Film Masters’ House on Haunted Hill Blu-ray review
Jan 03, 2026- Permalink
The 1959 horror House on Haunted Hill is a cult classic that brought carnival scares to the cinema. One promotional gimmick called “Emergo” had specially-equipped theatres spook the audience with a skeleton flying over them in one scene. Directed by William Castle, the film starred Vincent Price as an eccentric millionaire who will pay his invited guests $10,000 if they can spend one night in his haunted house. The cast also included Carol Ohmart, Richard Long, Alan Marshal, Carolyn Craig, Julie Mitchum, and Elisha Cook Jr. Thanks to Allied Vaughn and Film Masters, I was sent a review copy for an early look.
Released as part of Film Masters’ limited-edition Archive Collection, the 1080p AVC encoded digital transfer is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The film is in the public domain, due to a lapsed copyright, so several other versions have been released over the years. Film Masters has put together and scanned available prints and the results here are quite good. Grain levels and clarity can shift from time to time with detail being razor sharp one moment and a little rougher a few minutes later. Black levels are generally quite deep. House on Haunted Hill is not like contemporary horror films. It’s like a haunted house at a summer fair, full of plenty of “I can’t believe that made you jump” scare. It’s fun, it’s goofy, and there’s a certain innocence to it. I’m glad that Film Masters decided to give it their treatment and a release.
On the audio side of things, there’s an English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono soundtrack. Subtitles are available for English SDH and the commentary track. The soundtrack really shines, with no persistent hisses or pops that you might expect when sources are old and varied. The dialogue is clear and prioritized in the mix.
The House on Haunted Hill Blu-ray does not come with a digital code. It does include a booklet with an essay by film professor Jason A. Ney. Entitled “Hail to the King: In Praise of William Castle”, it looks at the director’s career and includes reproductions of several posters from his film. The disc includes a commentary by film historian Heath Holland, who hosts the Cereal at Midnight site and podcast. Holland delves into the history of the production and his appreciation of the production comes through in his work here.
Film Masters’ House on Haunted Hill Blu-ray pays homage to a more innocent time in the horror genre and of course you can’t go wrong with Vincent Price. Recommended.