DAY 18: THE HOUSE ON THE HILL IS HAUNTED THEY SAY.....
The films opening was something of a jump scare gimmick, the total darkness accompanied by horrible noises echoing in a large movie theater would have been very terrifying, the effect is somewhat lost on a modern viewer watching the film on a television screen without the volume and scale to provide shock of theatrical sound and darkness.
William Castle had related the story of meeting Vincent Price on a day when Price had learned that he had been passed over for a part. Over coffee, Castle described the premise of this picture. Price liked the idea and it led to a two-picture collaboration, this and The Tingler (1959).
The large grosses for this film were noticed by Alfred Hitchcock. This led him to create his own low-budget horror film - Psycho (1960).
(1999 Remake)
Elizabeth Hurley was considered for the role of Evelyn Stockard-Price while Cindy Crawford was considered for the role of Melissa Margaret Marr.
Geoffrey Rush was never meant to look like Vincent Price (star of the original film House on Haunted Hill (1959)). The original screenplay described Stephen Price as a regular looking businessman. Rush didn't care for this, so he suggested that his character look like the film director John Waters. The director agreed to test this look out. After his transformation, he ended up looking so much like Vincent Price the director decided to keep the look.
Famke Janssen performed her own stunt when the glass ceiling breaks. It was extremely important for Janssen to remain where she was and very still, yet even with her basically glued to the spot, the shard hit with so much impact that it bounced her head off the table as you can see on close inspection of the scene.
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