House on Haunted Hill (1999 film)

Development

House on Haunted Hill was the first film produced by American production company Dark Castle Entertainment,^[8] formed in 1998 by producers Joel Silver and Gilbert Adler, and filmmaker Robert Zemeckis.^[9][10] Silver and Zemeckis, collaborators on the Tales from the Crypt television series, had discussed remaking William Castle's 1959 film as early as 1997,^[7][11] with Zemeckis citing it among his favorite films.^[12]

Zemeckis proposed a remake of the film to Castle's daughter, Terry, who herself had already considered shopping a remake to film studios.^[12] However, her father had sold the rights to the film years prior in order to pay for her college tuition.^[12] In the intervening decades since the film's release, the rights had passed from Allied Artists to Lorimar before the latter's catalogue was absorbed by Warner Bros.^[13] "There were no ancillary rights," Castle said, "so I went to Warner Bros., which owns it now. They told me that Joel Silver and Robert Zemeckis had been talking about making a modern version of the picture."^[12] Terry Castle would ultimately serve as co-producer on the remake.^[14]

Director William Malone was also a fan of the original film, which he had seen as a child.^[14] Malone and screenwriter Dick Beebe developed a screenplay over a period of a year and a half, based on the original by Robb White.^[15][16] According to Malone, he wrote approximately twenty percent of the screenplay, though he did not take a writing credit on it.^[7] Co-producer Adler noted that he felt the film was "totally different" from the original, but retained its spirit in terms of "how we're telling the story, and the basic tenets of the story itself. We contemporize it as much as possible."^[7] The unethical psychiatry methods and experimental procedures featured in the film were loosely based on medical experiments conducted by the Nazis.^[17][18]

Unlike in the 1959 film, in which a supernatural element was only hinted at (and ultimately revealed to be a ruse), the reality of paranormal forces attacking the party attendees was made explicit in Beebe's screenplay.^[19][20]

Casting

The film's principal cast (clockwise from top left: Geoffrey Rush, Famke Janssen, Taye Diggs, and Ali Larter)

Geoffrey Rush signed on to appear as Steven Price, the theme park mogul in the film.^[15] The Price character name, as well as some of the character's overall personality and mannerisms, are references to actor Vincent Price, who portrayed the same character—named "Frederick Loren"—in the original film.^[21][22] Malone stated that Rush was committed to the material and took the role seriously.^[23] Rush modeled the look of the character after film director John Waters, wearing a distinct pencil moustache,^[24] and avoided watching the original film as he did not want his portrayal to be influenced by Vincent Price's performance.^[25] Elizabeth Hurley was initially considered for the role of Evelyn Price, but by February 1999, Famke Janssen was ultimately cast in the part.^[26]

Taye Diggs was subsequently cast as Eddie, the ex-professional baseball player attending the party, and agreed to appear in the film after Rush signed onto the project.^[15][27] Ali Larter, who had previously completed Varsity Blues (1999), was cast as Sara Wolfe, a woman who poses as her ex-boss, film executive Jennifer Jensen; the film marked Larter's third screen appearance.^[15] Commenting on Diggs' and Larter's casting, producer Gil Adler said: "When you are watching a horror film, you want to root for someone you can sympathize with. Taye and Ali have the charm and wit to be able to pull those emotions from the audience with their performances."^[25]

Saturday Night Live star Chris Kattan was cast as Watson Pritchett, the caretaker of the building.^[7] Terry Castle stated that Kattan was cast in the part for the sake of comic relief, and that the filmmakers allowed Kattan to "just [be] who he is."^[7] Bridgette Wilson was cast in the role of Melissa Marr, a disgraced television host, and was chosen by Malone who appreciated her comic timing, likening her to a "living Warner Bros. cartoon [character]."^[28] In casting Peter Gallagher as Donald Blackburn, a duplicitous physician, Malone commented that he brought "an evil quality" portraying "a guy who is something completely different than what he initially seems."^[29]

For the role of Dr. Vannacutt, the deranged head doctor of the hospital, singer Marilyn Manson was at one point considered,^[30] but Jeffrey Combs was ultimately cast in the part.^[31] Peter Graves appears in the film as himself, hosting a fictionalized television segment on the Vannacutt Institute's history,^[32] while Lisa Loeb and James Marsters have minor parts as news reporters visiting Price's amusement park.^[33][34]

Filming

Principal photography began in Los Angeles on January 28, 1999,^[3][30][35] with exteriors of the house's driveway being shot in Griffith Park near the Griffith Park Observatory.^[7]

The hospital's exterior and interiors were designed by David Klassen, who based its appearance on the monolithic style of Albert Speer, an architect who designed buildings for Nazi Germany.^[25] Adler commented on the unorthodox nature of the house: "Instead of being a typical sort of haunted house, this [one] is much more modern, with a touch of Deco. It's not what you'd expect to see."^[7] Larter stated in an on-set interview: "The set is dark and dirty, and everyone's been sick, and [Taye Diggs] and Chris [Kattan] keep me laughing. We really have had a good time."^[15] The exterior shots of the house perched on the cliffside were achieved by a specially-designed 7-foot (2.1 m) miniature.^[36] In order to achieve the illusion of the guests approaching the home's entrance, a still image of the miniature was matted with footage of the actors ascending the driveway.^[25][36]

The "Terror Incognita" roller coaster at Price's amusement park featured in the beginning of the film is actually The Incredible Hulk Coaster at Universal Islands of Adventure theme park at Universal Orlando Resort in Florida.^[37] Prior to securing The Incredible Hulk Coaster, the production had considered using the Rampage rollercoaster at VisionLand in Birmingham, Alabama.^[38]

The film was shot by cinematographer Rick Bota on 35 mm film stock, the negatives of which director Malone flashed in order to reduce the contrast of the picture, giving it a visual appearance similar to the film stock used in the early 20th century.^[39]

Visual effects

Some reviewers noted that the surrealistic jerking, twitching effect of the ghosts featured in the film was similar to the effects in Adrian Lyne's film Jacob's Ladder (1990).^[40] The special effects in the film were designed by Gregory Nicotero and Robert Kurtzman,^[41] with additional makeup design by Dick Smith in his last film credit.^[40] One of the monster figures featured in the film during Price's underwater hallucination sequence was a creation of Smith's that was intended to be used in Ghost Story (1981) but was ultimately not featured.^[40][42] Malone, struck by the appearance of the figure—which consisted of an eyeless, noseless human head with an enlarged mouth—was granted permission from Smith to use it in the film.^[39]

The tentacular morphing mass of ghosts featured at the film's climax, designed by KNB EFX Group and supervised by Robert Skotak, was inspired by the visual descriptions of monsters in H. P. Lovecraft's novels, as well as Rorschach inkblots used in psychiatry.^[40] According to Malone, most of the visual elements were not computer-generated, and were made up of footage and photographs shot by the production crew, which were grafted together to form the mass.^[39] Various human models were photographed for its design, as well as twisted layers of fabric, wire, and other physical materials.^[36] Skotak estimated that the final design was assembled from at least "a hundred different elements, maybe more than that.^[36]

The sequence in which Evelyn is subsumed by the mass and rapidly decomposes before melting into it was accomplished via a mixture of practical and digital effects.^[36] A blank styrofoam dummy head was crafted, onto which warped footage of actress Famke Janssen's face was projected.^[36] The prop head was filled with painted foam and cotton candy (mimicking the appearance of brain tissue) and then dissolved with acetone.^[36]

Late into the design process, Zemeckis proposed the notion of the spectral mass revealing the faces of the victims it had claimed.^[36] This required the crew to shoot additional footage of several actors, including Janssen, Wilson, and Rush.^[36] Because Rush had already completed filming and left Los Angeles, this footage of his face was filmed by a different crew in London.^[36]

Other practical visual effects included the use of a spinning saw blade being held in front of a camera lens to achieve a fluttering look to the hallucinatory sequences experienced by Price in the Saturation Chamber.^[39]

Post-production

Sound editor Dane Davis, who had at the time recently completed work on The Matrix (1999), served as the film's sound editor in post-production.^[25] According to Davis, House on Haunted Hill was among the first feature films to "use a completely virtual mix. Using some brand-new software, I was able to capture and create sounds, combine special effects, music, dialogue and background, and keep the entire mix in the computer where each element could be manipulated. I could change the relationship between sounds, or control the timbre and intensity of a particular sound right up until the movie was ready to be locked into a final print."^[25]

Several key scenes were excised from the final cut of the film during post-production.^[43] This included an exposition scene showing how Sara came to receive an invitation to the party: While working as a production assistant on a film set, Sara is fired by her boss, Jennifer Jenzen (played by Debi Mazar), the feisty vice president of a motion picture company. Two versions of the scene were shot, during which Sara hands Jennifer a bag delivered for her; inside is a music box with a jack-in-a-box-trigger which cuts the handler's finger. Jennifer throws the box in the garbage, and Sara discovers the invitation to Price's party inside of it.^[43]

Another scene removed from the film last-minute, according to director Malone, was a scene in which Sara falls through a collapsing floor when she and Baker are being chased by The Darkness.^[43] After falling two stories below, Wolfe awakens in a subterranean crematorium filled with the ashes and corpses of the hospital's dead patients. There, she is attacked by reanimated corpses who rise out of the ashes, terrorizing her and tearing off her overcoat.^[43] As a result of the scene's removal, there remains a continuity error in the final cut of the film, in which Wolfe's overcoat disappears from her body in-between scenes.^[43]

A final epilogue scene completing the Jennifer Jenzen story arc was also filmed, featuring Jennifer arriving at the house with a realtor, which she is to inherit. As she enters the front door, a bloodcurdling scream is heard, and the realtor is revealed to be Dr. Vannacutt.^[43] Director Malone said the scene ultimately was removed after the cutting of Jenzen's exposition scene, as well as for having a comical tone that did not fit with the rest of the film.^[43]

All three deleted scenes from the film were included on the 2000 Warner Bros. Home Video release of the film on DVD in the bonus features section.^[44]

Marketing

In keeping with William Castle's tradition of releasing each of his films with a prominent marketing gimmick, Warner Bros. and Dark Castle supplied movie theaters with scratch-off tickets that would be given to moviegoers.^[21] The scratch-off tickets gave each patron a chance to win a cash prize, like the characters in the film.^[21] The cash prizes totaled $1 million, including movie rental vouchers from Blockbuster.^[47] Additionally, the film's official website featured an Adobe Flash game titled Escape from House on Haunted Hill, in which players attempt to escape the Vannacutt Institute while being pursued by the ghost of Dr. Vannacutt.^[48]

Dark Castle had originally intended to release each of their films with a gimmick much like Castle had done. The studio considered releasing their subsequent remake of Thirteen Ghosts (2001) in 3-D with special glasses similar to the ones used by the characters in the film.^[11] These plans were scrapped and House on Haunted Hill remains the only film released with a special marketing gimmick.^[11]

Theatrical run

House on Haunted Hill premiered in Los Angeles on October 27, 1999, at the Mann Village Theater.^[49] Janssen, Kattan, Larter and Wilson were in attendance with director Malone, as well as producers Silver and Adler.^[49] The film was given a wide theatrical release in North America two days later, on October 29, 1999, opening on 2,710 screens.^[50]

Home media

Warner Home Video released House on Haunted Hill on VHS and a special edition DVD in April 2000.^[44] In 2006, Warner reissued it as part of a double feature DVD paired with the original 1959 film.^[51]

On October 9, 2018, Scream Factory released the film on Blu-ray for the first time in North America as a collector's edition featuring new interviews with Malone and other crew, among various other features.^[52][53][54]

Box office

House on Haunted Hill opened at number one at the U.S. box office over the Halloween weekend,^[55] earning over $15 million in ticket sales.^[50][56][57] Its North American theatrical exhibition lasted 61 weeks.^[50] By the end of its theatrical run, the film had a domestic gross of $40,846,082 and an international gross of $24,244,459, for a total of $65,090,541 worldwide.^[2]

Critical response

House on Haunted Hill received generally negative reviews from critics, and was often compared to Jan de Bont's The Haunting, another remake of a 1963 film released several months prior; both films focused on a group of strangers staying in a haunted house.^[i] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 31% of 62 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.7/10. The website's consensus reads: "Unsophisticated and unoriginal film fails to produce scares."^[63] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 28 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.^[64] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale.^[65]

Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "House on Haunted Hill is the kind of horror movie that's not a bit scary and quite a bit gross. Yet it's also mildly, even pleasantly, entertaining, at least by the diminished standard set by this summer's The Haunting ... [it] sets up hostile relationships between the characters, which allows the audience to wonder who is doing what to whom. Finding out is not so interesting, but getting there isn't so bad."^[66] Maitland McDonough of Film Journal gave the film a similar review, saying "The proceedings are all utterly conventional, but watching them unfold is mildly diverting if you're in the right frame of mind, as many moviegoers apparently were over the Halloween weekend," also favorably comparing the film to Jan de Bont's remake of The Haunting.^[59]

Kim Newman, writing for Sight and Sound, praised the "try-anything approach of writer-director William Malone" and observed that the film "manages to respect the original's intentions far more than such recent remakes as the 1999 versions of The Mummy and The Haunting... The mix of laughs, shocks and gruesomeness is much the same as in the two Tales from the Crypt movies, but Malone coaxes a slightly fresher flavour, taking on board the influence of David Fincher and even Lars von Trier."^[20]

Eric Harrison of the Los Angeles Times praised the performances in the film, particularly those of Rush, Kattan, and Larter, but felt that the screenplay's tone was inconsistent, writing: "Humans do so many horrible things to each other in House on Haunted Hill that the ghosts don't stand a chance of keeping up, which may explain why the script makes such nitwits of the characters—if the spooks are going to make an impression, they need all the help they can get."^[67] Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman gave the film a B− rating, calling it "trash, but creepier than you expect."^[68] Joe Leydon of Variety gave the film a favorable review, noting its "cheap scares," but adding: "Given the irredeemable cheesiness of the original 1958 House on Haunted Hill, the makers of the remake had nowhere to go but up. So it's not exactly a stunning surprise to find the new horror opus is a slicker and scarier piece of work."^[69]

Lawrence Van Gelder of The New York Times called the film "a sorry reincarnation" of the original, adding: "This film wastes the talents of actors like Geoffrey Rush and Peter Gallagher in hollow roles and relies heavily on its sets and special effects to do the work that should have been accomplished by its director and writer."^[70] The Austin Chronicle's Marc Savlov echoed a similar sentiment, writing: "The nicest thing I can say about this remake of William Castle's 1958 shocker is that Geoffrey Rush, god bless him, sure can do a fine imitation of Vincent Price's original mustache, even better than John Waters's–which is no mean feat."^[71]

Accolades