The House That Would Not Die

source: The House That Would Not Die

Moviecut—The House That Would Not Die

Somewhat uneven and even at only 80 minutes begins to outstay its welcome. But I don't wish to be too harsh for there is a marvellous performance by Barbara Stanwyck which helps to hold this together and if only Richard Egan could have been half as good this might have a been a great picture. It's a TV movie with minimal budget but even without special effects the possession scenes are most effective. This starts as a haunted house movie but swiftly moves into the possession business and in these scenes Egan acquits himself well and Kitty Winn (who would have a role in The Exorcist three years later) is particularly good and indeed is the main reason for those shivers down the spine more than once during this modest but successful little film.

As any fan of classic film and cheeseball TV knows, Barbara Stanwyck was one durable dame. The woman who conquered the corporate world in 1933's "Baby Face" and blasted gun-toting outlaws on "The Big Valley" is more than a match for the wind machines and bad actors who challenge her in this cheapo 1970 made-for, which is why it's ultimately not that scary or suspenseful. It's also hampered by a cobwebbed ghost story plot -- a maiden aunt and her dewy young niece move into an old house only to learn (oh no!) that it's haunted. Still, it's always fun to hang out with Babs, so "The House that Wouldn't Die" isn't a complete waste of time. It's like decaffeinated coffee, a short, mild indulgence that won't keep you awake at night. Miss Stanwyck plays Ruth, a career Washington bureaucrat who takes a sabbatical (Civil Service rules must have been a lot more relaxed during the Nixon administration) and moves to a late distant relative's house near where her fluttery niece Sarah, played by Kitty Wynn, plans to attend college. If Stanwyck is above this sort of downmarket Gothic, Wynn is perfect for it since she seems born to play wide-eyed, helpless young ingénues -- the only time her voice rises above a quivering whisper is when she screams, which she does enough to wake the dead. The dead, however, don't seem to appreciate the intrusion so they start possessing various characters and making them act homicidal. Having apparently exhausted the budget on Babs' salary and nifty wardrobe (the cranberry pantsuit she dons toward the end of the flick is particularly chic), the producers could only afford a single special effect -- a megawatt wind machine which gets switched onto high every time one of the undead makes an appearance. This motif is a bit too indicative, but it's also the only way you'll know that Richard Egan, who plays Babs' romantic interest, has transformed from gentlemanly anthropology professor next door to malevolent spirit. His facial expression doesn't change otherwise. Rounding out this intrepid quartet is someone named Michael Anderson Jr. as Professor Egan's swishy grad student and Kitty's chaste love interest. The movie could be unwatchably dull but isn't, thanks to Babs' stalwart presence. However, it could be atmospherically creepy but isn't, thanks to Egan's granite stiffness and a script that sounds like it was penned by the "Scooby Doo" staff during a prime time writers' strike ("try and open up this old writing desk . . . these things are usually crammed with old letters and papers" declares Babs, perhaps unaware that she's channeling Velma Dinkley). Still, Miss Barbara Stanwyck offers a primer on how to maintain your dignity during the twilight of your career. Someone should have forced Bette Davis to watch this movie.

I remember seeing this on TV when it was first broadcast back in the `70s. I remember a "big, bold" haunted house movie with a great mystery and climax. Sadly, when I finally got a copy, I found this to be a rather "small" film. The story/plot isn't very engaging and people say and act in very "odd" ways--and I don't mean appropriate to the genre! All of the sudden, someone will act weird, then normal, and no one seems to pay much attention to their behavior! And once the mystery is solved...the movie just ends. So that "climax" I remember doesn't seem to have existed. Anyway, I say pass on this.

Back in the late 1960's and through the early part of the 1970's the occult became an extremely popular subject for TV and movies. ABC was making "Movies Of The Week" that appeared usually on a Wednesday night. This was one of them. This one involves a haunted house which was recently bought by Barbara Stanwyk and soon she with the help of family and a helpful neighbor Richard Egan try to get to the bottom of things. Literally. I was 14 when I first saw this and for weeks I wouldn't go into our basement. Don't watch it alone!

A few modern actresses come close, but nobody has come along that remotely looks or sounds like Barbara Stanwyck. That gorgeous silver hair, that smooth skin that only required minimal work and that voice of laryngitis which, as Richard Chamberlain called it, was worth a million dollars. After 40 years a star, she wasn't resting on her laurels, and had no problem working in T.V. movies of the week which were considered the new equivalent of the B secondary "bottom of the bill" feature. Add on Richard Egan, a wonderfully rugged but tender leading man, ingénue Kitty Winn, and a beautiful old house filled with evil, and you had the recipe for what made the T.V. movie of the week so much fun. In my opinion, Stanwyck is by far the best aged of the 1930's to still be working in the early '70s. Certainly of the other three (Crawford, Davis, Hepburn), she looked the most natural and even sexy. Here, she inherits a house from a distant relative, and finds nothing but terror there. It is even worse for niece Kitty Winn who seems to become possessed by it. Neighbor Richard Egan has a strange reaction to a portrait that Winn buys, and later begins to romance Stanwyck, at one point kissing her rather violently. The 70's had a series of horror movies made for TV, all seemingly rip-offs of "Rosemary's Baby". Some are better than others, but this one has many chilling moments that rank it above the few I've seen. As produced by the not yet famous Aaron Spelling, this manages to have the gloss of his future nighttime soaps, one of which would feature the legendary Stanwyck. This is featured on the DVD collection of five made for TV films, and from what I have seen the only one of interest to me. Stanwyck would appear in one other T.V. horror movie, "A Taste of Evil", but that has not been released as of yet to DVD.

Barbara Stanwyck (Ruth) and her niece Kitty Winn (Sara) move into a new house in the country. We know it's haunted as we watch them through someone else's eyes from an empty room, having just heard a soundtrack to some evil event that previously occurred there. Neighbour Richard Egan (Pat) drops by to welcome them and invite them to dinner. It's here that they meet college student Michael Anderson Jr. (Stan), Egan's relative Mabel Albertson (Mrs McDougall) and friend Doreen Lang (Sylvia). The cast is now complete and we follow proceedings as Lang suggests a séance at Stanwyck's house and all agree to attend. God knows why she does this. It's just not the first thing you think of for a house warming! Unfortunately, Lang is a very annoying mystic who screams a lot. Shut up and do your channelling properly! No screaming. It should be rule number one. I went to a séance and nobody screamed – it is not necessary. Anyway, she's not in the film much, thank goodness. Things don't get much better, though. Whilst this film does have a few set pieces that keep you watching, there is nothing new in any of it and you can guess what's going to happen from the beginning. I got the whole story pretty early on. Maybe it's because I've watched lots of these kinds of stories, but maybe it's because the film is just not very good. I needed something more tricky. My wife thought it was amateurishly done as the cast explain in simple fashion what they are going to do. Other reviewers have likened it to Scooby Doo and the plot solving is very much like that. There are also the obligatory stupid moments when things that are needed are dropped or sharp objects handed to people who clearly shouldn't be holding these objects based on passed performance! Still, this is not a gore fest so it scores on that front. It passes the time but there's not much to this offering, especially if you've seen a couple of these types of film

Barbara Stanwyck inherits an old colonial home and moves in with her niece (Kitty Winn). After a seance, the niece undergoes a mild case of possession with daddy issues. Nothing really scary. The soundtrack makes the film seem a lot scarier than what it was.

The House That Would Not Die (1970) ** (out of 4) Made-for-TV possession film about a woman (Barbara Stanwyck) and her young niece (Kitty Winn) who move into an old house in Amish country and soon realize something is wrong. While at a party a group decides to hold a séance and sure enough the young girl ends up possessed so that same party must try and figure out by who and why. THE HOUSE THAT WOULD NOT DIE features a few interesting things but for the most part your entertainment level is certainly going to depend on whether or not the story sucks you in. It didn't suck me in. The film itself really doesn't have too much happening in it. The horror elements are all rather light and for the most part the possession really isn't all that noticeable except during certain scenes when the girl has extra power. The majority of the 73-minute running time has the older woman and her partner (Richard Egan) running around trying to find out the history of the house and those who lived there before them. Again, if the story grabs you then perhaps you'll find it interesting but I found it to be rather boring and the ending plays out more like a Scooby-Doo episode. Both Stanwyck (looking very good and strong) and Egan are very good in their parts but I thought Winn was a little too bland in hers. The director manages to build up some nice atmosphere but it's pretty much wasted.