Directed by John Hough
Starring Pamela Franklin, Roddy McDowell, Clive Revill, and Gale Hunnicutt, and Michael Gough

Strange that I have never reviewed this on here since it is one of my favorite haunted house movies of all time. This has been a constant battle with me, between this one and Robert Wise’s The Haunting (1963) for the top spot, but Hell House usually comes in second. This was also the very first VHS tapes I rented after buying my first VCR. I don’t remember when exactly was the first time I saw this, probably around the same time I saw The Haunting for the first time, thanks to my future wife, Dawn, and her mother. But I know I immediately fell in love with it.

Acclaimed author (and rightfully so) Richard Matheson wrote the novel Hell House (1971) because, as the story goes, as much as he loved Shirley Jackson’s novel The Haunting of Hill House (1959), he wanted to write a story where you knew damn well the place was haunted. And he more than succeeded. In fact, when you have Stephen King saying “Hell House is the scariest haunted house novel ever written”, that must mean something. Matheson wrote the screenplay for this film, taking out much of the depravity in there, to make sure they could still get a marketable rating. Other than that, it does follow the book rather well. I’ve often said (and hoped) that someone very talented would do another version of the book, being able to do and show a little more than they could in the early ’70s. But until that happens, let’s talk about this version, shall we?

The story is quite simple and I’ll do my best not to give away any spoilers here, because I really want those who haven’t seen it, seek it out and experience it for the first time. Dr. Barrett, played wonderfully stiff by Clive Revill, is hired to prove or disprove the existence of life after death. And the perfect place to do this would be at the Belasco House, the “Mount Everest of haunted houses”, as they say. Barrett is a scientist and doesn’t believe in the existence of ghosts and is more than willing to take the money he is offered to do this, especially it will give him the chance to prove his theories and his newly developed machine.

Joining him, along with this wife (Gale Hunnicutt), are two mediums to cover the mystical or psychic angle as well as the scientific one. The first one is played by Pamela Franklin, who started her film acting career at of 11 in the film The Innocents (1961). Franklin appeared in a other few horror titles in the ’70s, from And Soon the Darkness (1970), Satan’s School for Girls (1973), to Bert I. Gordon’s Necromancy (1972) and Food of the Gods (1976). I may have fallen in love with her at some point during one of those movies, but I’ve always enjoyed seeing her on screen. Maybe because her screen presents in Legend is so strong. She has no problem standing her ground or her beliefs when going up against the stuffy Dr. Barrett, who’s condescending attitude towards her is there from the start. As the medium Florence Tanner, she is doing all she can to help the poor tormented souls that she believes are trapped in the house.

The second medium is Benjamin Fischer, played by Roddy McDowell, another actor I grew up watching. Not sure what the first role I remember him from, possibly the Planet of the Apes series, or maybe Night Gallery, but there were so many that he was always easy to spot. Yes, even in the Apes movies because of his voice! And he was always so good on screen. Here, in Legend, his character starts out reserved and closed off, not being openly friendly with anyone. Probably because Fischer was the only one that survived the last attempt to investigate the Belasco house some two decades earlier, and he barely survived that. So he definitely is playing it safe throughout most of the film.

Other than a bit part for genre favorite Michael Gough, that is pretty much the cast. But because their characters are so well defined, and brought to life by these talented actors, it is more than enough to hold our attention during the running time, trying to uncover the mystery of the Belasco house as the characters do.

Director John Hough directed one of my favorite Hammer films, Twins of Evil (1971), along with The Watcher in the Woods (1980), a Disney film that was pretty creepy! With Legend, he does an incredible job here, almost making the film look like a documentary, with the date/time stamp during the movie. The soundtrack is very minimal, but what we hear is very effective. The effects are simple but still remain very effective during the film. There are a lot of close up shots of the actors, which helps display their emotional state at the given moment. I think one of the reasons this film is effective is the performances from the actors. When something scary is happening, it is the reaction of the others that makes it even more effective. And because we care about them, when this does happen, it effects us as well.

The one sad part of this film is that this was the first film produced by Jim H. Nicholson, who had recently left American International Pictures. He started that company in 1954 (actually under the title American Releasing Corp.) with Sam Arkoff. Over the next 35 years, they produced and released over 100 pictures. Nicholson was the creative element in the team, coming up with the title and ad campaign, even before a line in the script had been written. In 1972, he resigned from AIP and started his own production company and had a 6-picture deal with 20th Century Fox. This was the first of the six, with Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (1974) being the second, before Nicholson suddenly died from a brain tumor.

Maybe because it was one of the first haunted house movies that I can remember seeing, or maybe because the story, as it unfolds how they each work in their own way to solve the mystery behind Belaso and his evil house and reputation, but it has always been a favorite of mine, and I’m sure it will continue to stay at the top. Right under The Haunting, of course.