A Lifetime of Happiness: Movies, TV, and Video Games

House on Haunted Hill (1999)

• Steve Bennet-Martin, Stephen Martin-Bennet • Season 1 • Episode 173

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The Steves discuss the 1999 reboot, House on Haunted Hill, along with what's making them happy in pop culture today.

What's making us happy?

  • Little Mermaid (Theatres)
  • Missing (Netflix)


Movie Discussion

  • Names and numbers behind the scenes
  • Stephen's thoughts on the sequel
  • Would you attend this party?
  • When would you begin to believe in the Haunting?
  • Stephen's favorite unhappily married couple, Stephen and Evelyn
  • Steve's wish for more James Marsters screen time
  • And much more

Ending- Any music or audio clips were borrowed from the original source material.

Support the show

Steve:

Hello, returning Happys and new listeners. This is Steve Bennett Martin. And this is

Stephen:

Steven Martin Bennett, and welcome to a lifetime of happiness. The

Steve:

podcaster, we take you on our journey through some of the movies, shows, and other bits of pop culture that are helping to keep us happy while hopefully bring a smile to your face along the way.

Stephen:

And today we're closing out our spring of reboots and remakes with the 1999 remake house on Haunted Hill.

Steve:

One of your favorites? Yes. And for those not in the know it is the film where an amusement park mogul offers a group of thrill seekers,$1 million. Spend the night in a haunted house with a. Horrifying past what could

Stephen:

go wrong. Absolutely nothing. Well, why do you love this movie so much? My love. So I love haunted house movies. Yeah. I love FKA Janssen. Yeah. Jeffrey Rush and Allie Larder. Yeah. I love witty biting dialogue. I love some good scares. It's a fun movie. It doesn't take itself too seriously, like as a product of its time. It's good and it's held up well after all these years. Yes,

Steve:

it has. But that's not the only thing that's been making us happy watching it this week, huh?

Stephen:

No, I've also been happy for all those poem, fortune. It's so, because we went and saw The Little Mermaid, the the old cartoon one? No, the live action one with Halle Bailey and Melissa McCarthy. And how was it? So good. I it was have to second that. Yeah. It was magical. It was just

Steve:

Mm, something you'll watch again when it comes down streaming

Stephen:

and Yes. Many, many times probably own it. Yeah. Yeah.

Steve:

Excellent. And we also had fun the other night watching missing on Netflix.

Stephen:

Yes. That was an interesting movie. It was all done. Through technology.

Steve:

Primarily

Stephen:

a computer. Yeah, your computer. And the cameras that are on computers and apps that are on computers, whether it be FaceTime WhatsApp, WhatsApp Googling things. Yeah, it was really impressive how it was done like that. And it was a. Sequel of sorts. Yes. To another movie. Yeah.

Steve:

It's I think the second or third, maybe second, second one where it's done in that style, but it has its own plot and is a standalone, and I would say that I definitely had a lot of twists. If you need a good psychological thriller, this one will have you guessing till the very end where you're like, oh my God. Yeah.

Stephen:

So. I would say watch it. It's very good. It's

Steve:

free. It's on Netflix. Everyone has Netflix. Enjoy it.

Stephen:

Yep. So tell us a little bit about the things that make Hal on Hotted Hill, what it is. Well,

Steve:

it came out in 1999. It's an American supernatural horror film directed by a William Malone based on the 1959 movie of the same name. Which I have never seen. How was it?

Stephen:

It is so good. I absolutely love the original. It has Vincent Price, which just makes all old horror movies better. It's directed by the incomparable William Castle. It's camp. It has the same setup of, you know, people in the house. You get money if you stay. It has less body count. The husband and wife are the villains in this as well. It is definitely worth a watch. There's the original black and white version, but then there is also. A kind of remastered colorized version. Both are excellent.

Steve:

Yes. And you mentioned your love for Jeffrey Rush and FKA Jansen. It also has Tay Digs, Allie Larder, Bridget, William Wilson, Peter Gallagher, and Chris Katan. Yeah,

Stephen:

so FKA is amazing in this film. She and Jeffrey Rush get to chew the scenery and they look like they're having a blast while they're doing it. They have the best lines and they read each other for filth, which is amazing. Tay Digs we love from rent and other things. Allie Larder will always have our hearts from Legally blonde. For me, it's final

Steve:

destination.

Stephen:

Oh yeah. Bridget Wilson. We know from playing older sister Bitch Ella and I know what you did last summer. Yeah. Chris Katan is outstanding in this role.

Steve:

Not what you would expect from

Stephen:

a comedy guy. No. This movie made me leery of Peter Gallagher cuz he's very convincing this part. And there's something so convincing that I was like, I don't think he's a good person. And so I just assumed he was a villain in real life and everything. The OC fixed that for me. Also fun note, Jeffrey Combs is Dr. Vanco Combs was in all the best camp horror movies of the eighties and early nineties, like Castle Freak and ReAnimator. So he's kind of like, Eighties horror royalty playing this part.

Steve:

Very cool. And I also saw when I was researching it names that I knew from the special effects team because it has Kings of the Industry, Gregory Nicotero, which everyone knows now from the 50 billion Walking Dead Series and spinoffs. Yep. And it also has Dick Smith who did The Exorcist, which we covered in a recent episode, as well as Death Becomes Her one of your favorites, which we previously

Stephen:

covered. Yes. It was released on October 29th, 1999 with a budget of 19 million and had a box office of 43 million. I remember it being a bigger hit. I mean, it's, it's

Steve:

good. Yeah. Now did you ever watch the sequel return to the House on Hundred Hill in 2007?

Stephen:

I did. I've seen it a few times. How it does it stack up? So it stars Amanda rti, who we just talked about. In the Friday the 13th reboot it has an interesting enough premise where Amanda is the sister of Allie Larter's character, and Amanda's character is forced to go into the mansion. It's problem though, is it is the likable characters. They're too much canon fodder, Uhhuh. The 1999 version had a small cast that we get to know and like before things happen, but that's not the case here. Some are only on screen to die. This movie tries to explain how Vanik came to be so evil and why the house is still haunted and maybe the people could free the spirits. It's not bad. It needed a stronger director or an executive producer that could look at things and go, Hey, That's not working. Let's do this. That's a better idea. Yeah.

Steve:

Okay. I'll skip it. Or at least it won't be on our future episode. No,

Stephen:

it will not be a future episode.

Steve:

All right. Well this movie is an episode and it starts off in, in abandoned silence. The Van Kitt Psychiatric Institute for the Criminally Insane where numerous murderers were committed in the 1930s. The head of the facility, Dr. Richard b Vant, performed grotesque experiments and medical procedures on the patients killing many in the process. You gotta crack a few eggs to make an omelet. Any chef will tell you that the hospital was closed when some of the so-called patients escaped. Brutally killing was the entire staff and burning the hospital. But at that point, would you blame them? Vanu had rigged the building with numerous iron gates activated by cranks and levers to serve as barriers to keep patients from leaving the building should they escape. Some of them were controlled by huge clock like timers that wouldn't open for 12 hours. During the fire, he put the house on lockdown, keeping the inmates, employees, and fire itself contained, leaving them all to burn. Yep. After several unexplained deaths during reconstruction of the facility, it was dubbed the house on haunted hill. Which is interesting cuz it's not a house, it's an asylum or a mansion. Well,

Stephen:

yes. And it's not to be confused with the haunting of Hill House.

Steve:

Yes. Now, did you grow up near any asylums or haunted houses

Stephen:

like this? I actually did. Mm-hmm. So we had Spencer State Hospital. It was an asylum right in my hometown. It was eventually shut down. The building remained abandoned for years, and many of the patients who were no harm to others were just released into the public. And there were urban legends about the hospital and people hearing noises and things in there. And dares about taking the secret passage from the side of the hill into the underground part of the hospital. I remember mom once took a jazzer size class there. Mm-hmm. Like. I played in the state hospital while it was still active. Wow. Yeah. And we had a few haunted places in town. One of them is now a bed and breakfast, and I stayed over one night as it was being renovated. And there was definitely something in the house. It did not feel good. And if I knew then what I know now, I either would not have spent the night, or at least I would've spent the first few hours cleansing the place before going to sleep.

Steve:

Yeah, I can imagine. I mean, I knew I, I grew up in right near am Deve, Hora, but I never went there. But I know that you know, there were definitely places, you know, I think every town has its own. The haunted house.

Stephen:

Yes. Now present day, Stephen Prices an eccentric amusement park mogul. Whom has a disintegrating marriage to Evelyn, his spoiled trophy wife, and he has a new rollercoaster in one of his amusement parks, terror Incognito, which is actually the incredible Hulk ride from Universal Islands of adventure. With the trick of this being that the elevator on the way up to ride the ride has a terror of terror. Tower of Terror style drop. There we go. Except that the elevator actually never does free fall drop. They were ascending going up the entire time. You found out something at this point that was interesting. Yeah. The cameraman

Steve:

is Spike and I love this movie and I hope that he's in it in every scene. I, I do too.

Stephen:

Yes.

Steve:

And I You loved how on his way down, he did the jumping thing from the Yeah. Urban legend. That that would make you not die or

Stephen:

whatever. Right. And as the, as he thought he was following, he kept jumping. Yeah. Because there's that urban legend that if an elevator crashes and you jump right before it hits, you'll be in the air and you'll survive. Yeah. Also of note, the reporter is Amazing Superstar Lisa Loeb, who I would like to add that I have met in person and hugged. Yes, we

Steve:

have photographic proof of that. I didn't even recognize that that was her cuz Spike was on screen. The coaster seems great, but I also can't figure out what is up with the cart that goes off the tracks cuz they make it seem like, was that a trick of light? I, I don't get it.

Stephen:

The, I, like, I, I wonder, was it, did it go onto another track that was painted? Go away green. I don't know. I don't know.

Steve:

All right. Anyway, I'm sad that after this there's no more spike or at Lisa Lobe.

Stephen:

I know they were just for that one scene.

Steve:

Yes. But speaking of roller coasters, do you have a favorite?

Stephen:

I absolutely do. So my favorite rollercoaster to ride is the Beast at Kings Island in Cincinnati. The ride lasts five and a half minutes, five minutes, 37 seconds, they say. And the first drop. It's steep and it's long, and just when you think it's done, it goes under ground and keeps dropping. So like you're just getting ready to let up on. And it is the longest, continuous, or longest wooden rollercoaster in existence. The best part is that you can ride it at night and there are no lights on most of the track. Yeah. So as you're riding it, you're in almost total darkness and you can't see what's coming. Yeah. As for the scariest, it would probably be Shakira at Bush Gardens. Yes. I love Chira. Shakira, whatever. No, you're right. It is Shera. I can never remember the name. It's so fun. Oh, I don't like that first. Drop it

Steve:

straight down and I drag you on every time. Yeah. What's

Stephen:

your favorite coaster? I

Steve:

would say that my favorite probably Especially, at least for probably not the best one, but the one that I have the best memories with was probably the rock and roller coaster at Disney with Aerosmith. Oh, that's a good one. I went on like right when they first opened it, and it was like one of the few days. My dad wasn't an all that trip, so it was a really good memory. I. That is Absolutely. And then the, the wooden one at Bush Gardens, which I think they closed down Yeah. Was scary, but not in a scary, ah, more like a scary like, oh my God, will I survive or will this fall apart on the tracks? And there was one like that, on Long Island. Growing up at our local one, there was like a wooden rollercoaster, like, how are people not dying every week

Stephen:

on this? So they built one in called the Son of Beast. Yeah, it was the world's only looping wooden rollercoaster. That sounds

Steve:

like a really

Stephen:

bad idea. Well so the way it was built, and I guess to get enough speed for a wooden coaster to be able to do the loop and things it beats the shit out of you. I ended up getting vertigo from it. People left like with Neck problems.

Steve:

And I had that when I did a dragon and fire at, in Williamsburg at Hershey Park or something like that when I was really little and I was just, mm-hmm. It hurt my neck afterwards. But anyway, back to the movie. Back to the movie, Stephen Price's, wicked sense of humor has caused a strain between him and his wife, who otherwise seemed like they would be perfectly happy. Yeah. No. Each of them would gladly kill the other. Evelyn fancy, spectacular birthday parties. So Steven leases the house from the owner Watson Pritchett for Evelyn's haunted Birthday Bash, which is something I would do for you cuz I love you. Not cuz I hate you. Thank you. Evelyn gives Steven a guest list, two pages long. He shreds it despite her and then creates one of his own. However, the five people who show up for the party aren't the ones that were invited. Instead, you get model Jennifer Jensen, aka we find out later. Sarah Wolf,

Stephen:

actually not model. Film executive,

whatever.

Steve:

Yes. Eddie Baker, Melissa, Margaret Mar, Dr. Donald Blackburn, and Pritch himself. Neither Evelyn nor Steven knows who they are, but they decide to continue on with the party. The guests don't even know them other than a few knowing price by name and reputation. But still they go ahead and offer a million dollars to anyone who stays in the house and survives until the morning with any person not making it, getting their money added to the pot. The stained glass ceiling shatters and Eddie saves Evelyn from getting impaled. Get off me. Congratulations. I don't think Evelyn has ever said that to someone with testicles ever.

Stephen:

Very funny, Stephen, have you?

Steve:

You're taking this very well. For a woman who is almost killed, I

Stephen:

guess you'll have to try harder. That is, if you can get it up,

Steve:

the house is marked you as the first to die. That's how the story goes. Right?

Stephen:

Oh, would you want an invite to this party? Yeah, of course.

Steve:

I feel like that's obviously right up our alley, although it is very, I would go into it wanting an ally, like I would want it to be a plus one where I could bring you with me. Oh, absolutely. 100%. What if you were told that you had to go absolutely alone and there was a chance you would die, but the other chance was that you'd get a million dollars? I'd still do it. Oh boy. Now, in initial thoughts of this character, these

Stephen:

characters. So it's a very interesting mix. So we've got Melissa, Margaret Marr. Former TV host, current celebrity, who is filming everything on a handheld camera with hopes that she can find a way to earn or fuck her way back onto tv. Good plan. Jennifer Jensen, movie executive, she tries to come off cold, but you can tell she's final girl material from when sh when she lets her guard down. Yeah. Eddie Baker, former pro baseball player. He definitely seems down on his luck. I think he seems like someone that has a ton of debt and accepted this invite to get out of the house, makes some money and probably not have a night drinking alone. Yeah. Dr. Black, Donald Blackburn doctor, and he seems above it all like too good for all of it. Mm-hmm. You've got Watson Pritchett who is anxious, nervous, does not want to be there, and you can tell that he's not telling everything. Yes.

Steve:

But also that he is not, he's eager to tell them if they'll just listen.

Stephen:

Yeah. You have Steven Price. He loves to be in control. Master of ceremony's vibe definitely sees himself as the smartest and most important person in the room. Believes his brains and wealth aligned to do is sees as he sees fit. Kind of a Tony Stark but more sinister. Yeah. Evelyn s Stockard price chic and deadly. Not enjoying what her party has become. She's disinterested in most things, sees herself as a femme fatal, and her station as price's wife elevates her in her mind that she's better than most. And you can tell from inter interactions with Steven that they've had conversations like this. Many times before.

Steve:

Yeah. And unlike a lot of other horror movies, or more so than many of them, the house itself is a character, isn't

Stephen:

it? Oh, so much so. And I love what we see of the house. The first part, the entryway with the high ceilings, the clean lines, the severe look, the black and white, the fireplaces, the stained glass skylight, showing the demons of the mind. I even love that. And those first few rooms are so spectacular. It definitely has a presence. If the rest of the house had looked like that, I would've moved

Steve:

in. Yes. Now Evelyn is pissed at Stephen for getting rid of her guest list, so they have a private talk with some of your favorite movie dialogue of all

Stephen:

time. I gave you a goddamn list, two pages long. Where the hell are they?

Steve:

Shredded, sorry. Decided to whip up one of my own A group's So hungry for money, they'd be willing to do anything. I thought you'd be more comfortable with your peers.

Stephen:

You know, if you really love me, you'll find a way to drop dead in the next three seconds.

Steve:

Finding ways for me to die is really your deal, isn't it, Evelyn? Let's not forget the OJ knife with the not quite retractable blade. Your Jim Jones Kool-Aid was exactly that.

Stephen:

Accidents all accidents until proven otherwise.

Steve:

I be so happy if that were really true, Evelyn, and I'd be absolutely goddamn delirious if you weren't fucking every live living thing in our area code. What is it

Stephen:

about that fantasy that gets you hot? Me with other men or just the other men?

Steve:

The other

Stephen:

men like that is my favorite interaction in this movie and in most movies, I feel

Steve:

like that says something about you.

Stephen:

Really. I just think that

Steve:

it's so hating each other. I don't get their

Stephen:

relationship. I don't either, but the writing is so. Tight. And they're they sell it. They're, yeah, they sell it so well. Like I just love that back and forth like, I just think that they must have had the best time doing this movie. So we see Shechter Stevens henchman from the amusement park in a control room watching all of this play out on monitors. Shortly after arriving, the lockdown mechanism is tripped, locking everyone inside, enforcing them to remain there until the gates unlock in the morning. When the cleaning crew arrive at nine 30, Pritchett tells them that the house is alive and they'll all be dead by morning. And they'll be mutilated beyond recognition, promise price. Golds Schechter, who had planned a developed series of harmless traps to scare the guests for not letting him know that he planned to pull a stunt like that, and with the lockdown, Schechter says it wasn't him who did it. Price is then convinced that it's his wife who did it somehow. But Evelyn is sure it was price.

Steve:

Yes. And after the lockdown happens, Pritchard is absolutely losing it. One of the guests asked Price, is this some kind of joke to which Steven replies

Stephen:

Pritch. It's not laughing. Which again, great line. Yes. And we never get to see what Schechter rigged for the evening. What scares do you think that he had ready to go? That were harmless, that could scare them.

Steve:

Nothing as good as what the house hadn't planned, but yes, I could imagine it was something nice.

Stephen:

Like I am imagine with the way they used dummies at the park Yeah. That there were gonna be like bodies that they find

Steve:

and stuff. Yeah. And or like the murder mystery episode from Chuck E. Season three.

Stephen:

Tell me, I, I'm blanking.

Steve:

Where it was like the, who done it with the twins?

Stephen:

Oh, yes,

Steve:

exactly. Yes. Now Steven, hands out party favors loaded guns with the clip weld shut. Eddie and Jennifer want to go to the basement to look for an override, which, okay, good luck with that kids. Yeah, Pritchett is forced to go with them. As nice as the main floor looks. The basement area has not been renovated or cleaned. Or nothing's been moved, including Van's, house of Horror, collection of deform skeletons. Price catches up with them. We see a black wriggling substance leaching from the walls. The group finds the Electro Shock Room,

Stephen:

which is one of 18, that Vant would run all at the same time to save energy.

Steve:

There you go. They then, Find the saturation chamber, a device to cure schizophrenia or

Stephen:

cause it. What would make a sane man mad would make a mad man sane or so

Steve:

they say? I don't, I don't believe that logic. I don't think it stands up

Stephen:

at the test of time. Do you? I don't think van, any of Vants things would stand up to the test of time, honestly. Well, except

Steve:

that one. Now, would you have gone down in the basement with the group, even though there was safety in numbers?

Stephen:

Okay. So if everyone had gone down, yeah, 100%. But like

Steve:

even when you walk past the decaying, we are deformed human skeletons that are molded into animal experiment things.

Stephen:

Yeah, because as long as you're in the majority of people that are going down, I always like to think that I'm faster than most people, so I would never leave you behind. Yeah. I, I

Steve:

definitely feel like there's safety numbers at this, but this is when I would start being like, guys, let's go back upstairs.

Stephen:

Yeah. Once you saw, like Pritchett and his family spent a lot of money renovating the. Like main level and above because the bedrooms look amazing as well. Yeah. You would've thought he would've touched

Steve:

the

Stephen:

basement a little bit. A little bit. Just, no. I mean they left the deform skeletons. It's still dirty. Like pay a cleaning crew.

Steve:

Yep. Now, because this is a horror movie, the group gets separated. Jennifer rewires the lights in part of the room and she and Eddie have a moment of chemistry. He says he doesn't believe she's Jennifer because no executive could redo wiring. Jennifer admits she's Sarah, Jennifer's former assistant when she turns Eddie isn't there in the other direction. She sees Eddie and Chases after him. She's getting mad and scared. She comes into her room and he's standing on the edge of Nevada blood and allows himself to fall in. Sarah runs to rescue him and grabs his hand. Just then the real Eddie shows up, whatever's in the vat, tries to pull Sarah in. Eddie saves her again, and that's three saved so far for Eddie. So he's gonna get lucky by the end of this movie.

Stephen:

The reveal that Sarah isn't Jennifer makes a lot more sense because her character and portrayal seemed really inconsistent up to that point, because you could see that she was trying to be hard, but then she was. Like logical and things. And so this makes a lot more sense. There we go. And I love Pritchett informs the group that they've just been playing with ghosts. Wait until someone lets out the darkness, the rotten evil core at the center of the house, that thing will kill you. You'll hate that shit. Yeah.

Steve:

Now,

Stephen:

if the Eddie VAT monster was just a ghost mm-hmm. And you heard that there was something worse like this darkness. Would you believe Pritchett, that there could be something worse? Or is that VA monster pretty bad? All by itself? I believe

Steve:

there's something worse and I'd be like, okay, let's get the fuck out of here. They decide to stick together, which will surely stick, and they'll never be separated again except. Except Melissa's gone off on her own to get footage for her comeback Through the camera, she can see the ghosts of past performing surgeries. Unfortunately, they can also see her and it's so creepy when they all turn to her at once. Oh my gosh, so

Stephen:

much we hear a scream. Guess all Melissa found what she was looking for.

Steve:

The group finds Melissa's camera and a travel of blood to where she was pulled into the house. At this point, they decide to split

Stephen:

up, which this is not where you decide to split up. No. Just for anyone keeping track at home. That gets stuck in a mansion. When someone disappears and it looks like they've been pulled into a house. This is not when you split

Steve:

up. Yes. Now Evelyn goes to bed. It's also a great time to go to sleep. Yeah. Price goes to check on Shechter, but his skull's been carved out from the

Stephen:

front. Price, which that was one of the more gruesome things to me, seeing how his skull was carved out. Yeah. Completely.

Steve:

Really good practical effects. Yeah. Now price sees mannequin on the monitors and assumes it's just someone messing with them and not a ghost. Eddie and Sarah still looking for ways to get out. Blackburn's looking for Melissa and Pritchett is looking for more alcohol. Ugh,

Stephen:

now, I

Steve:

mean, yeah, like. Yeah, they, we don't know why they split up.

Stephen:

I just don't get it. I mean, would you have agreed to split up with at that point? No, I

Steve:

would stay with Eddie and Sarah cuz they're the final two,

Stephen:

obviously. Obviously, because you're looking at them and you're like, which, which two people look re Yep, which two are redeemable? Now

Steve:

the electro shock machine is going off. Everyone heads towards the noise and meets back up at the same time, it's Evelyn strapped to the machine. They turn off the device, but she's dead and blood porous from her mouth price is devastated, which confuses me. He actually did love her. I know, but he also wants her dead. Yeah. It seems like he can't win. He pulls a gun and says one of them killed her. He and Eddie struggle with the gun. It goes off repeatedly and Eddie knocks him out and they put him in the saturation chamber.

Stephen:

Blackburn volunteers to watch him while the others continue to look for a way out. Once Blackburn is alone with price, he turns on the saturation chamber machine and leaves the saturation chamber, has flashing lights, loud sounds moving parts. The pictures seem to come alive. Price has visions of being a patient 1931, of attempting to be drowned in a tank of water, of seeing Melissa's body, but it's all a hallucination. He's totally losing it. And the last thing he sees is Evelyn in a white dress holding his decapitated head like a basketball. Yeah,

Steve:

Blackburn went from boring character doctor to totally suspicious in no time at all.

Stephen:

Yeah, like had you suspected anything about Blackburn up to this point? I

Steve:

thought there was something more to him, but I didn't expect him to be evil or the villain. Or one of

Stephen:

the villains. Yeah. What did you think of the saturation

Steve:

chamber machine? No, thank you. I would never want to be in a saturation machine. Even with the machine off, it looks terrifying. Yeah. E even with it off, I wouldn't want to be trapped in there. No, but, but turn it on and No thank

Stephen:

you. Whichever person on. The team that came up with this movie designed that if it's not a real

Steve:

machine machine, probably a real myth machine, which is the more

Stephen:

unfortunate Oh, it's, it scares me, honestly. Okay, so Eddie, Sarah and Pritchett find Van's office and a picture of the staff from 1931. Mm-hmm. When the place burnt the names on all the staff who did not die in the fire correspond to each of the guests that are there for the party. The house made the party guest list, but the only person missing from the list is Blackburn.

Steve:

So does that mean though, that Sarah isn't one of the victims because she took her boss's spot,

Stephen:

right? Because the name is Jensen. Can't

Steve:

she just tell her and just get outta the house?

Stephen:

Yeah. Hey house. Wrong

Steve:

one. Yeah. Speaking of Blackburn enters the room with Evelyn's body. He clean the blood from her mouth and kisses her while feeling between her legs. Not creepy at all.

Stephen:

Yeah, because at this point we think he's just being a nec. Yeah.

Steve:

He injects her with the syringe of adrenaline and she wakes up. They faked her death. Evelyn Blackburn had been having an affair. They were plotting this all along. Their plan was for one of the others to get so freaked out at her death and for them to think Steven did it and that one of the other guests would kill Steven. Then Evelyn would show and say it was just a joke to get back at her husband, but, oh no, he's dead. Oh, boohoo, yeah. Evidence. How

Stephen:

does that sound like a plan? So like, let's say Pritchett, who's already wired. So like they, her plan, she gets him to think that price killed Evelyn Pritch. It's already on edge. They have these guns. Pritchett freaks out even more is like, you killed her. You killed her. And he shoots Steven. The police show up and they're like, oh, they're, and then she goes, Just kidding. Officer, I'm not dead. I was just trying to get back at my husband who was always pulling pranks on me. I'm sorry, ma'am. Your husband's dead. What? Oh no, this can't be real. I guess I'm a wealthy widow. Mm-hmm. Evelyn's pissed that Melissa is missing. She's convinced that Melissa is working with price and spying on them. Evelyn doesn't think their plan's gonna work anymore. She says they need one more body with price's bloody hands next to it. This may sound crazy, but hear me out. And then she stabs Blackburn to death with a scalpel.

Steve:

Yeah. That was a short period of time from co-conspirators to Evelyn. Killing him, huh?

Stephen:

Yeah. The movie kicked into gear pretty quickly at that point. Not only is the house out to get'em, but real people are killing each other before this scene. Like even with their fighting and things, did you think Evelyn was capable of actual murder? Yeah. Oh, see, I didn't think that she would actually get blood on her hands. I didn't think she was the type at that point. Oh, I did.

Steve:

Now, back upstairs, Bridget says that Blackburn would've been backed by now, so he's dead too. The group finds more blood and a missing Evelyn. They go to the saturation chamber and see Blackburn's face. They open the door, his body falls out, and his head is impaled on the door.

Stephen:

Not only did she stab Blackburn to death, she decapitated him, impaled his head, and released, released a deranged Steven on the house. She's

Steve:

hardcore. No one's ever gonna accuse her of going half-assed

Stephen:

here, which is why she did so good playing

Steve:

Jean Gray. Yes. Now Sarah loses it. She starts calling for price Murderer. She hears whims. She thinks it's Melissa, but it's price covered in blood. I, I don't know what happened. He comes towards her begging for help. She freaks out and shoots him many, many times. Eddie prized the gun from her and they go back upstairs of the three

Stephen:

left in the house. If one of them was going to kill price. Would you have put your money on Sarah

Steve:

or one? No, I would've thought that it would've been one of the other ones. Yeah. Eddie, protecting Sarah or something. Right Now, enter Evelyn. She shows up to Steven's body. Oh,

Stephen:

Steven, you pour clueless, old geek. All it would've taken is a simple divorce, ripping our prenup to teeny itsy bitsy little pieces no matter how it ended. Please know. That from the first moment I laid eyes on you, I have always loved. Your

Steve:

money. Steven gets up. He was wearing a bulletproof vest because he's

Stephen:

Steven fucking

Steve:

price. He is known about Shean, Blackburn and their plan the whole time. Now, since everyone else thinks she's already dead, he's going to murder her and take great pleasure in it. Happy birthday

Stephen:

baby. And he shoves her through a wall. It only seems appropriate that they have a final showdown face-to-face. Of course, someone with his brains and money would've. Had his trophy wife followed and she should have known better, but she was never giving him any real credit.

Steve:

Nope. And she's about to get what's coming though. Stephen pushed her through that wall, unleash the darkness. Oops. Yep. Beat her eyes to get her to stand up and come to him, but she's too slow to move and the darkness grabs her and absorbs her into the house. Price runs for it and finds Melissa all chopped up and displayed in one of the cabinets. At least we know where her body went now. Yeah.

Stephen:

I love how complicated Steven and Evelyn are, even though he was ready to murder her himself. When he saw that the house was alive, he was worried for her safety and when she saw it, she thought it might have just been one of his tricks. Like they have this weird thing. But they have this other weird like connection. I don't get it, but it's complicated and it makes me enjoy it so much more.

Steve:

There you go. Now Steven runs up the stairs, but the basement door is locked. He calls for help. Pritchard opens it up and is absorbed by the darkness. Instead of price, he urges Sarah and Eddie to

Stephen:

run. Pritchett was right. The house is alive.

Steve:

Really? Yeah. Now price heads for the attic and just like Evelyn before Eddie and Sarah are in too much shock and just stand there too long letting the darkness get too close. Finally, they run as the floor begins exploding. The darkness has Melissa's

Stephen:

say. Sarah, you have to stay for my

Steve:

show. Yeah. Price gets the device to start opening. The three are finally up there and interact that you, you do not see coming, nor I price sacrifices himself to save Sarah now.

Stephen:

After pri price runs past them. Pritch was right. The house is alive, and they stand there and they start seeing this black ooze from the door. I would've run the

Steve:

fuck. I would not have waited. I don't know why they did that. No,

Stephen:

at all. Yeah, the, the darkness reveals how the evil souls that compromise it want to feed on. All those are responsible. Sarah gets outside of the house, but the darkness severs the rope on the device and the window closes before Eddie can get outside. The darkness comes for him and brings up the charges of his ancestors' actions. He says that he was adopted just then pritch it's ghost, appears and opens the window, and Eddie pulls, or Sarah pulls Eddie to safely. The darkness knows that it is lost fornel and recedes back into the house.

Steve:

Yes, Sarah and Eddie find the$5 million, but also that they're stuck on a ledge. They smile and enjoy the race of sun. It ends with Sarah asking one more thing. How do we get down from here as they are several hundred feet above the ground and there's no exit? And you love the sending, don't you? So

Stephen:

I don't mind her line. But I dislike her line after Eddie's line of that was one kick ass party. No, it wasn't Eddie. Everyone died. They didn't have any fun beforehand. No. Sarah's line about getting down was fine. Eddie's was not. But Eddie's line makes Sarah's line bad because I'm like, yes, you can laugh that you survived all this, which was fine, and you have the 5 million. But don't say that was a kick ass party. Everyone just died horribly.

Steve:

Yes. In a post credit scene, we see price and Evelyn stuck in 1931 on an operating table being tortured for eternity and to make matters worse through being tortured together. Yes,

Stephen:

it's totally, I hadn't made that connection. That's good. Oh, so what, like we know, I love the movie. What do you think of the movie? It's good and I love

Steve:

how much it makes you

Stephen:

happy. It does make me happy. It's one of those that I can watch again and again and again, like it doesn't scare me anymore or anything like that. But I just love the interactions. I love the special effects. I love the story. I could just watch the scenes with Evelyn and Price going back and forth at each other over and over again. Yes, this, well,

Steve:

I'm glad our marriage is different than their marriage. Yes,

Stephen:

me too. You know what I also love, I bet you it's our listeners.

Steve:

It is our listeners and listeners. We'd love to hear what you think of the movie, as well as the episode. You can do that by emailing us at Happy Live Pod. At

Stephen:

gmail.com or you can get in touch with us on all the socials, whether that is Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok at Happy Life Pod. And

Steve:

until next time, everybody stay happy.