I love the classic made in 1959, but this remade one I'm sorry to say does not do it justice. All the actors do a great job but, the story is weird and hard to follow. The story plays out the same way the original does except with a few different things,and the characters are different. Steven Price (Geoffrey Rush) is an amusement park creator and billionaire. He and his wife just like in the original really hate each other, to really tick off his wife he creates a completely new lists of invited guests to his wife's so called "Birthday Party" out of these guests are a Doctor, a Professional Baseball player, a secretary for a V.I.P for a major company, a TV celebrity, and the previous owner of the house who is crazy. If one of these people survive the night they will earn $100,000,000 million dollars. As like the original as the night wears on, things go to hell, Price and his wife compete with each other by playing tricks on the guests, but then things take a gruesome turn and people start dying. And a certain darkness comes over the house.I give this new version that was made in 1999 a 7. My reasons for giving this version a 7 and not any lower are these reasons. The story did have a few interesting twists in it, like Price is just not some billionaire but a amusement park creator, his wife is even more snobbish and evil in this one and she even kills her secrete lover who is the doctor, and this one seems more darker and evil. I also give it a 7 because Geoffrey Rush is in it and I feel this film didn't do him justice he deserves he did a great job and when I first saw him I was like "There is Barbossa From Pirates of the Caribbean!" A Few other Actors I recognized like Bridgette Wilson, and Famke Jansen, but the others were completely new to me. I was expecting to be scared, but I really didn't get scared, sure some parts were frightening but it was more fun and mysterious then all out horror and scary. I enjoyed the fact they made a classic song like "Sweet Dreams" a rock out version. I know the producers tried on this remake but it didn't do so well as I would have expected, it was fun, but it doesn't bring justice like it supposed to.7/10 for 1999 House on Haunted Hill.

Gathered together for a birthday party, the guests and hosts of a lavish celebration in a haunted asylum find the events part of the house' intent to kill them off and must find a way to get out alive.This one was quite an enjoyable and vastly improved remake. This gets a lot right with the atmosphere and setting on display, which is pretty chilling throughout the film here as this comes from how well this one utilizes the house it its advantage. The long, endless darkened hallways, cramped treatment rooms and overall atmosphere of the disuse throughout with cobwebs and disrepair found here make for some really creepy elements along the way which set up the ghost action nicely. This one gets the better of creepy events happening in a creepy location, as early scenes of them following the ghostly doppelganger all throughout the different rooms, a fantastic encounter in the operating room where they're only visible on a video camera and the later scene of the group encountering the hidden experiment rooms where the ghosts' manage to trap them in their patient treatments which result in some bloody kills and tense scenes. Likewise, the finale also manages to interject quite a bit of fun here by showcasing the thrilling chases around the basement, the formation of the mass of spectral blob that holds the ghosts of the dead as well as the fun of the big chase around the house as the relentless race to get up the house before it swallows the remaining survivors is a fun, incredibly action-packed finale here. Along with the great gore and creepy back-story, these here are enough for this one to hold off the few flaws here. The biggest issue here is the fact that this one really overdoes the bickering couple angle to the point of overkill, not only making it questionable about why they're together but the fact that they continue to feel that way deep into the film it grows tiresome, as well as prevents this from really buying into what's going on. It would've been a lot more credible had they stopped going at each other and bought into the truth. Finally, this one really strains credibility with how it gets the group to the house which makes no sense at all about how a supernatural entity would be able to conduct business in that manner when it's overt display of powers in doing that mean it could've just killed them off without ever needing them o come into the house in the first place. However, these are mostly minor points that don't hold this one down all that much.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language and Brief Nudity.

Eccentric millionaire Steven Price (Geoffrey Rush) throws a birthday party for his wife (Famke Janssen) at a haunted house that used to be an insane asylum before the inmates revolted and killed everyone inside. A group of strangers invited to the party are offered $1,000,000 each if they can survive the night in the house. As strange things start happening, the guests question whether Price is behind it all or if there really is some evil force at work in the house on haunted hill.Being a big fan of the original House on Haunted Hill, a classic B movie from William Castle, I had low hopes for this remake at the time it was released. I figured going into it that it would have the worst excesses of modern horror films (more violence, gore, nudity, F bombs every other word, clichéd jump scares, etc.). And while it certainly does have some of those things (although not to the degree I was dreading) it also has a lot of humor and a self-awareness about it that makes it fun to watch. The cast is pretty good with Geoffrey Rush and Famke Janssen the standouts. Their scenes together are the highlights of the movie. Chris Kattan is amusing but his part in the climax is the stuff of unintended comedy legend. Also love the nods to Vincent Price with Rush's character. The CGI effects aren't the best but that's a minor complaint in a movie like this. It's not scary in the least but it is entertaining, something it has in common with the original. Not bad for a remake of a classic.

The big budget, slick Hollywood remake of William Castles' fondly remembered 1959 spook show may be able to boast all the special effects that money can buy, but it lacks the playful tone of Castle. Its characters, by and large, are not worth really caring about. It's grim, oppressive, and does live up to the word "horror". It's made in the modern style with a hip, attractive cast and an accent on gore and sadism. Fortunately, one good thing is that if there's one thing that director William Malone ("Parasomnia", "FeardotCom") is good at, it's creating a visual style. The movie *does* look great.Five people are invited to the birthday bash for Evelyn Stockard-Price (Famke Janssen), which conveniently is located in your standard issue cliffside mansion that naturally used to be an insane asylum. They're provided with loaded guns as party favours, and informed that if they can survive the night, they stand to become $1 million richer. Soon horrible things begin to happen to them.This does get a reasonable boost from talented Geoffrey Rush's delicious Vincent Price imitation, and the delightful bitchiness delivered by Janssen. In addition to the lovely Ms. Janssen, other ladies providing eye candy include Ali Larter and Bridgette Wilson-Sampras. Taye Diggs is good as a hero type, but Chris Kattan is a little too much as whiny building owner Watson Pritchett. It's nice as it always is to see Jeffrey Combs, as he plays demented surgeon Dr. Vannacutt. Singer Lisa Loeb is a reporter. And recognize that nurse? It's Gozer from "Ghost Busters", a.k.a. model / actress Slavitza Jovan.Eventually, the movie does go overboard in the special effects department, giving us a generous dose of digitally created and very unscary ghosts. The ending is somewhat amusing if not that satisfying.Six out of 10.