The whole point of a remake is to take the concept or idea from the original and expand upon it or take it into a new direction. The only ones who are halfway decent are Rush, who gives it his all but it’s not enough to save the movie, and Jeffrey Combs, in a very fitting role as a mad scientist. They feel less like real people and more like caricatures.

Geoffrey Rush, Famke Janssen, Taye Diggs, Ali Larter, and Christ Kattan have all been great in other performances, but here they just come off as cartoonish and over the top (especially Kattan). Given that it was the late 50’s most of their performances seem very theater, but ultimately they’re all pretty believable, as is their fear.įeaturing a solidly talented cast, the remake unfortunately fails to live up to the potential of said cast. This version does a great job of quickly introducing the guests and helping the audience understand their motives for being there. The original features an amazingly creepy lead performance by Vincent Price in the prime of his career. But when it comes to characters, this is where the divergence really shows. Whichever of them survives the night will be given a vast sum of money, and they slowly discover the terror contained within the house.Ī lot of minor details are the same as well with guests’ arrival via hearses, and handguns being given out as party favors. So after recently rewatching both back to back, we thought it would be fun to objectively compare them and determine which is the superior House on Haunted Hill!īoth version follow the same storyline pretty closely, an eccentric millionaire rents out an infamous haunted house for the night and hosts a party with several guests. In many ways, House of Haunted Hill set the stage for this original trio by creating what a haunted house movie can be, and of course by featuring the legendary Vincent Prince. Along with The Haunting and 13 Ghosts, House on Haunted Hill completes the trio of iconic haunted house horror films from the late 50s/early 60s that got the “modern” remake treatment in the late 90s/early 00s.

House on haunted hill 1999 cast