House On Haunted Hill

In honor of Scary Season, I’m going to do a two-fer with a lineup of two family “scary” films in two weeks and some guest commentators to talk about them. Now, the films themselves are not especially scary, though one has a few low-key thrills. No, they’re more in tune with the season in terms of theme and resonate with me because of two pillars: do as much as possible with what little you have and do it with enthusiasm.

 The first film is all in on the initial pillar --- it’s House On Haunted Hill, a taut 75 minutes of “terror,” distributed by Allied Artists, made in 1959 by the Orson Welles of the B film. Inspired by, produced by, and directed by William Castle, the King of the Movie Gimmick. They simply don’t have people in the film business like Castle anymore, though John Waters, who idolized Castle, might be a close representative. 

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