A flawed remake but definitely not a bad one

As far as remakes go, House on Haunted Hill is neither among the best or worst ones. For me, it sits somewhere in the middle. If I were to say which is better out of this and the original, I'd say the original(though that is not perfect either) mainly because of Vincent Price. On its own terms though, this is pretty good. It is flawed though, the characters are never really developed, and while I admired that there was an attempt to expand the story while some of it was effective there were other parts where it felt padded and didn't really go anywhere. Taylor Diggs and Peter Gallagher's performances read too much of both actors playing themselves. But the biggest let down is the ending, which felt fake and so abrupt that you are left with a that's it? sense. On the plus side, it is stylishly filmed, has a good atmosphere and some creepy and fun moments. Geoffrey Rush seems to be having the time of his life and it really shows. Famke Janssen puts her beauty and steel to good use without feeling bland, and while he has next to nothing to say Jeffrey Combs' physical acting really speaks volumes. Overall, not a bad remake but has its flaws. 6/10 Bethany Cox

6/10