Intro

This 1973 haunted house tale, scripted by genre legend Richard Matheson from his novel Hell House, is a welcome release, coinciding as it does with such theatrical haunted house efforts as The Others. In terms of its approach, imagine a film camped midway between the quiet and restrained 1963 version of The Haunting and its over-the-top remake.

Synopsis

Physicist Clive Revill, his wife Gayle Hunnicutt and mediums Roddy McDowall and Pamela Franklin enter Belasco House with the goa… of proving, within a week, whether or not there is life after death. Something in the house does not take kindly to their presence, and sets about destroying them body, mind and soul. The supernatural manifestations become more and more spectacular and deadly as the quartet race to discover the house’s secret and neutralize it.

Audio

The sound is a very nice surprise for what is, after all, not a high-profile release. The surround mix of the 28-year-old soundtrack is much more effective that I would have expected, especially with regards to the music. The electronic score by Brian Hodgson and Delia Derbyshire comes through most impressively, plunging us into Hell House’s dark atmosphere.

Video

One or two granulated moments aside, this is a very sharp transfer in 1.85:1 widescreen. This is a film where the house is perpetually shrouded in mist, and all the windows are bricked up, so there are LOTS of dark scenes. For the most part, they look just fine. The one fly in the ointment is the moment of layer transition – the pause is very badly timed, spoiling the end of a terror sequence.

Features

You get a trailer. And that, my friends, is that, unless you like playing with languages and subtitles.

Closing Thoughts

You don’t get really get anything on this disc other than the movie itself. But it is a very solid presentation of that film, one of the major haunted house movies. For horror fans, this disc is recommended without reservation.

Special Features List

• Trailer