Customer Reviews

Terror in the Haunted House

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

...TERROR IN THE HAUNTED HOUSE is a great turkey of a horror film that's unintentionally funny. Unfortunately, Rhino has decided to pull a fast one on consumers with their DVD release. Without telling customers, Rhino has altered this film. The "mind-altering psycho-rama" is not the original subliminal footage. Please note at the 66 minute mark, Rhino includes 3 subliminal messages which read "Rent Rhino Videos every day". Also, Gerald Mohr, in the REAL cut of the film, does a prologue and epilogue which explains "psycho-rama". Thanks to Rhino, this has been cut... These changes should have been noted on the packaging!

Okay, first things first: the "Psycho-Rama" gimmick is ludicrous (if there is indeed a lost prologue explaining the purpose of this silly effect, I would love to see it just to experience someone trying to justify the "innovation" of Psycho-Rama with a straight face); there are several moments of hokey, low-rent acting; and, finally, the title of the movie is quite cheesy. But having said all that, damn if the movie isn't a creepy, fairly involving gothic mystery that keeps you guessing right to the end. If the studio had thrown a bit more money at this thing and gotten rid of the headache-inducing and never-to-be-seen-again "Psycho-Rama" effect, this movie could have stood among any major studio's regular output. Rhino offers its usual bare-bones DVD, but hey, the price is good and the print is sharp. Check this one out-- it may surprise you.

This movie had been an annual Halloween movie for my friends and me... I am delighted to find it again. This movie is chock full of over the top, stereotypical acting, cheesy effects (the psychorama has to be seen to be believed), and lines that are much funnier because they are meant to be so serious. If you like campy movies, you will love "Terror in the Haunted House".

The use of gimmicks in promoting low budget, low grade films used to be more common in the past, the grand master of such techniques being William Castle, probably his most famous being the attaching of vibrating devices to the bottom of various seats within the theater, then activating said device at specific moments during the showing of his film The Tingler (1959), scaring the heck out of movie going patrons. The purpose of these techniques was to provide an extra incentive to get the audience in the seats, using relatively inexpensive promotional tactics to prop up what was probably otherwise a weak film. Sometimes these techniques worked very well, while some floundered miserably, as is the case of the use of `Psycho-Rama', which was basically the insertion of single picture frames within the film, known as subliminal images, in Terror in the Haunted House aka My World Dies Screaming (1958). Directed by former actor Harold Daniels (Bayou, House of the Black Death), the film stars Cathy O'Donnell (The Amazing Mr. X, Ben-Hur), Gerald Mohr (The Angry Red Planet), William Ching (D.O.A.), and somewhat recognizable character actor John Qualen (The Searchers, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, 7 Faces of Dr. Lao).

As the film begins, we learn Shelia (O'Donnell), living in Switzerland and recently married to Philip (Mohr), is having nightmares that are actually the re-emergence of a repressed event that occurred during Shelia's childhood. The nightmares feature a creepy house and always end at the same point, right before what was probably a traumatic event. Anyway, Philip and Shelia decide to return to the states (both were originally American citizens), and Philip, deciding Shelia needs time to rest, rents a remote house that shares a remarkable resemblance to the house in Shelia's dream, to which Shelia begins freaking out, but Philips seems curiously insistent that they stay, hoping to force Shelia to face her demons, thereby overcoming them, or so he says...well, even if they wanted to leave, they can't as someone keeps stealing the distributor cap from their car (damnable kids). Soon others begin to get in on the act, like Jonah (Qualen), the bugged-eyed, mentally defective caretaker, and Mark (Ching), the apparent owner of the old house (he doesn't live there, as he says it's too old and dilapidated for anyone to stay there, except, I guess Jonah, and the house does have a disturbing history). As the spookiness sets in (faces in the window, screams piercing the night, etc.), Sheila's fractured mind begins the slow process of piecing together memories once thought lost, but it may be too late to learn what really happened so long ago as she's certain death awaits her in the haunted house, and she may be right...

Terror at the Haunted House was actually better than I expected, but not great by any means. The story, what I would term as a psychological melodrama thriller, kept me interested through to the end (I did feel the final payoff a bit weak). The mystery is well preserved throughout, although some of the exposition did appear obvious and awkward (i.e. clunky). The pacing was relatively solid, slowing down a few times, but the tension was apparent. I thought one of the best parts was at the beginning, as O'Donnell's character was relating her dream, and we walked through it via POV shots of the house. This sequence was genuinely creepy and set up the rest of the story nicely. The acting was decent, nothing spectacular, but I did like Cathy O'Donnell (who I believe sounds a little like Mia Farrow) as she displayed a demure attractiveness (and spent a good deal of the film in her nightgown) and presented her character reasonably well. I also liked John Qualen as the nutty caretaker, I suppose because I have a soft spot in my heart for curmudgeonly, codgerly old coots on the screen, a few of my favorites being Walter Huston (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre), Edmond O'Brien (The Wild Bunch), and the comical representation of Gabby Johnson, played by Jack Starrett, in Mel Brook's film Blazing Saddles. Qualen may not have been as curmudgeonly or codgerly as these latter characters (and this wasn't a westerner, as is the case of those other films), but he was pretty kooky, and the assumption within the film regarding the cause of his condition was living alone for much too long. As far as the `Psycho-Rama' element, or use of subliminal images (here they were odd cartoon still frames inserted at certain tense moments of the film), it was pretty annoying. You could tell something interrupts the movie, and use of the pause and frame advance feature on your DVD player will display these images, if your interested, and, thankfully, it didn't happen often. As someone else mentioned, Rhino, the company that released this film to DVD, took the liberty of inserting one of their own messages, one that features a crude, red cobra head (the originals were all in black and white), along with text that relates the message that you should rent Rhino videos everyday. I took this as I think it was intended, as a minor, playful adulteration of the original film, but it is an adulteration nonetheless, and something movie fans don't care for...also, the Internet Movie Database lists the running time of this film as 85 minutes, while this release is only 77 minutes. Is there truly an extra 8 minutes of footage out there? The film seemed pretty complete, so maybe it involved some lengthy pre-movie footage detailing what exactly `Psycho-Rama' was...I've seen this done on other films utilizing gimmicks. Regardless, the movie is decent and contains a few chills, even despite the `Psycho-Rama'. The picture quality on this DVD is pretty good, as is the audio. There are no special features available, but there are chapter stops.

Cookieman108

This is a mediocre gothic thriller about a woman learning secrets about her boyfriend's past while visiting his boyhood home (the type of thing satirized in Arsenic and Old Lace). It has a certain nostalgic charm that makes it more interesting to watch than most modern low-budget horrors. The only reason this movie still gets attention, however, is because of its "Psycho-Rama" gimmick.

For those wondering what Psycho-Rama is, during the so-called "scary" scenes, drawings of Mr. Hyde-like faces or short "scary" messages are flashed on the screen just long enough for the viewer to make them out. This process was satirized on an episode of South Park where they flashed photos of Barbara Striesand during scary scenes. This effect is supposed to subliminally activate the fear centres of the brain, increasing the viewer's reaction to the "scary" scenes. The filmmakers even originally added warnings to their ads for people with heart conditions that the stress caused by this process might give them heart attacks.

Not long after this film came out, a controversy arose about the use of subliminals in movie theatres centered around pictures of soda drinks or food flashed on the screen during movies in order to make patrons hungry or thirsty so they will rush to the snack counter for overpriced products. Actually, a person who is not already thirsty cannot be made thirsty as a result of subliminals (the pictures can only make a person more aware of their existing thirst), nor will they make a person willing to pay more for a drink. Nor can a person be made frightened by subliminals unless the images are actually frightening. Thus the panic about the use of subliminals giving people heart attacks or turning them into consumer mind-slaves was unwarranted, but that didn't stop laws banning such practices.

Unfortunately, since the process does not work, the film remains unfrightening and even the novelty of the gimmick wears off after you've seen the same drawings and messages flashed a dozen or so times.

"The First Picture in Psycho-Rama! The Fourth Dimension! Subliminal Communication!" There are 13 original subliminal images in this film. The front of the DVD Disc is a perfect example of what a real sublinimal message looks like except for the image on the disc is permanent. The subliminal messages and images in this film really serve no purpose to the storyline except to try to make you scream. You can see them very quickly...a flash. But since some are hard to really see (of course), I will tell them to you here. (Spoiler) Cartoon-like drawing of a bald-headed old man wearing glasses with a mouse in his mouth. This appears four times. A Ghoulish, devilish, fat face with jagged big teeth, pointy ears, two horns out of his head and a long tongue hanging out of his mouth. This also appears four times. Again the old man face with a mouse in his mouth appears again and below it reads "Get Ready To Scream!" This appears three times. Then the face appears again and reads "Scream!". Then the face appears again and reads "Scream Louder!" The ultimate subliminal message follows when the woman goes to the window. The full screen reads "SCREAM BLOODY MURDER". What is really bothersome about this film is that Rhino Video has altered the film and has added eight subliminal messages of their own. Later in the film, another cartoonish face with a tongue hanging out of its mouth appears. Again the face appears which reads below it "Prepare to die". Again the face appears and reads "Die Die Die!" The face appears again and reads "Die Louder!" A skeleton-like face appears and reads "Die Dead!" A cobra snake appears and reads "Rent Rhino Videos Every Day" This appears twice. Then the cobra snake appears in bright red still reading "Rent Rhino Videos Every Day". A marketing gimmick, no doubt, by Rhino Video to get people to buy more of thier videos (If subliminal communication does work). A subliminal message can really be seen well when you "Pause" and "Step" (Frame by Frame) the DVD picture. That is why a movie with subliminal messages is perfect for DVD. Perhaps subliminal messages does work, because I do remember the images I saw. They were displayed on the American Movie Classics (AMC) website when AMC was showing the film.

When Rhino re-released this great film from the late 1950s they added their own touch to the Psycho-rama effects. Try to pause the tape at the right time to see what I mean.

About the movie I thought it was rather good even though the Psycho-rama flashes distract from the story about a woman facing her fears in the house she fears. A great movie for a cold October night. Highly recomended!!

The woman in this movie screams at everything. A curtain blowing in the wind, shadows, you name it she screams at it. Not scary, not that unintentionally funny. Picture quality is pretty good.

The only thing that terrified me in this movie was the flat acting
of the characters. It is an old yarn of Husband trying to drive his
Wife into insanity but with a twist.

This is one of the bad movies I have seen. This is for the squemish.

This is just not that great a movie. It obviously intended for the then-unique technique of subliminal messaging to carry the film but it utterly fails. Using the stop-motion on the DVD player to see the hidden images is mildly entertaining (be sure to look for Rhino's addition!) but I won't be watching it again.