- Director: John Hough
- Writers: Richard Matheson
- Stars: Roddy McDowall, Gayle Hunnicutt, Pamela Franklin
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 35 Minutes
Synopsis
Mr. Deutsch, a rich old man, hires Dr. Barrett to prove that life after death is real. The old man wants to send him to the Belasco House, known as Hell House. He wants Barrett, an expert in parapsychology, to verify the facts of the situation. He’ll be going with Florence Tanner, a mental medium, and Ben Fischer, a physical medium, and the only survivor of “What happened before.” Barrett calls this the “Mount Everest of Haunted Houses.” They’ll each be paid $100,000 for their time. Credits Roll.
The three, along with Ann, Barrett’s wife, go to the house. They are planning to spend several days there. The windows have been bricked over, so there’s no way to see out. Fischer and Tanner are creepy from the get-go, and we get a tour of the house as the group looks for the generator. Tanner hears voices, and Fisher talks about the last time the house tried to kill him.
Fischer explains the history of the house and of the old Mr. Belasco and his crimes. Belasco’s body was never found, but twenty-seven other bodies were. Tanner channels the dead, and things in the room start to shake. She’s a mental medium, not a physical one, so that’s not supposed to happen. Barrett has doubts about both of his mediums.
Tanner talks to a ghost identified itself as Daniel Belasco, the bad ghost’s son. She tries doing it again, and ectoplasm extends from both hands that combine and moves around the room. Tanner and Barrett have a fight, and the house attacks Barrett. They all blame each other for causing the disturbances.
Mrs. Barrett sees a ghost, freaks out, and gets naked for Mr. Fischer, who doesn’t take advantage of the situation. Tanner finds a secret door, and inside is Daniel Belasco’s dead body. They bury the body outside the next day. Tanner thinks Emeric Belasco is behind everything, controlling Daniel and other ghosts to drive away the living intruders.
Fischer has some kind of fit. He then talks about people who have died investigating this house in the past.
Barrett gets a big machine delivered. It’s supposed to drain all the paranormal energy from the house, but Fischer says it’ll never work. Tanner explains that Belasco is inside her, and that he’ll never let her go. A giant cross falls on Tanner, killing her dramatically. They run the machine, and Barrett tells Fischer that the spirits are gone now, and he can open up and use his power. Fischer says the house is clear; he can’t detect anything at all.
Suddenly, the sensors and monitors get really active and blow up in his face. His wife finds his mutilated body. She warns Fischer to get out, but he insists on going back in. The house is clear except for the chapel. Why? There aren’t multiple ghosts haunting the house; it was just one ghost pretending to be a host of them. Fischer screams at Belasco that he knows the secret; Belasco wasn’t the “roaring giant” that he was claimed to be, but instead wasn’t even five feet tall.
The back of the chapel blows out, revealing a door. Inside, they find Emeric Belasco, dead and taxidermied. The walls are shielded with lead to protect his ghost from machines like Barrett’s. They turn the machine back on and leave the place alone, hoping that Belasco will get drawn into the machine.
Commentary
Each scene shows times and dates, to document and show just how real this all is. The camera moves in really close for some extremely claustrophobic closeups. The scientific aspect of the investigation is something I don’t think I’ve seen in anything earlier than this; it tries to take paranormal investigation pretty seriously.
It’s good, the setting is good, the acting is good, but it’s extremely slow. The ending is a bit of a let down as well. They find a dead body, whoopee. Still, it was pretty intense and unique at the time, and is definitely a must-see classic if you are into ghost stories and haunted houses.