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It’s a horrifyingly atmospheric thriller that’s torturous in its quietness, making every twitching curtain and figure walking across the frame a silent terror that will imprint on your retinas. The performances are all believable and fragile, the costumes magnificent and the color contrast striking. To this day, it is one of the most visually flawless (not to mention flat-out terrifying) black-and-white movies you will ever see. Every frame truly is a painting in this master stroke that’s waiting, begging to be recognized. We’re bending the rules here, since The Shining is more a haunted hotel movie than a haunted house movie. However, this Stanley Kubrick masterpiece is so genius that it deserves to be in the upper echelons of basically every movie list ever written.
The 20 best haunted house films of all time, ranked - Entertainment Weekly News
The 20 best haunted house films of all time, ranked.
Posted: Tue, 10 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Release
The movie cashed in on the found-footage phenomenon that 1999's The Blair Witch Project proved to be a potential gold mine. Paranormal Activity grossed more than $193 million worldwide, and it only cost $15,000 to produce. Steven Spielberg saw the original cut of the film prior to its release in which Katie dies, and convinced Peli to reshoot the more ominous ending where Featherston simply goes missing. While virtually every character — and performer — from 1942's Cat People returns, The Curse of the Cat People is, to this day, argued by most film historians as being a sequel in name only.
Francis Galluppi Tapped To Write & Direct New ‘Evil Dead’ Movie
It’s got a spooky old house, a cast of beloved character actors led by Ray Milland, a slow-burn supernatural narrative that moves at its own leisurely pace, and of course old-school ghosts. It might move a little slowly for modern audiences, but if you’re patient with it, it’s the kind of film that will wrap you up in its own creepy comforts. In 2019, Martin Scorsese named The Uninvited one of the scariest movies of all time; “the tone is very delicate, and the sense of fear is woven into the setting [and] the gentility of the characters,“ he wrote for The Daily Beast. Yes, we know horror master Stephen King is less than thrilled with Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of his chilling tale. Sorry, Stephen—horror obsessives the world over agree that The Shining is one of the creepiest haunted house films ever made. Jack Torrance hopes his new role as the winter caretaker of the Overlook Hotel will be good for his family and his sanity.

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Past tensions initially lead the viewer to believe that Randy will resolve the situation by killing Jack, but he instead turns the gun on Susan with Leslie yelling at him to kill her. Leslie grabs a knife and accidentally stabs Randy after seeing a hallucination of her uncle.
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‘Oddity’ Review: Jump Scares Leave a Lasting Impression in Effective (Yet Funny) Haunted-House Horror - Variety
‘Oddity’ Review: Jump Scares Leave a Lasting Impression in Effective (Yet Funny) Haunted-House Horror.
Posted: Tue, 16 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Russ Tamblyn, who plays Luke Sannerson—the heir set to inherit Hill House—in the film also appeared in one episode of Netflix's 2018 miniseries, The Haunting of Hill House. Rick (Ray Milland) and his sister Pamela (Ruth Hussey) make the spur-of-the-moment decision to buy a lovely seaside home, and, as a result, Rick meets and becomes quite taken with young Stella (Gail Russell). The Uninvited is one of the first full-length haunted house movies, making it a cornerstone model moving forward for all other films to follow. After an unforeseen auto collision ends with his death, Laurel finds herself a widow that must care for their daughter who is now paralyzed and wheelchair-bound.
Haunted House Movies Ranked Best to Worst
It’s not uncommon for a horror movie to be likened to a fever dream, but nothing in the genre quite deserves the comparison like House. This 1977 J-horror about a group of girls spending the summer in a Tokyo home is a psychedelic nightmare. Bright colors, manic editing, batshit set pieces, and a disorienting soundtrack by prog-rockers Godiego define this hellish fantasy, which, apparently, is intentionally mental to evoke the way a child would retell a traumatic experience. J.A. Bayona may be better known nowadays for directing Jurassic World, but his Spanish-language, Guillermo Del Toro-produced debut, The Orphanage, is still his masterpiece. Dark, depressing and packing some powerhouse twists, this tale of a woman returning to her old orphanage in an attempt to renovate it offers everything you need from a spine-tingling ghost story. It could well be worth prepping something more lighthearted to put on afterwards.
House of Darkness ( 58%
(Don’t bother double-checking that, I’m pretty sure it’s pretty accurate.) The first two make sense as blood and dead conjure images tailor-made for horror, but the use of house takes a different approach. And that’s the genius of it as the idea of horror forcing its way in — or worse, already living within the walls — is inherently terrifying. The plot of the first film was based on an original story written by Fred Dekker, with subsequent movies being based on his initial concept.
"Gramps", who was a treasure hunter was the keeper of an Aztec crystal skull that he discovered with his partner and friend-turned-enemy "Slim" Reeser. After examining some photographs and paperwork, they resolve to dig up the grave of his ancestor, believing that he had the ancient treasure buried with him. In one untypical, symbolic scene, the war-weary photojournalist played by Kirsten Dunst, all body armour and pursed lips, tries on a pretty dress in a downtown store insulated from the fighting. It is as if she, like America, is trying, fleetingly, to recover her humanity. Prepare, too, for a likely European rupture and trade war, a Nato split and an unravelling of 75 years of transatlantic collaboration.
Scariest Haunted House Movies to Freak You Out in Your Own Home
Five years ago, a Halloween haunted house tour attraction opened its doors—only for something to go terribly wrong on opening night and claim the lives of 15 attendees. The crew examines multiple leads and rumors, which all indicate some sort of paranormal phenomena at play. Soon, they meet Sara Havel, the only surviving member of the incident, who agrees to an interview. Not only does she speak with them, she also provides chilling tapes shot by different staff members on the day of the tragedy. What’s on the tapes reveals what truly happened during the Hell House opening, and boy is it eerie. Whether it’s the troubled spirits of an ancient burial ground or demons from the pit of hell, these haunted house movies prove that home is where the horror is.
After his death, the McCarthy family moves into a new home and try to move on from the horrific events. Despite this, evidence begins to come form, which calls into question McCarthy's association to the victims of the murderer. As an investigation ensues, strange occurrences take place and terrify the family within their home. They all begin to believe that "The Cleaver" is tormenting them from beyond the grave, as he promised in his final moments. A parapsychologist named Peter Campbell that the family hires, proports that the killer must have made a deal with the devil prior to his execution, allowing his spirit to return and haunt the family.
Hardcore horror fans may balk that it wasn’t bloodier, but Miner’s film often scores by going into wild directions and successfully adding slapstick to a somber horror movie premise. As far as the surreal touches go, none of this comes near the gonzo brilliance and disturbing visual dexterity of Nobuhiko Obayashi’s unrelated “Hausu” (1977). Yet, for an ’80s mainstream horror comedy, even the far more successful and slickly produced “Fright Night” (1985) played it safer in comparison. The new film was announced back in January 2023, with Sean S. Cunningham once again producing the piece. Jeremy Weiss and Jeff Locker came up with the story and pitched it to Cunningham, who liked it enough to decide to go into production. The first ‘House’ film is by far the best – not brilliant, per se, but the best of the bunch – and then quality kind of dwindles with each standalone sequel.
They’re about sex, lies and Access Hollywood videotape, about trust and betrayal, truth and division. They’re about democracy in America, where political feuds and vendettas swirl, guns proliferate and debates over civil rights are neither civil nor right. Because ghosts and other supernatural beings need a place to rest their weary heads, too.
Detective Lucas McCarthy who has pursued the serial killer Max "The Cleaver" Jenkins for years, finally makes his arrest. Following his prosecution and sentencing to death, McCarthy is amongst those present at the execution. During the process, Jenkins promises revenge in his final words, just prior to being electrocuted.