Entertaining chiller with Vincent Price as a wealthy loon who invites a group of people to spend the night in a haunted house with the promise of a big cash reward for everyone who makes it to morning. The kids of the Eisenhower era screamed all the way through the Saturday matinees for this one. Today, it’s not very scary anymore, but the film still holds up as a fast-paced good time. It’s only seventy-five minutes long and director William Castle wastes not a single moment. He puts us in the haunted house right at the beginning and he doesn’t let us out until the movie’s over. It’s perfect Halloween viewing if you’re up for one of the classics.
For theatrical showings back in ’59, consummate showman Castle had a plastic skeleton rigged up on a pulley so it could swoop over the audience during the film’s climax.