Tag Archives: haunted house

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: Terror in the Haunted House (1958)

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Poster for Terror in the Haunted House (1958)Terror in the Haunted House /
My World Dies Screaming (1958) by #HaroldDaniels
w/#GeraldMohr #CathyODonnell

A newlywed is terrified when her husband brings her to live in the old house she’s been seeing in her nightmares.

“The first motion picture in… Psycho-Rama! The fourth dimension! Subliminal communication!”

#Horror
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

I was excited to see Terror in the Haunted House (1958) last week because it appeared to be a haunted house movie which I had never seen before. I noticed that it was also known as My World Dies Screaming (1958), but I didn’t think anything of that (other than that it was kind of a cool sounding alternate title). When the movie began, I was immediately in haunted house heaven as a woman’s voice started speaking overtop of black and white images of an old mansion in the country: Continue reading →

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow (1959)

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Poster for Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow (1959)Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow (1959) by #WilliamJHoleJr
w/#JodyFair #RussBender

Hot rods, monsters and rock’n’roll… a gang of greasers hole up in a haunted mansion after getting evicted from their clubhouse.

“The Hot Rod Gang meets the…GHOST of DRAGSTRIP HOLLOW”

#Horror #DragRacing
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

I’ve always heard (and read) that Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow (1959) isn’t very good, so I avoided watching it for many years. Last week I decided that I should really give it a go, because you just never know…

Well, it turns out that sometimes you DO know.

I suppose it’s not all THAT bad, but it’s definitely not good. Not a lost classic of late 1950s horror cinema. Not even a super fun so-bad-it’s-good movie. Sure, it has a few moments of entertainment value, but not quite enough to make it very memorable. It’s only been a week and I’m already struggling to recall what exactly happened in it. Let me stretch back in my mind and see what stands out tor me… Continue reading →

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: House of the Damned (1963)

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Poster for House of the Damned (1963)House of the Damned (1963) by #MauryDexter
w/#RonFoster #MerryAnders #RichardKiel

While doing survey work for a friend, an architect and his wife encounter bizarre activity in a mansion built by an eccentric heiress.

“13 keys to unleash the living dead.”

“We Dare You To Enter”

#Horror
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

I’ve always liked haunted house movies – ever since seeing Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hold That Ghost (1941) when I was a kid. House of the Damned (1963) is not a movie that I saw back then. In fact, I’d never even heard of it before picking up a DVD some years back. The funny thing is, it’s not really a haunted house movie – but then again, neither is Hold That Ghost.  Continue reading →

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: The Headless Ghost (1959)

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The Headless Ghost (1959) by #PeterGrahamScott
w/#RichardLyon #LilianeSottane

Three students visit a haunted castle and decide to hide and deliberately miss the bus so they can spend the night.

“HEAD-HUNTING TEENAGERS LOST IN THE HAUNTED CASTLE!”

#Horror #Comedy
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

Apparently, The Headless Ghost (1959) was shot in three weeks on the same sets as Horrors of the Black Museum (1959) and was intended to run as part of a double bill with that movie. Producer Herman Cohen said:

“We knocked out that picture very, very fast; that’s why the running time is so short, like sixty-five minutes… In fact, we started Headless Ghost as I was still finishing Black Museum, editing and cutting it. But I honestly don’t recall too much else about this picture, it was so bad.”

Continue reading →

Trash or Terror Tuesday: Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive (1992)

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Poster for Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive (1992) Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive (1992) by #JohnPatterson

w/ #PattyDuke #DavidSoul #FrancesBay

Residents of new homes experience strange phenomena and find out that their houses are built on a former cemetery.

Based on a #TrueStory !

#Horror
#TrashOrTerrorTuesday

It’s time for #TrashOrTerrorTuesday

…when I examine a film that’s been languishing in my personal library to determine if it is #Trash or #Terror

– or more importantly, if it deserves to stay in my collection.

And so, out from the dusty shelves of #VHS tapes & DVDs comes…

Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive (1992) is a made-for-TV horror film – but not from the golden era of the ’70s and early ’80s. As one might expect, it’s not as good as many of those older films, but it’s not as bad as some of the junk that’s been pumped out more recently, either.  It was probably very influenced by Poltergeist (1982), and – likewise – it’s nowhere near as good as that, but… Continue reading →