What is "PsychoRoma"? This is a technique where split-second images are spliced throughout the film, in an attempt to hypnotize you. Strangely, I never fell into a trance - though I did fall asleep, once or twice.
As Terror opens, we are intorduced to a newly married woman suffering from nightmares about a decrepit, ramshackle house. Luck would have it, her husband has rented the EXACT SAME home for their new pad. Coincidence? I think not. Moving along. An uniteresting sub-plot develops between the house's original inhabitants (including a hilariously over-the-top groundskeeper)and the new rentees.
My first compaint about the film? It's title. Terror in the Haunted House. Not "a" haunted house, but "the". What is "the" referring to? Any student of third grade English knows the word "the" must refer to a subject, or noun that was previously introduced. Now for my second (and biggest) complaint. The house isn't haunted. Not one bit. Hell, it's not even CREEPY. Nor do they try to make it. Nope. This is a film about hidden subconcious memories and decade old axe-killings. Nothing more. Nothing less. Talk about false advertising. This is the worst since The Watermelon Man (I thought that was about a produce farmer).
The low point: The PsychoRama. At one point, a newly-added, red (this is a black and white movie) screen flickers. I paused and rewound. It read: "Rent Rhino Videos Everyday". Ugh.
An interesting fact: At one point, for 25 years, the government had banned the film for being "mind altering". Too bad they changed their mind - maybe the film's "PsyhcoRama" convinced them it wasn't hypnotic, and the whole movie's a giant conspiracy! On the other hand, maybe not.
Bottom Line: Terror in the Haunted House is about coming to terms with one's inner demons. About finding oneself in a sea of lost emotions. Who gives a shit - we want ghosts, damnit!
