place is so strong that she can't go in, and waits outside while the others explore. And it's that moment, when she seems to be overwhelmed by a something-or-other inside the chapel, that exemplifies the good acting that holds up this film. The players in Hell House spend a lot of time reacting to, and interacting with, things that we can't see or hear, the filmmakers having wisely elected to leave most of the ghosts and ghoulies to our imagination (see that remake of The Haunting - or rather, don't, in the name of all that is holy - for an example of why this is so important - cheesy CGI does not a scary movie make!), and I think they do a bang-up job of making us believe their fear. Florence's terror shows us that there's some bad mojo in the chapel, and sets the stage for unpleasant revelations and supernatural events to come. Then again, maybe she was just agreeing with me that the wall murals depicting the deadly sins in loving detail are in rather poor taste for a place of worship.

After this introduction to the house, the film takes its time building tension through a series of familiar ghost-story memes: the seance; the increasing tension between the rational, as embodied by Lionel, and the emotional, personified especially in Florence; and the revelations of nastiness involving Belasco senior, who seems to have been quite the busy fellow, his activities memorably ticked off by Fischer during dinner: "Drug addiction. Alcoholism. Sadism. Bestiality. Mutilation, murder. Vampirism, necrophilia, cannibalism. Not to mention a gamut of sexual goodies." Fun fun!

Once again, it's not the originality that makes it here, as we've seen these tactics in other movies. It's the deadly serious conviction with which the actors and director approach their task that makes these scenes believable and, therefore, suitably frightening. The careful pacing allows us to sit back and enjoy every nuance of the growing tensions among the characters; it also grants us the luxury of savoring each small and well-placed frightening moment, leisurely preparing us for the horrors to come.

The careful setup begins to pay off as Florence, who has been contacted by a spirit claiming to be Belasco Sr.'s son Daniel, becomes increasingly alienated from the others, particularly skeptical Lionel. This leaves her vulnerable to attack from the ghost, whose true identity becomes doubtful as its hostility seems to grow. As these and other rifts between the characters leave them in danger, it is left purposefully ambiguous whether they are orchestrated by the supernatural forces in Belasco House, or by the explorers' own human failings - another nice touch which makes this a ghost story with a little more substance than most. All in all, by the midpoint of the movie, my spine was a bit tingly, my gruesome-revelations sense was all aquiver, and I was settling back in my lawn chair* for a nice scary ride.

And then the cat came along and ruined it all.

Note to people who make horror movies: when you're reading a script, and you get to a scene with someone getting attacked by a cat, here's what you should do. Rip out the page. Light it on fire. Step on it.

Here's the thing: cats cannot be trained to act like they're attacking people, thus making the use of cat puppets a necessity. And there is nothing, no, nothing, less scary than watching some poor actor try to pretend that he or she is being attacked by a puppet of a cat. Not one thing. And that's even counting anesthetized puppies.

So there's this scene where Florence gets mauled by a cat (puppet), which is very traumatic, and which is made worse for her by the fact that Lionel makes no attempt to hide the fact that he thinks she probably hurt herself.

Despite the fact that the story struggles gamely on, the acting remains quite good, and the atmosphere is creepy and claustrophobic as a good haunted house flick should be, after this point I was much less engaged than I had been previously. It's just. so. frustrating, too, because up until this point I really thought we had a movie to rival the aforementioned Haunting and The Changeling here. Sadly, however, the film does not live up to its great setup. The interactions of the characters begin to verge on melodrama, and by the end of the film, everyone seems a bit worn out, resulting in a climax that seems strangely emotionally detached, and an ending revelation which is less than thrilling. I won't give it away here, because I still have a lot of respect for this movie, but suffice to say that the dark secret of Belasco House made me feel like I would feel when my souffle fell, if I cooked souffle. All, you know, limp and still needing something to serve the dinner guests. I recommend this film just to see how important pacing, acting and subtlety are in a supernatural tale, but I'm afraid you'll still have to figure out how to carry off the ending yourself.

*Yeah, by the by? If you?re looking for a place to order a couch from, avoid Bowl and Board please. "Delivery in 3 to 5 weeks," my ass.Back

Posted by hilatron at October 10, 2002 07:39 PM