Search - House on Haunted Hill: 50th Anniversary on DVD

Terrible special features

Stephen Pierce | 02/27/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I've been waiting for a special edition of House on Haunted Hill for awhile now. The special features are listed as "90 minutes long" and include the following:



1. less than 5 minutes of a fan talking about Carol Ohmart (1 minute of it is with Jack Hill). Waste of time.

2. less than 5 minutes of the same fan talking about very well known facts about the house in the movie. Waste of time.

3. over 80 minutes of trailers and a terrible quality willian castle tv spot. Waste of time.



The only reason to buy this is for the cool dvd art. Nothing else.

Maybe one day we'll see a special edition dvd worth buying. Until then, don't double dip on this one."

Rip-Off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Richard Masloski | New Windsor, New York USA | 11/02/2009

(1 out of 5 stars)

"The actual movie is wonderful fun. A crazy, zany, hokey and totally entertaining movie with the ultimate horror host - Vincent Price - giving us one of his many, many great performances. I love this movie!



But this particular 50th Anniversay Special Edition is NOT special in the least. It is a rip-off. And your host for this DVD is Johnny Legend who is NO "legend" in my book, as far as his absurd participation in this release is concerned.



The extras are as flimsy as the plausability of the movie's plotline. But wherein the film's plot-holes are forgiveable fun, the Extras on this DVD are an embarassment. They sound like they'd be great - but they are not. "Return to the House" features a few silent contemporary shots of the Frank Loyld Wright house as it looks today and then Legend talking about the house in front of a chain-link fence. He could be in front of any chain-link fence...for we don't even see the famous house behind him! We never learn who owns the house now or what it is currently used for. We never get on the grounds with the camera and take a closer look at the house.



"Surprise William Castle TV Spot" shows the lead-in to a game show created by Castle - but just when I thought we'd get to see the whole show (which had a most interesting premise and panelists including Groucho Marx)...just when I think we'll see the mystery-themed game show, the featurette ends!



The "Carole Ohmart Profile" talks more about her role in "Spider Baby" then in "House" and ends without us ever finding out what happened to her ultimately. What could have been a bit more of her performance in "The Spectre of Edgar Allan Poe" is, instead, just a two second clip of the older actress turning her head, not even speaking a line from that movie.



The Vincent Price extras are fun to see: but Mr. Price is always fun!



The DVD has NO chapter stops and the title credits are off with "Raunchy Tonk Production" on the screen and the credit title has "50th Anniversary Special Edition" stamped beneath the film title. I am a purist and despised these liberties.



There are no commentaries, no making of featurette, zilch. As for it being declared a "Brand New Widescreen Transfer" I doubt it. It looked no different from some other versions I have.



Save your money - and what a tawdry way to celebrate a 50th anniversary for a classic flick!"