RSS
Home
13 Spookiest Haunted House Movies
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Image Credit: CC
What's more traditional about Halloween than the idea of the haunted house? Whether it was built on sacred Indian burial grounds, the site of some gruesome murder, or the former abode of a mysterious madman, the tales of haunted houses and the people who, for whatever reason, decide to spend the night there have been keeping us on our toes for centuries.
13. Rose Red (2002) - based on the novel by Stephen King, the story of Rose Red is about a professor who goads a group of people with psychic powers to spend the night in a haunted house in Washington State. Rose Red, the house, was formerly owned by the Rimbauer's and seemed to feed of the energy of its first mistress, Ellen Rimbauer. The legend of those who have died or gone missing in the house only accentuates the fear of those who Dr. Reardon (Nancy Travis) has brought along on her experiment. Soon, they find that Rose Red is much harder to control than they had expected. A good companion movie to explain some of the background of this one is the 2003 made for TV film The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer.
12. The Changeling (1980) - After his daughter and wife die in a tragic car accident, composer John Russell (George C. Scott) is convinced by friends to rent a turn of the century mansion so he can get back to his work. At first, he feels alone in the large home but soon he discovers he is not. There is the spirit of a child who died long ago haunting the house. After the spirit begins breaking windows and seems to be turning violent, he and friend Claire Norman (Trish Van Devere) begin to investigate the haunting. What they uncover is a terrible secret that has been kept for generations and leads straight to the front door of a US Senator (Melvyn Douglas).
Image Credit: CC
11. The Innocents (1961) - Set during the Victorian period in England, Deborah Kerr plays governess Miss Giddens to the young Flora (Pamela Franklin), on behest of her Uncle (Michael Redgrave). Soon after entering the house to teach the orphaned girl senses that something is amiss in the family mansion. Giddens cares for the fragile Flora, despite her initial misgivings about strange occurences in the house. Then she is put in charge of Flora's brother, Miles (Martin Stephens), who has been sent home from boarding school due to bad behavior. When the strange occurences become more intense, Miss Giddens takes it upon herself to investigate the strange disappearance of the former governess and a missing valet. The children seem to be communicating with the dead spirits that haunt the house, or is the governess herself just going insane?
10. Old Dark House (1932) - A movie can be considered pretty frightening when it can rattle audiences after seventy years. Based on the novel by J.B. Priestley, Old Dark House follows a group of travelers - Philip (Raymond Massey) and Margaret Waverton (Gloria Stuart), their friend Penderel (Melvyn Douglas), Sir William Porterhouse (Charles Laughton) and chorus girl Gladys Perkins (Lilian Bond) - who are lost in Wales and end up seeking refuge in a creepy house, with a creepier family. Over dinner, the head of the family Horace (Ernest Thesiger) confides in them casually the mysterious death of his sister. After dinner, drunken brother Morgan (Boris Karloff) accidentally releases crazy brother Saul (Brember Wills) from where he is locked in his room. The house-guests soon have to escape from the madmen who live in the house they are staying in.
9. The Others (2001) - This psychological thriller follows Grace Stewart (Nicole Kidman) who moves to a dark house for the sake of her two children, who are allergic to sunlight, after World War II. Grace is waiting for her husband (Christopher Eccleston) to return home following the war, but until then, must raise the two children on her own. After all of her servants abandon her, three new ones mysteriously come: mute Lydia (Elaine Cassidy), Mr. Tuttle (Eric Sykes), and Mrs. Bertha Mills (Fionnula Flanagan). After finding out her ad for new servants never made it in the paper, Grace questions the servants and mysterious occurences begin within the house. Grace begins to believe she is going insane and tries to stop the spirits from taking over her house, only for an unexpected twist to come at the end.
Image Credit: CC
8. Burnt Offerings (1976) - From the novel by Robert Marasco, Marian (Karen Black) and Ben Rolf (Oliver Reed) take jobs as summer caretakers at a creepy old mansion with son Lee (Lee Montgomery) and old aunt Elizabeth (Bette Davis) in tow. The Allardyces (Burgess Meredith and Eileen Heckart), who own the house, are a brother and sister leave them the house with the condition that they provide food for their old shut in mother but not to disturb her in any way. Marian soon becomes obsessed with the house and all of its decor, as well as the strange pictures on the mantelpiece dating back centuries. Ben starts slowly going insane, especially after the mysterious death of Aunt Elizabeth. It seems that the house is feeding off the energy of those living inside it, growing more beautiful and large as it weakens their psyche. The house seems to thrive off of death and slowly begins pitting the Rolfs against each other.
7. The Uninvited (1944) - Based on a novel by Dorothy Macardle, siblings Roderick (Ray Milland) and Pamela Fitzgerald (Ruth Hussey) purchase a charming house on the English seaside that has been abandoned for years. The Commander (Donald Crisp), who owns the house, previously gave it to his daughter as a wedding present and will not sell it to them for chump change. He does sell them the house, despite the protests of his granddaughter Stella (Gail Russell). They begin to hear strange things and think they made a mistake in buying the house, only to find Stella on the lawn and believe she is the source of the odd noises, trying to seek revenge on them for buying the house. In town, Rick hears strange things about the house and encounters Stella, who has calmed down but talks strangely about her mother. Strange things continue happening in the house and it becomes obvious that the Commander does not want his granddaughter in the house because of her mother's possessed spirits. Trying to solve the mystery, Rick and Pam discover a secret affair and mysterious murder that has haunted the house since Stella's birth.
6. Poltergeist (1982) - In Steven Spielberg's frightening tale, the Freeling family seems to be living a happy life in California. Successful real estate agent Steve (Craig T. Nelson) and his wife Diane (JoBeth Williams) being to worry when their youngest child, Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke), begins sleepwalking and having strange conversations with the television at night. At first, ghosts in the house play strange tricks to amuse the little girl but things soon turn violent. The house traps son Robbie (Oliver Robins) as a means of kidnapping Carol Anne and the Freelings. The family hires a team of parapsychologists and a medium to advise them on how to rescue their daughter. The spirits of the house are falsely trapped by The Beast, who tricks them into thinking the little girl is their salvation. Diane attempts to save her daughter from the Beast. It is soon revealed that the developer didn't relocate a graveyard to build the housing development but merely built over the graves and the new addition of a swimming pool to the Freeling house has set the ghosts in motion. It is now up to the Freelings to rescue their children and get out of the house.
Image Credit: CC
5. The Fall of the House of Usher (1960) - Taken from Edgar Allan Poe's terrifying short story, Roger Corman directs Vincent Price in this gothic tale of a haunted house dating back to the 1800s. Young Philip Winthrop (Mark Damon) has come all the way from Baltimore to visit his lovely fianceé Madeline (Myrna Fahey) and get permission to marry her from her older, protective brother Roderick (Price). Roderick is inherently opposed to the match, urging Philip to leave and saying that Madeline and all their family is doomed. Philip does not believe Roderick, though he does sense that Madeline has greatly changed from the lovely young woman he met in Baltimore. Roderick seems insane himself, telling Philip about all of the past sins of his family, leading them to murder, suicide, and death. Suddenly, it seems that Madeline herself is dead only for Philip to suspect that Roderick himself is the mad one, who has just buried his sister alive.
4. The Shining (1980) - Another Stephen King creation, Stanley Kubrick directed this famous horror film. The Torrance family heads to an isolated hotel to care for it during the winter months. Jack (Jack Nicholson), a writer, feels that the hotel will help get his creative energies flowing and brings along his wife (Shelley Duvall) and son, despite the warnings of the owners. What begins flowing, however, is "The Shinning," the psychic powers of the Torrance's young son Danny (Danny Lloyd). Danny soon begin contacting the spirits of the hotel, the children of a former caretaker who murdered his family in cold blood. Danny's stories begin to frighten his father and soon Jack descends into madness, leading his wife and son to believe he might try to kill them, like the previous caretaker did to his own family.
3. The Legend of Hill House(1973) - based on the novel by Richard Matheson, millionaire Richard Deutsch (Roland Culver) enlists a parapsychologist (Clive Revill), his wife (Gayle Hunnicutt), and two mediums (Pamela Franklin and Peter Bowles) Benjamin Fischer (Roddy McDowall), the only survivor of the last visit to the house. Slowly, the spirits of the house begin to torment the occupants of the house, attacking them, mutilating their skin, and even sexually assaulting the two women of the group. The house starts to pick off the members of the party until Barrett, the groups leader, decides the ghosts haunting the house are actually a single spirit, the former owner of the house who is trying to protect his secrets years after his death by any means necessary.
Image Credit: CC
2. Amityville Horror (1979) - based on the allegedly true story of a real haunted house, the mysterious Amityville house began to show signs of ghosts after a tragic massacre taking place in the house. Newlyweds George (James Brolin) and Kathy Lutz (Margot Kidder) move into what they hope to be their dream house with their three children. The real estate agent warns the family of the murders that took place in the house before they moved in, but the Lutz's do not seemed disturbed by this. They call on a priest, Father Delaney (Rod Steiger), to bless the house just in case and he is stricken blind. They call on another priest, Father Bolen (Don Stroud), to help rid the house of evil spirits, which also does not work. Slowly, the terrors of the house manifest, starting to take over George and the children one by one. Further research indicates that the house was built on sacred burial ground and the home of a former devil worshipper before the Lutz's decide to make their escape from the demonic forces taking over their house.
1. The Haunting (1963) - Despite a remake in 1999, the original film is still the best. Like Rose Red , elements of this film come from the terrifying novel by Shirley Jackson, which is one of the best horror novels of the twentieth century. In this psychological thriller, Dr. John Markway (Richard Johnson) wants to prove the existence of ghosts and so he sets up his experiments at the notorious Hill House. He invites various psychics, including sheltered and depressed Eleanor (Julie Harris), vixenish Theodora (Claire Bloom), and skeptical Luke (Russ Tamblyn), the heir to the house. Eleanor is the focus of the house's energy and begins to mistake Dr. Markway's academic interest in her for romance, until his wife (Lois Maxwell) shows up. Eleanor craves the attention the house gives her and as the experiment goes awry, she begins to delve deeper and deeper into the insanity of the house
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
.jpg)
