Ghosts of Hanley House
Ghosts of Hanley House
| 01 January 1968 (USA)
Ghosts of Hanley House Trailers

Five people are spending the night in a haunted house. Things get dicey when some of them start turning up decapitated.

Reviews
Inclubabu Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.
Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??
Lucybespro It is a performances centric movie
Seraherrera The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity
artpf Five people are spending the night in a haunted house. Things get dicey when some of them start turning up decapitated.Odd film that I had never heard of before watching it on Cult O Rama on my Roku. Filled with unknowns who had very limited film exposure before or after.One of the actresses was married to Timothy Leary!Another made a few soft core porns after this film.The director acting in 2 films but never directed again.I'm always fascinated about how these movies get made and why the people involved have such a limited career. The movie is the typical ghost house fare and don't expect great acting. The sound is horrible. Tinny and echoing. Slow exposition. And be prepared for the car key questioning. It seems to go on for 20 minutes!They all get drunk and play cards and then the record player comes out. Plenty of laffing for no reason and dancing. Then there is what I guess is a wolf only it sure sounds human. Oh, and the black widow spider episode! Hysterical.It's not a very good film, so maybe I answered my own question about why these people had limited careers. The biggest problem with this film is that it just keeps going with nothing really happening.
dbborroughs Five people stay over night in Hanley House, a supposed Haunted Mansion that has been left sitting unoccupied since the Hanley's abruptly up and left years before, leaving all of their things behind. Good little horror film that was the sort of thing to play on the bottom of a drive-in multiple feature this is a movie that seems to have been about five to ten years out of date from when it was released-Its black and white and low on gore and monsters meaning it had nothing on the films that say Roger Corman was turning out, nor does it have the shock value of Night of the Living Dead. Clearly made on the cheap the film still manages to create some tension with its use of shadows and dry ice. The cast is game if uneven and all over the place. Its worth a look if you're in the mood for a retro-drive in night or want something more akin to the Haunting then something more graphic.
agamemnon3 This mediocre ghost story is made viable and creepy by a few subtle touches. The special effects are a mix of dry ice and what appears to be more dry ice, but the lighting is at times interesting. The cast members have stark and/or dark features, and the B&W medium in combination with dramatic lighting for scenes within the haunted mansion make for a very good effect. You usually come to 'like' a character in a movie, and in this movie there isn't anyone to like. It seems that everyone is a dumb creep with some kind of motive. Just how much that works to the film's advantage, however, is difficult to say because it might be lost on a more casual viewer, but I think that it makes the story interesting. There are a few sidelines to the plot which were either never developed or lost to editing, but they are minor enough to not affect the continuity of the film. The screams are great. Hollywood just doesn't have screamers like it used to. I would recommend this movie, if you can find it.
Tom Fowler I make it a point to be kind to films such as this one, but truth be told Ghosts of Hanley House is really not very good. Poor production values and at times downright bad acting make it so. Still, the quality of this film is not what makes it interesting to film buffs such as myself. I purchased my video copy from Sinister Cinema and one wonders where (Sinister's owner) Greg Luce obtained a print. Ghosts of Hanley House is perhaps the most obscure film I have ever been able to add to my library and I have many. It is not catalogued in any of my reference books. Sinister Cinema says this film was shot in Texas but does not say where.Shot in 1968 with unknown players, Ghosts of Hanley House intrigues in it's own way. I tried in vain to recognize the town where the beginning scenes were filmed and I would love to know where the house was/is located and it's history. Were it not for the capable Mr. Luce this may have become one of the truly lost films. The plot is standard enough but does have an interesting twist and it is sad this could not have been produced on a bigger budget. Mood music is totally inappropriate in many places and the use of lingering, isolated head shots are overdone, to where it is obvious they are what they are: fill to pad out the running time. Several people spend the night in Hanley House, said to be haunted. We have the usual standard chills and unexplained noises until we are about 3/4 the way into the story, then the story turns to whatever uniqueness it possesses. We learn that the ghosts are murdered victims of one of the persons who are spending the night in Hanley House and have been trying all along to lure him there. Of course, he meets with the stock bad ending and the ghosts depart the house, supposedly never to return. As I said, production values were not good. Lighting was poor, camera angles seemed cramped, and the day for night shots were painfully obvious. Still, one has to view a film such as this within it's own context and by those standards, this flick is interesting. If you, as I, are interested in the obscure, particularly the obscure ghost story, then this is for you. (In fairness I've commented before that it is hard for anybody to do a good ghost story). This is exactly the kind of film that persons such as we spend many happy hours searching for. This would not be a good film to recommend to the general viewer. So . . . having said all this, what are you waiting for? Order your copy today and watch it late after everyone else is asleep. If you are interested enough to do that after reading this review, you won't be disappointed
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