Return to House on Haunted Hill (2007)

Unrated Edition

Warner Premiere

R1 DVD

The House of Haunted Hill (1959) was an early horror classic. Release in the late Fifites and starring the compelling presence of Vincent Price it was the tale of five people invited by Frederick and Annabelle Loren to spend twelve hours in the house on Haunted Hill. The house is believed to be haunted and if they spent the night they will receive $10,000, a huge amount in the dollars of the time ! Soon strange accidents occurs and one by one the guests are bumped off until the motive behind it all becomes apparent.

The 1999 remake, House on Haunted Hill, has a similar story starring Geoffrey Rush as the eccentric billionaire Stephen Price, who with his rather nasty wife, Evelyn, offers six strangers one million dollars each to play a dangerous game. They must spend the night in a mental asylum where a mad doctor tortured and killed his patients. In this version, the House has been replaced with a mental institution and the tale takes its inspiration from more modern gore hidden horror cinema. As the guests settle in, the asylum goes into lockdown and soon the strangers must face traps set by the Price himself and the house and its ghostly occupants take their revenge.

The sequel, Return to House on Haunted Hill takes things a lot further. It seems that Dr.Vannacutt, the mad psychiatrist (played superbly by Jeffrey Combs) in charge of the asylum was not solely to blame. He believed that art could influence the minds of his patients for the better and somehow came into possession of Baphomet, the cult idol associated with the Knights Templar. Slowly this embodiment of evil took over possession of the doctor and his staff leading them to all manner of surgical excesses and abuses until the patients rose up and slaughtered them all.

The sequel focuses on treasure hunters who want the idol for themselves. When the sole survivor of a massacre at the institution dies, her sister is left with a nightmare. She has been sent Dr. Vannacutt’s diaries which contain a map to where the idol is hidden and there are two groups hot after it. One of which is led by a violent thug who with his team of mercenaries is ready to do anything to get hold of the idol which he can on sell for a cool $5,000,000.

As they explore the asylum ghosts abound, thugs are torn apart and a hot lesbian living dead scene unfolds. There are professional rivalries, shocks and jumps and lots of supernatural action. It would be reasonable to say this is not the most intelligent plot; it is fairly straight forward shock-horror with a passing level of character development.

The ghosts and supernatural elements work well, but the film moves into overdrive when it comes to the second half with the search for the statue. The industrial crematorium under the house is very creepy and the decaying bodies, mad patients and surgical scenes all add to the unsettling atmosphere.

The combination of the Baphomet backstory, treasure hunting and the ghostly supernatural tale makes this an enjoyable and entertaining sequel. While it is predictable and ultimately does not bring enough new to the table to make it truly memorable, it is a fun watch on a dark and windy night.

It is also available as a double feature with the 1999 remake.

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This review will appear in Volume 3 No.2 of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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