It’s time for a bit of a blast from the past since I actually saw this one quite a while ago. It’s a pretty interesting story about a group who ends up at a strange house where there is something a little off about everyone. It may not stand out a whole lot next to some other haunted house movies but with something constantly happening it will certainly keep you entertained. The moral is that sometimes it is better to stay outside in the car instead of wandering into a haunted house.

The film starts with Philip and Margaret bickering a whole lot after they had gotten lost on the road. They can’t figure out a way to get where they were going and then the car gets stuck in the mud. With a heavy rainstorm ongoing their only option is to head inside of a mysterious house for shelter. Well, they are granted entrance by Horace but he is bickering with his sister Rebecca constantly so it’s like going from the frying pan into the fire. Rebecca is very into the supernatural, Horace seems to treat everything like a bit of a morbid joke and then they have a butler who cannot speak but seems to be rather creepy the whole time. Did I mention that there seems to be someone upstairs?

That’s not even accounting for the fact that two more strangers wander in later on. More crazy people or just here to throw a little romance into the adventure? After all, Roger is basically a third wheel to the main couple. Yeah the film actually does squeeze in some romance amidst all of the horror and the large cast so like I said this film is really chock full of story and different plots going on.

The writing is pretty solid. Everyone speaks in a very distinguished way and the film does get that eerie feeling across rather well. It does live up to the hype of being a haunted house but less so for the house itself and just the inhabitants. That’s probably scarier anyway since not everyone is scared of ghosts but strange people who could be mass murderers? Yeah that’s pretty scary.

As the main character Philip can be more on the annoying side at times. I do think he was a bit much in how he was in a bad attitude during the drive. He gets along with Margaret better once they are inside at least though and isn’t as afraid of everyone as some of the other characters. He’s willing to go up and get the lamp at least even though it’s…upstairs!! So there’s that.

Margaret is a character who makes it a point to say that she doesn’t scare easily at first but then spends most of the film getting scared a lot and panicking so it wasn’t a good look for her. She at least had a better attitude than Philip initially but loses a lot of points for this. She also tends to run off on her own and get into trouble which is a really bad idea here. You need to always stick together when you’re in a strange place like this.

Morgan’s by far the worst character though. A pretty terrible antagonist who is basically a wild animal just trying to go after Margaret the whole time. Whenever he’s on screen tends to be the most annoying part. The guy’s fairly strong and usually handles whoever goes up against him but I prefer the more subtle kind of horror in these films. Having someone like this doesn’t add anything to the table.

Philip’s friend Roger is fun. His romance plot definitely comes across as really rushed given the circumstances but I like the fact that he’s at least having fun with all of this. While everyone else is panicking and getting scared he’s just laughing and having a good ole time. Nobody’s about to scare him. It feels like he’s always subtly mocking everybody.

Gladys is a fun character. There is no rebound going on here at least as the guy she came into the house with is just a friend. For once the film has no twists about this and that he secretly likes her or anything. They’re just good pals and he takes care of her. So Saul’s a pretty decent guy. The only part he’s upset about is the fact that Roger has no money and doesn’t seem like a very serious guy. Very valid reasons to be a little skeptical at least but ultimately he accepts this.

As for the house inhabitants, they’re all rather flawed of course. Horace is a fun guy but he is really just sitting back and allowing all of this craziness to unfold. He’s not even brave enough to go upstairs which says a lot about his character. The guy may seem like he’s having a fun time but is always scared out of his wits. At least Rebecca is taking charge the whole time but you never know when she will go on one of her crazy tirades. It makes for some pretty entertaining scenes though. Margaret really needed to stand up for herself more though.

Then we have the most random character at the end, good ole Saul. So the climax is hilarious in some ways even if it’s trying to be serious. So some old man shows up claiming that he’s completely harmless but grabs a giant knife. So he talks for a while and then one of the heroes lets his guard down and gets knocked out. Come on how are you going to get beat up by an old man who doesn’t train or exercise or anything?

Yeah really bad look but the whole climax is so sudden and random that it is pretty funny though. The film actually has a lot more action than you would expect from all of the Morgan fights as well as the climax fight with Saul. It’s really just wild stuff that you have to see to believe because it’s such a massive departure from the actual premise of the movie. Anti-shoutout to the two heroines hiding in a closet the whole time though. When it’s life or death like this I feel like everyone needs to try and help out. After all of the guys lose then the girl will die shortly afterwards so there’s no benefit in hiding. Either you all win or you all lose.

Overall, This was a pretty fun film. It’s got some fun unintentional humor and the writing is fun. The ending is also so nonchalant after everything that went on. Definitely a product of its time but one that has a decent amount of replay value so yeah I’d end up recommending it. It’s also something you can really impress people with since I’m sure the average moviegoer has probably never even heard of this film. It’s not exactly an iconic movie after all.

Overall 7/10