The Legend of Hell House

Richard Matheson's scripting of his novel Hell House builds into an exceptionally realistic and suspenseful tale of psychic phenomena.

Visually, by today's standards, The Legend of Hell House is pretty tame, but what it may lack in visual acuity is more than made up for in atmosphere and sheer creepiness. [29 Oct 1992, p.30]

The Legend of Hell House is a regrettably just-competent adaptation of a great American horror novel.

While director John Hough (Twins of Evil) does a fine job with the things-that-go-bump-in-the-night aspects of the material, he fails to breathe any life into Richard Matheson's woefully underdeveloped screenplay, which he adapted from his own novel.

Trivialising the theme, saddled with some terrible dialogue, needlessly tricked out with a lot of countdown-style dates, it founders into innocuous routine.

If John Hough, the director, and his small, willing cast maintain mild tension during their harried visit to this haunted "hell house," the few chills they provide are of little help.