House on Haunted Hill is another William Castle film (this time he had a skeleton fly over the audience in the theater) and it's probably my favorite. Vincent Price's character invites a group of strangers to a haunted house, offering to pay them $10,000 each, if they make it through the night. There's betrayal and mystery, and some good old-fashioned scares. There was a remake of this film, and while it differs greatly from the original, I actually enjoyed it. It gets pretty ridiculous, but it's not bad (especially compared to other remakes, like Thirteen Ghosts, which was the most awful thing I've ever seen).
Honorable Mention: The Tingler - This is one of those movies that people would probably roll their eyes at now, but it terrified me when I was younger. It's about a creature that latches onto your spine when you're frightened, paralyzing you with fear and eventually killing you, if you're unable to scream. The creature itself looks almost like a large centipede. Vincent Price really is the reason this movie works so well because no matter what the story is, he was such a fantastic actor that he could make you believe it. This was also another William Castle film and at a specific point in the movie, the chairs in the theater would give a little vibration. Castle really thought of everything with his films and while some people might call it gimmicky, I think the added touches probably enhanced the overall experience.
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