The Haunting of Hell House (1999)

Sorry, this movie sucks

People are voting emotionally.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

A mysterious, morbid professor (Michael York) who has suffered a number of horrid events in his life tries to help a young troubled man (Andrew Bowen), whose girl friend was killed during an illegal abortion.I had some issues with this, particularly that the age looks all wrong, despite the costumes and mustaches. The time period is unclear, but it strikes me as 1990s people dressed up as people fro ma century ago. An that just takes the magic out of it, makes it more like a theater production. That would not be bad in itself, but I am sure this was not the intent.The film was directed by Mitch Marcus and based on "The Ghostly Rental" by Henry James. I have not read the James story (unfortunately -- I should) and this was Marcus' first time out as director, so he can be excused. Just such a shame that producer Roger Corman had Michael York to work with (who does excellently) and pairs him with a cast and crew that is not on his level.

Michael York is good as the mysterious professor and Andrew Bowen gives a nice performance in the lead. In the end, you are left wondering if the ghosts were real or simply manifestations of extremely guilty, troubled minds. There is artistic justice in the film - as a handsome college student dies alone in a jail cell, after leaving his girlfriend to die alone in a seedy guesthouse, following a botched abortion. Aideen O'Donnell is incredibly beautiful as the girlfriend and the ghost - why have we not seen more from this actress? Not a slasher or shocker, just a slow-burning drama about guilt and how it haunts us. I enjoyed this movie and recommend it to those who enjoy psychological dramas.

This dreadful movie suffered more than anything from poor production work and the slip-shod work of the extras.It's hard to imagine that a hand to act badly but at one stage a hand appeared on screen (deliberately) and managed it. It was like watching a hand shaped Madonna appear on screen and ruin the movie.I would never watch this movie again, I watched it and another couple of turkeys, The unlucky leprechaun, warlock 3 and knocking on death's door. All of which suffered a similar affliction, whether it be an implausible scream and wooden man in crowd or obvious stunt double i am sure there is a common theme.Whoever is behind this would do well to give it up, take a job in sales and hope to one day hit the heady heights of their own car parking space rather than director chair.Good riddance

Upon reading other viewers' comments, I have to wonder if we saw the same film! Despite the awful, B-movie title, this was far and beyond the most visually beautiful film I've ever watched. The cinematography was stunning, and the atmosphere was appropriately dark and brooding. The entire town seemed "haunted," with fear and evil oozing from every stone, every tree, nearly every character. I could almost feel the dank air in my own living room!Having read "Turn of the Screw," and found it particularly unsatisfying (imagine the most overacted, melodramatic soap opera you've ever seen . ..then put it in novella form), and seen previous comments placing this film on a LOWER level than Screw's supposed glorious pinnacle, I admit my expectations weren't too high. Instead, I found the story much more intriguing than Screw, with a couple of little plot twists in rapid succession toward the end. (Saw the first coming, but not the second.) Some may find it depressing because it lacks the Happy Hollywood Ending so typical of American films; however, the screenwriter's refusal to pander to Disneyfication only serves to further raise the level of my esteem for this production.If you like your movies event-based (like slasher flicks, all about the scary moment, with lots of filler in between and actresses doing bizarre things to get from one event to the next) rather than story-based, you probably won't enjoy this film. If, instead, you like a good story in which nasty ghosties play a role, this is the film for you.