The haunted house movie is a staple of horror films. Audiences are all too familiar with the image of the big, old house silhouetted on the hill as thunder and lightning crack the sky. Skeletons in closets, wailing in the night, and objects shakily scooting across surfaces are all hallmarks of a haunted house and all of it has been done to death in films.
However, there are still haunted house films out there breaking the mold. Innovative faux documentaries, schlocky scare fests, and creepy comedies pepper the haunted house genre breathing new life into stale conventions.
Hell House LLC
2015 found footage film Hell House LLC follows a team that set up and run a popular haunted house tour. The focus of the story is the lead-up to a malfunction that caused 15 deaths at the attraction on opening night. The cameras roll as the team moves into the abandoned Abaddon Hotel and begins to set up. Soon strange events start occurring, there are extremely creepy clown mannequins in the basement that seem to move, and dissent sets in amongst the staff.
Told through the lens of a documentary crew interviewing the only surviving staff member 5 years after the fact, Hell House LLC is a smart and genuinely scary film that expertly builds tension leading into the unexpected finale. It feels like a true documentary and the success of the first film spawned 2 sequels that expanded on the Hell House mythology.
Thirteen Ghosts
Thirteen Ghosts is a 2001 remake of a 1960 film of the same name. Tony Shalhoub plays widower Arthur who is raising his 2 kids on his own and is fast running out of ways to pay the bills. Luckily for Arthur his rich uncle Cyrus has just passed away and left him his estate, which includes an extravagant glass house isolated away from civilization. What Arthur and his family find out upon moving in is that uncle Cyrus and his psychic employee Dennis (Matthew Lillard) have filled the basement of the house with 13 dangerous spirits that meet certain archetypes in order to power a machine that lets the user see the past, present, and future all at once.
The house's configuration shifts and moves, trapping and separating the family and leaving them open to attack from the spirits that are slowly being released. The glass walls are etched with spells to contain the ghosts and each spirit has a unique and impressive design creating a fun and original haunted house tale.
Ghostwatch
What started out as a Halloween hoax television show from the BBC has become infamous for inciting panic and striking fear into the hearts of audiences in the UK. Presented as a live paranormal investigation set in the home of a mother and her 2 daughters that have been experiencing aggressive poltergeist activity. The show featured real television personalities from the UK as presenters, lending an air of reality to the show. As the investigation unfolds, sightings of a terrifying figure in a long black garment and gouged-out eyes start rolling into the control center and happenings in the house escalate.
Scary and played completely straight, watching Ghostwatch now is still a spooky experience as viewers play along to spot appearances of the ghost Mr. Pipes. The only letdown is the acting of the 2 young girls, who can't really be blamed considering their age at the time.
1408
Based on a Stephen King short story of the same name, 1408 stars John Cusack as noted author Mike Enslin who makes his money writing guides to supposedly haunted locations. When he receives an anonymous postcard from The Dolphin hotel telling him to stay out of Room 1408 he promptly decides to go there and stay in room 1408. The hotel manager, played by Samuel L. Jackson, tries to dissuade him from staying there, citing the numerous deaths that have occurred in the room over the years. Not to be put off, Mike checks in and soon finds he can't leave.
As the night goes on Mike experiences all kinds of torment. Visits from his dead daughter, storms pouring out of paintings, and prompts to kill himself from the spirits in the room plague Mike, and he has to find a way to survive or choose, as one of the spirits says, the express check out.
Housebound
New Zealand comedy horror film Housebound follows troubled Kylie as she is placed under house arrest in her estranged mother's house after she attempts to steal an ATM. Already furious at having to wear an ankle bracelet and stay with her mother, the situation is made worse by the fact that the house is clearly haunted. Strange goings-on lead to the discovery that the house was once a halfway house where horrific murders took place.
Housebound is both spooky and funny in equal measure, with a genuinely intriguing mystery at its core. Smart writing and a great cast will keep viewers laughing and guessing up until the end.