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See HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL at The Hi-Pointe October 10th with Vincent Price’s Daughter
“It’s a pity you didn’t know when you started your game of murder that I was playing, too!”
HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL will be screening Saturday morning, October 10th at 10:30am at The Hi-Pointe Theater as part of their Classic Film Series. The film’s stars St. Louis native Vincent Price and his daughter, Victoria Price, author of ‘Vincent Price, a Daughter’s Biography’ will be on hand at The Hi-Pointe to introduce the film . After the movie, Victoria will participate in a Q&A, then sign and sell copies of her book as well as the 50th anniversary re-issue of her parents best-selling cookbook ‘A Treasury of Great Recipes’. Admission is only $5.00!
HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL is the 1959 tale of eccentric millionaire Fredrick Loren (Price) and his fourth wife (Carol Ohmart), Annabelle, who invite five people to their house on Haunted Hill for a “haunted house” party. Whoever will stay in the house for one night will earn $10,000 (a whopping sum in 1959!). As the night progresses, all the greedy participants are trapped inside the house with ghosts, murderers, skeletal apparitions, blood dripping from the ceiling, a severed head, and a vat of acid in the cellar.
HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL is the renowned work of producer and director William Castle, beloved for his signature-style fright-filled films and delivering ‘the gimmick’ to the horror genre. Castle’s gimmick ‘Emergo’ helped HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL make its 4 million dollars (on a mere two hundred thousand dollar budget) in 1959. When a skeleton rose from an acid vat in HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, a lighted plastic skeleton on a wire appeared from a black box next to the screen to swoop over the heads of the audience. The skeleton would then be pulled back into the box as the skeleton in the film is “reeled in”. Many theaters soon stopped using this prop because when local boys heard about it, they brought slingshots to the theater. When the skeleton started its descent, they would whip out their slingshots and pelt it with rocks and marbles. But while discussion of Castle often begins and ends with his famous gimmicks, what is forgotten is that he was an excellent director, and that HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL is his best film.
HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL captivates and terrifies the viewer from the very beginning with eerie introductions from protagonists Frederick Loren and the nervous Watson Pritchard (Elisha Cook). There’s the complicated who’s-trying-to-murder-whom plot line, presided over by Vincent Price and Carol Ohmart, both obviously reveling in the opportunity to play such vicious, spiteful, wicked people. Each believes they’ve set up this little party to murder the other, using the other party guests as pawns in their deadly game. The original music, including a Haunted Hill theme by Richard Kayne and Richard Loring, contributes to the atmosphere. This is a brilliant piece of work featuring several genre favorites at the top of their form. Now you’ll have the chance to see HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL in Vincent Price’s hometown. Not only that, The Hi-Pointe Theater is mere blocks from Price’s boyhood home on Forsythe. The theater opened in 1922 when Price was 11 years old. It was his neighborhood theater and there’s no reason to believe he didn’t walk to The Hi-Pointe as a young man to see movies there!
A Facebook invite for this event can be found HERE
https://www.facebook.com/events/607717766032910/
There are two other Vincent Price-related events in St. Louis next week
Friday October 9th at 7pm: Victoria Price, Vincent Price’s daughter, will be in St. Louis to celebrate the 50th Anniversary re-issue of her parents best-selling cookbook A Treasury of Great Recipes. She will be hosting an intimate gathering in the ‘Pac Man Room’ at Blueberry Hill for a talk about her dad, his ties to St. Louis and her parent’s cookbook. She will also be selling and signing copies of both the cookbook and a biography she wrote about her dad. Tom Stockman from We Are Movie Geeks will be moderating the discussion. Free “Franken-weenies” will be served while supplies last (from a recipe in the cookbook).Those who purchase a book at this event will be entered into a drawing to have drinks with Victoria at Blueberry Hill that evening after the signing and enjoy some one-on-one time with the author and designer.
The Facebook invite for that can be found HERE
https://www.facebook.com/events/1688887438008385/
Saturday, October 10th at 6:30pm: Tenacious Eats presents five courses and five cocktails themed to the Vincent Price masterpiece THEATRE OF BLOOD with special guest of honor Victoria Price! Recipes will be featured from Victoria’s parents’ best-selling cookbook “A Treasury of Great Recipes” which is being re-issued for its 50th Anniversary. Cookbooks will be available for purchase that evening. This event will take place at St. Louis Banquet Center located at 5700 Leona. Get ready for a creepy good time! Live music and cash bar begin at 6:30pm. The meal will be preceded by live music and an hour of Super-8 Vincent Price Movie Madness. Clementine’s Microcreamery will be providing some delicious Blood Pudding. The event will be co-hosted by Victoria Price and We Are Movie Geeks‘ Tom Stockman, director of the 2011 event Vincentennial, the Vincent Price 100th Birthday Celebration.
The Facebook invite for that can be found HERE
https://www.facebook.com/events/463429037162057/
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