Monday Morning Movie Review: House on Haunted Hill (1959)

My blogger buddy photog at Orion’s Cold Fire posted last week about his favorite classic horror films, all of which are pre-1960.  It’s a great list, and one of his readers, War Pig, added in some more that go as late as the 1960s.  The black-and-white era was truly a golden age of horror, and many of the films on both lists holds up quite well.

The latest film chronologically on photog’s list is House on Haunted Hill (1959), a William Castle ghost story starring Vincent Price as a wealthy industrialist who offers cash-starved party guests $10,000 each if they can survive the night in the titular spook house.

I just happened to watch House on Haunted Hill last Wednesday night (24 July 2024) on Shudder, and while watching it, stumbled upon photog’s list.  I’ve seen the film before, but it really struck me this time how spooky it is, perfectly setting the tone and feel of a classic, almost Victorian, ghost story.

It also helped that it was a literal “dark and stormy night” while watching it.  The crisp black-and-white cinematography, coupled with the brooding atmosphere, made for perfect ghostly viewing.

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Monday Morning Movie Review: Exhuma (2024)

There must be magic in Korea—and, according to the subject of today’s Monday Morning Movie Review, there might actually be—because the Korean film industry just keeps hitting homeruns.  Since the release of the Oscar-winning Parasite (2019) and the smash series Squid Game (2021), South Korean movies and television shows have been on the West’s radar.

Koreans seem to excel in the horror genre; indeed, I’d argue that both Parasite and Squid Game, while not precisely “horror” films, certainly have very strong horror and thriller elements.  They’re good, too, at putting messages into their art that feel both timely and organic, but never overtly preachy; Parasite and Squid Game both touched on issues of class, for example.

This week’s film, 2024’s Exhuma, is overtly a horror film, and also has a message embedded within it, as most horror does.  Instead of pointing out the disparities of class, however, Exhuma is a thoroughly nationalist film, in the way that East Asian nations embrace their national identities with a deep, ancestral reverence.

More importantly, it is an excellent—and scary!—film.

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Lazy Sunday CXXV: Ghostly Doings

Spooky season is in full swing, and yours portly couldn’t be happier.  This time of year always draws out spooky fun, and there’s been quite a bit of it here on the blog.  As such, I thought it’d be worth dedicating an edition of Lazy Sunday to some ghostly doings:

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

TBT^16: On Ghost Stories

Yours portly has been in the Halloween spirit big time:  scary movies, the SC Bigfoot Festival, releasing two albums of autumnal tunes (here and here).  What I haven’t gotten to—yet!—are ghost stories.

I don’t have much additional ghost story commentary this year, but I will say that they tend to work better in books than in films.  That’s a bold, unsubstantiated claim, but I find that reading about ghosts is a lot scarier than seeing them on celluloid.  Ghosts might be—appropriately—a cold medium creature, best on the page or told about around the campfire.  Other monsters are probably hot medium/media critters, best for television or the radio.

Whatever the case, here is “TBT^4: On Ghost Stories“:

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TBT^4: Things That Go Bump in the Night

Spooky Season is upon us, and everyone is getting into the festive spirit of the season.  I know I sure am!  I’ve already carved pumpkins and had my share of pumpkin-spiced cookies (perhaps too many!), and am heading out tomorrow to a festival dedicated to Bigfoot!

I don’t have much to add that I haven’t already commented upon in prior years, so I’m going to get on with this perennial Halloween season classic.

With that, here is 13 October2022’s “TBT^2: Things That Go Bump in the Night“:

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Monday Morning Movie Review: The Haunting (1963)

Last week I reviewed Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, which prompted several readers to recommend the 1963 film adaptation, The Haunting.  I rented the flick on YouTube for about three bucks, and found it to be a mostly faithful adaptation of the book.

Indeed, beyond a few changes to some of the characters (Dr. Montague is now Dr. Markway, and his wife is not an insufferable Spiritualist but instead scoffs at the idea of ghosts) and the elimination of Arthur, the overbearing boys’ school headmaster, it does a great deal to enhance the book, a rare case where the movie, if not necessarily better than the book, is at least a worthy supplement to it.

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Lazy Sunday CXCVIII: Spring Break Short Story Recommendations 2023

Another Spring Break is in the books and I’m back to the grind tomorrow.  It’s five weeks of classes, one week of exams, and one week of teacher meetings until I’m free—free!

Before heading into the final leg of the school year, here’s a look back at last week’s Spring Break Short Story Recommendations:

Happy Sunday—and Happy Reading!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

Spring Break Short Story Recommendation 2023: The Haunting of Hill House

Today’s installment of Spring Break Shorty Story Recommendations is actually not a short story, but rather a novella or short novel, Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House.  My copy is the 1984 Penguin Books edition, which runs at about 246 pages of text.  That seems like standard novel length, but the print is a bit large, and while there are distinct chapters, the book feels like a very long short story or a shorter novel.

Nevertheless, it’s my blog and I have decided to feature this chilling novella in this year’s Spring Break Short Story Recommendations.  It is a classic of the haunted house genre, and is a powerfully psychological tale.

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TBT^4: On Ghost Stories

Ah, yes—ghost stories.  They are perhaps my favorite variation on the short story form.  I always find it fascinating that the Victorians liked their ghost stories at Christmastime, but it makes sense—what else are you going to do on those long, dark, cold nights?  Best to huddle around the fire and spin some yuletide yarns.

Every culture has its ghosts, spooks, haunts, haints, devils, and the like.  As I’m writing this post, I’m reading about the boo hags of the Gullah culture of the South Carolina Lowcountry.  Apparently, homes in the Charleston still feature porch ceilings painted “haint blue” to ward off evil spirits.

Looks I’ll be heading to the hardware store for some Behr Premium Ultra Lowcountry Haint Blue.

With that, here is 14 October 2021’s “TBT^2: On Ghost Stories“:

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