... in that pieces of the plot are borrowed, but there is quite a bit of original material added including background information , and I'd say this version is much scarier than the 1959 William Castle film. The only thing the original had that this one lacks is the irreplaceable Vincent Price, and this 1999 version does a bit of homage to him by naming the wealthy man Stephen Price who hosts a birthday party for his wife in a supposedly haunted house.

As in the original ,the Prices are hostile to each other, but Mrs. Price is staying because she gets no money in a divorce but gets it all if Mr. Price dies. Also, as in the original, there are five guests who get - in this case - one million dollars each if they stay the entire night. Anybody who leaves forfeits their money to the others. What's different? Well the road the plot takes from there is different, and the beginning of the film details the origins of the haunted house. It was originally the Vannacutt Psychiatric Institute for the Criminally Insane run by the sadistic Dr. Vannacutt. In 1931 the inmates manage to free themselves from their cells and start a fire that kills all of the patients and all but five of the staff. The house has meant death or tragedy to anybody who lived in it since.

So the five guests who arrive are not who Price invited. His wife doesn't know them either. And after everybody is inside it turns out that turning chicken and wanting to leave would be futile because the house shuts itself down, sealing every window and door. It was a feature when the place was an insane asylum in case of escape.

So at this point wouldn't it be wise just to sit in the civilized renovated upstairs portion of the house, all in one little group, and wait out the night? But no. This group goes down the fateful but familiar path of "Some malevolent force is out to get us so let's split up and explore the basement", which is the original insane asylum part of the house. Downstairs interesting frights and discoveries about exactly who the guests are await them, and I'll just let you watch and find out what happens. It does rely quite a bit more on suspense and less on gore than most modern horror films. I'll just say this thing scared me to death when I saw it in the theater years ago, and the William Castle/Vincent Price version was eerie and psychologically interesting, but I have never found it all that frightening.

As far as remakes go, House on Haunted Hill is neither among the best or worst ones. For me, it sits somewhere in the middle. If I were to say which is better out of this and the original, I'd say the original(though that is not perfect either) mainly because of Vincent Price. On its own terms though, this is pretty good. It is flawed though, the characters are never really developed, and while I admired that there was an attempt to expand the story while some of it was effective there were other parts where it felt padded and didn't really go anywhere. Taylor Diggs and Peter Gallagher's performances read too much of both actors playing themselves. But the biggest let down is the ending, which felt fake and so abrupt that you are left with a that's it? sense. On the plus side, it is stylishly filmed, has a good atmosphere and some creepy and fun moments. Geoffrey Rush seems to be having the time of his life and it really shows. Famke Janssen puts her beauty and steel to good use without feeling bland, and while he has next to nothing to say Jeffrey Combs' physical acting really speaks volumes. Overall, not a bad remake but has its flaws. 6/10 Bethany Cox

An amusement park owner has refurbished a former asylum where a doctor had murdered many patients. He (Geoffrey Rush) and his wife (Famke Janssen) has invited guests (Taye Diggs, Peter Gallagher, Ali Larter, Bridgette Wilson, Chris Kattan) for her unique birthday party. He offers them $1M each to spend the night in the haunted house.

Like the amusement park rides in the beginning, it's all flash and amusing. You know everything is fake, and it's nothing to be taken seriously. It's very cheesy. Whether it's Rush's mustache or Kattan's silliness, you just have to shake your head at it all. The set is completely fake and the people too. Sadly they didn't embrace the cheese fully to draw out a couple of chuckles.