EssenceStory Well Deserved Praise

ManiakJiggy This is How Movies Should Be Made

Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?

Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Scott LeBrun Ron Foster ("Private Lessons") and Merry Anders ("Women of the Prehistoric Planet") play Scott and Nancy Campbell, a married couple hired by their friend, a lawyer named Joe Schiller (Richard Crane, "The Alligator People"), to do an architectural survey on a country estate. Soon after they arrive, they experience some strange, moderately disconcerting experiences. Knowing full well that the old crone (Georgia Schmidt) who owned the place (who's now confined to an institution) would have loathed police interference, they attempt to do their own sleuthing.This fairly lightweight, routine "old dark house" type horror film ultimately doesn't deliver much in the way of actual horror. It's certainly well made, with some excellent black & white cinematography and camera work. (The Cinema Scope aspect ratio of 2.35:1 does help a lot.) The performances are all quite engaging and the script by Harry Spalding ("Chosen Survivors") features some mildly amusing lines. The "castle" itself is an appropriate setting, adding to the atmosphere that producer & director Maury Dexter ("The Mini-Skirt Mob", "Hell's Belles") is able to create.Foster and Anders make for a personable main couple, with fine support from Crane, Erika Peters ("The Atomic Brain", "Mr. Sardonicus") and the prolific Dal McKennon ('Daniel Boone', "Lady and the Tramp"). A very young Richard Kiel ("Eegah", "The Spy Who Loved Me") makes an appearance as a mute giant."House of the Damned" is watchable enough, but it never does live up to that title.Six out of 10.

phillindholm "House of the Damned" is a quickly made Fox second feature, (inexplicably shot in CinemaScope) which offers the viewer pleasing performances from Ronald Foster, the always fine Merry Anders, and Richard Crane, who apparently is playing fast and loose with his new French bride (Erika Peters) whose acting is - how shall I say? - lousy. These four are exploring an old house with a grim history (what else is new?) which the owners want remodeled. Occasional scares, (supposedly) unexpected events, and undeveloped story reduce this one to a series of build ups to nothing in particular. The photography, however, is above average for this sort of thing. Unfortunately, it's mostly wasted here. Try "House of Dark Shadows", "House of 1000 Dolls", "House of Whipcord" or "House Of Women" instead. Incidentally, the original movie posters announce the film thusly: ''13 Keys Open The Doors To The House Haunted By The Living Dead!' If ever there was a case of fraudulent advertising, this was it. Any appearances by The Living Dead are strictly in the minds of the 20th Century-Fox publicity department.

ferbs54 "House of the Damned" is a fairly unknown little chiller from 1963 that provides some undeniably creepy moments and yet ultimately reveals itself as a marginal entertainment at best. In it, we are introduced to Scott and Nancy Campbell, a likable, attractive couple that has been hired to do an architectural survey of Rochester Castle, a deserted, San Simeon-like affair in the California mountains. But is the pile REALLY deserted? Anyway, this film offers us some surprisingly fine acting by Ronald Foster and Merry Anders as our perplexed couple, as well as interesting direction by Maury Dexter (I know, I know...who?) and some nice B&W lensing in 'Scope, well captured on the crisp-looking DVD that I just watched. There is at least a quartet of scenes that should manage to drip some ice water down most viewers' spines: a half-seen, legless creature creeping through the dark of night; the face of a strange woman peering from behind a bedroom grille; the first lumbering appearance of Richard "Jaws" Kiel; and the sight of a headless person sitting in a chair, hands aflutter. But ultimately, the picture is done in by its denouement; an overly mundane explanation for the film's previously bizarre events that some may find sweet, others ridiculous and still others laughable. This ending kind of reduces the film to the level of prosaic piffle; at least, it proved a disappointment to this viewer. Still, with a running time that just barely exceeds 60 minutes, "House of the Damned" never wears out its welcome, does hold the viewer's attention, and should even prove just fine for the kiddies. It's worth a look, I suppose.

MARIO GAUCI An obscure and rather uneventful but nevertheless atmospheric and effective little chiller which presents us with a new twist on "the old dark house" theme which may ultimately disappoint some viewers. I won't divulge it here for those who may feel inclined to check this one out: I'll just say that it combines elements from two well-known Tod Browning movies - FREAKS (1932) and MARK OF THE VAMPIRE (1935) - and leave it at that! The plot deals with an architect and his wife having to spend the night in the infamous (and supposedly uninhabited) Rochester castle, who are later joined by the former's boss and his sassy girlfriend. However, before long, things start to go bump in the night: a bunch of keys mysteriously disappear and reappear with a couple of them missing, a few doors are inexplicably forbidden to the house dwellers, the girlfriend disappears after a quarrel with her intended, etc. It all seems to point in the direction of the crazed proprietress of the mansion who is currently spending her days in a mental institution but, eventually, we discover that there are even stranger forces at work here... As I said before, the moody lighting and occasional 'scary' set-pieces are the whole show in this one but, despite the lack of star names, the foursome acquit themselves quite adequately under the circumstances; in the latter stages of the film, Richard "Jaws" Kiel also makes an appearance as an unexpected 'guest' of the Rochester mansion.The low-priced Fox DVD is accompanied by a theatrical trailer which should not be viewed before the main feature as it virtually shows snippets from all the film's best sequences; interestingly, the much brighter trailer enabled me to make out some details which had eluded me during the film itself!