Film: House on Haunted Hill
Genre: Horror
Year: 1999
A re-make of the 1958 black-and-white classic which starred horror legend Vincent Price, 1999's House on Haunted Hill set out to update the film for a new generation, with more scares than ever before. Though the film certainly starts off with a fabulously chilly atmosphere and several frightneing scenes, it unfortunately descends into a bit of a run-of-the-mill, farcical slasher flick towards the end, and leaves one feelig unsatisfied. Thankfully, the strong performances by some of the cast help hold the movie together until its conclusion, and it can be called good fun if nothing else.
Geoffrey plays the entrepreneur Stephen H. Price, a brass theme-park-owning millionaire who's crafted a living out of scaring people. His wife, the mentally instable and wicked Evelyn Stockard-Price, wishes to hold her birthday party at a reputedly haunted house on a hill by the sea, a place which was once a mental institution where horrific experiments and operations took place. Stephen agrees, but only after he's shredded his wife's guest list and crafted one of his own. It thus baffles them both when, on the eve of the party, the guests that arrive are complete strangers. Soon locked in the house by supernatural forces, the party dwindles as the night goes on, suffering at the hands of the resident ghosts -- and their own friends -- until only two manage to make it through to the dawn.
Though the resemblance was not originally intended, Rush looks very much like Vincent Price in the lead role - and his character's name is a definite nod to the man. He clearly enjoys himself in the part, playing it camply to its fullest, in something of a retro-horror style. Starting off as an overconfident and rather dislikable business tycoon, Rush takes Price through a character transformation as the house takes its toll on him, and ultimately Price sacrifices himself in order to save the character, Sara, from death. A noble end for an unfortunate man who's final prank got turned completely on its head.
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