Sleepy Hollow Halloween

 

So for Halloween this year I decided to go for the ambitious theme of a Sleepy Hollow party, complete with a headless horseman, Katrina's spellbook and a Sleepy Hollow window display I don't think it turned out too badly.

I cut out some ghostly shapes to stick up in my windows, including crows, ghosts, mice, Frankenstein, Dracula and a werewolf Red Riding Hood I also highlighted the Sleepy Hollow theme with Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman from the Disney film, the dreaded Tree of the Dead from the Tim Burton film, and the words 'Sleepy Hollow'.

After getting some ideas from the internet I also made a Sleepy Hollow canvas, and added my homemade Headless Horseman plushie to the window display. For the canvas I used a screenshot of Brom Bones as the Headless Horseman in Tim Burton's film, ironic but it was a good screenshot.

For pumpkin designing my niece, partner and I carved three pumpkins to guard the doorway, Jack Skellington, a vampire and of course, the headless horseman!

The main centrepiece of the display was the Headless Horseman, a key design from the beginning of the theme I got his clothes from a charity shop with a cloak from ebay, a cuirass from Amazon, and a bloody sword from a bargain shop. Stuffed with hay, he came to life, or unlife rather, thanks to my father's excellent skills with woodwork, he made a wooden frame for him and his shoes were finished with black binbags.

A tough theme I spent hours looking at pinterest and re-read Washington Irving's novel and watched both the Disney adaptation and the faithful Hallmark adaptation (highly recommended if you want a child friendly one and a film that follows the book). I ended up making Katrina's spellbook as in the Tim Burton film and the current tv series Katrina is a witch so I went along with that theme though the spell in the book is actually Lady Van Tassle's from the Tim Burton film, though I made up the ingredients.

Katrina got her very own witch's corner complete with broomstick, cobwebs and some cheerful pumpkins.

Whilst the Headless Horseman guarded the Halloween display in the living room before being shifted to the front door to scare the would be party goers and trick r treaters.

All in all I think my Sleepy Hollow theme was a pleasant success and well worth the effort! Also a good chance to practice my arts and crafts :-).

Once Upon a Disney

Once Upon A Time has returned to our screens, Into The Woods is set to be the Christmas/New Year film and Disney's live action Cinderella film is drawing ever closer. It seems like Disney fairytales is in full swing for the end of the year and the beginning of the new year. Certainly with Once's new season opening with a live action Frozen sequel it seems like the show should be called Once Upon A Disney. I know, I've ranted about this before, I love Disney and it's great seeing Disney characters come to life but the show was called Once Upon A Time, its original premise was fairytale characters in the real world and despite being under the Disney arc the live action Snow White wasn't exactly a shy fourteen-year-old princess who needed rescuing and looked after all the time, so why just give up on the fairytales and fall in with the Disney? Frozen isn't that old and it seems more like attention and money grabbing to have it in the show and it is Frozen rather than an attempt to bring The Snow Queen to the screen.

I don't get Once, Belle is Disney's Belle but Rapunzel was far from the Disney version and Aurora was a questionable in between, so does it want to be Disney fairytales or strive for some originality? Certainly Peter Pan was far from both the Disney version and J.M Barrie's fictional creation.

I suppose with rumours of Fables being turned into a film we might get fairytale characters in our world without the Disney taint. Again, don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Disney I just feel I was misold on Once, it started as a live action, dark fairytale cross-over into our world tale and then became a live action, Disney cross-over into our world tale, I feel cheated in a way. What happened to Cinderella? What about Goldilocks, the Princess and the Pea and other fairytale characters, will they ever get an episode or continue to be passed over for Disney characters? This time Disney characters who aren't even based on a fairytale? I know Frozen is based on the Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen whose stories have as much right to be called fairytales as the Grimm's collective works but the Snow Queen was about Gerda, Kai and the evil Snow Queen not princesses Elsa and Anna and Kristoff who has a weird relationship with his reindeer.

It's a real pity too because the Snow Queen had a brilliant plot, the villain was wonderfully wicked, there was still a talking reindeer but instead of an annoying snowman and snow monster there was a robber girl, crows, a summer witch and a wonderful adventure. Admittedly there have been more than enough versions of this (the Russian 1957 animation being one of the best in my opinion) but still, why deviate from the original plot so much?

I wonder with Disney bringing out both Into the Woods and a live action Cinderella will Cinderella return to Once as the girl of the month? After all Frozen was adapted to Once pretty quickly on the back of the film's success. Equally, will Red return? Questionable since actress Meghan Ory got a leading role in series Intelligence.

Fairytale Crossovers

Once Upon A Time has ended once more, the longest season ever it feels like, probably because they managed to cram two major story arcs in there- Peter Pan and Oz. I never warmed to the Oz aspect but that's because I've never been a fan of the Wizard of Oz and I don't regard it or Alice in Wonderland as fairy tales. In many ways I wish Once would get back to its fairytale roots alas it seems determined to ride the Disney train judging from the finale and whilst I will of course stick with the show and continue to love all things Disney I cannot help but feel a little tricked. The shoved in Katheryn (what happened to her true love the gym instructer) and the brief return of Red Riding Hood in the finale was only a painful reminder of what was.

For me OUAT is like the love child of Fables and the 10th Kingdom, all three feature the mixing of our world with the fairytale world. OUAT features fairytale characters coming to our world and taking on modern personas like Fables, and the leading heroine of OUAT and 10th Kingdom is from our world with a connection to Snow White and goes to the fairytale realm to do battle. All 3 shows have a heavy focus on Snow White (she's one of the leads in OUAT, the lead in Fables and she aids and advises the heroine in the 10th Kingdom and her grandson is one of the leading characters). All 3 also have all (or most of) the characters from fairytales living in the same fantastical world (OUAT and Fables also include characters from Wonderland and Oz amongst others).

Zenescope's Grimm comic series is another series to mix fairytales with each other although not to such an extent (again Snow White is used as a prominent character, her alias is Sela Mathers). Into the Woods, a musical which has been turned into a Disney film hopefully due out in Christmas, also has a world in which several fairytale characters exist (Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Cinderella, Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk).

Legends: The Enchanted  is another comic series which springs to mind, a dark steampunk fairytale comic it includes Red Riding Hood, Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk, Hansel and Gretel and Rapunzel all living in the same gritty world.

So, is there room for another fairytale crossover world? Is it time for Snow to surrender her leading crown to another, perhaps Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty who both have live action Disney films coming out? Or will Snow White always be the leading fairytale heroine within and without Disney? And why is there such a love for Snow? In the original fairytale she is just a little girl, saved by accident rather than love as the carrying of her coffin dislodges the apple piece in her throat, she is also naive enough to almost be killed by the evil queen three times. In the Disney version she is a young teenager who has led a sheltered life as a maid, virtually a prisoner in her own castle she is saved by the huntsman's guilt, the dwarves' generosity and the prince's puzzling affection, resurrected by true love's kiss. Only recently has she become a tougher heroine, wearing armour and wielding a sword or a bow and arrow on screen she's been a bandit and a rebel fighter.

Who Would You Want To Win?

I just purchased the special edition of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and also just finished watching the Special Edition blu-ray of Battle Royale, which has put me back in the mood to blog about them both. As always, my viewpoints and criticisms are my own and not fact and this is not to anger anyone or stir up the debate again it's just some observations.

My first thought would be, if I could choose, who would I want to win Battle Royale?

Guy wise I would pick Boy #11 Hiroki Sugimura, it's a close call between him and Boy 19 Shinji Mimura. I read on tv tropes that Shinji is regarded as a Mary Sue and somewhat of a red herring in the novel, he's set up as the hero only for it to be revealed as Shuya, I guess the fact that Shinji is attractive, intelligent and super skilled is why he's regarded as a Mary Sue, he's just too good at everything except of course, playing the Game. It's why I love his character though, even when his first plan failed (novel) he still had a backup plan and he almost succeeded, caught up in his desperation to escape the Game he sadly forgot to play it, novel wise he did join in by killing Keita Iijima but it was by accident but it was this folly that drew Kazuo's attention to him. He's a optimistic charmer and hard not to like.

So why Hiroki instead? In the book he's the most skilled, he's second only to the deadly Kazuo and he survives not only meeting him but Mitsuko as well though both encounters do leave him with what would have been fatal injuries. Hiroki meets his end out of his naive love for Kayoko Kotohiki, a girl he's in love with who he has barely spoken to. He knows time is of the essence to find her and his best friend Takako Chigusa.

When he reaches Kayoko she shoots and kills him but not before he can warn her of the others and tell her to go to Shuya and the others and make a bird noise to gain their attention. In the novel he knows death is already near for him and does not mind that she has shot him but it's selfish as he's putting a lot on Kayoko and in her grief and confusion she is unaware of Mitsuko sneaking up behind her and is ultimately gunned down.

Hiroki is one of only two people Mitsuko opens up to and he is the only one Mitsuko confesses her jaded and troubling past to, why she chooses to tell him of all people is unclear, perhaps simply because she knows she has little time to live and he is simply there, or maybe it's a vague attempt to explain why she is killing and why she murdered his best friend Takako.

Hiroki is a man of deep loyalty, though he wants to see his love Kayoko and confess his affections to her he is not so besotted that he will forsake his close friend Takako who is in love with him, and he tries to find her too. He succeeds and they share a heartfelt moment as Takako dies in his arms, and when she asks if he is in love with her he is honest and says no.

He is shy and tough, learning karate to defend himself from bullies but he does not use violence as a means to an end. He avoids killing Mitsuko and Toshinori Oda despite their attempts to kill him. He also saves Shuya from Kazuo in both the novel and film and takes him to the lighthouse leaving him in safety with Yukie and the others.

In conclusion, of all the males I feel Hiroki shows the best qualities, he is loyal, self-sacrificing, intelligent and caring, he does not fall to the violence or madness of the game, dying without making any kills and demonstrating violence only as a means of self defence. Shuya as the lead naturally displays good qualities too but he is not as strong as Hiroki, relying on Shogo heavily to get him and Noriko through the game.

Girl wise I would pick Girl #2 Yukie Utsumi. The class representative she's tough, bold, resourceful, clever and has enough sense not to trust everyone in the Game. She does not want to play but she does want to survive and with help from her best friend Haruka Tanizawa they round up Satomi Noda, Yuka Nakagawa and Chisato Matsui to group together at the lighthouse and try to figure a way off the island. They choose not to invite boys fearing them more violent than the girls and also choose to exclude Yoshimi Yahagi since she was a part of Mitsuko's gang.

After finding Yuko Sakaki wandering they allow her to join their group too, a fatal mistake. Later when Hiroki arrives with the injured Shuya, Yukie convinces the others to bend their rules concerning boys and they take Shuya in, though Yuko insists he is locked up. Yukie then later reveals to Shuya that she has a crush on him and he admits to himself that he likes Yukie too.

Yukie later dies in a shoot out started by Yuko accidentally poisoning Yuka when she meant to poison Shuya, causing Satomi to grab her gun and start making accusations in her paranoia. In the novel Satomi kills Yukie before she and Haruka kill each other whilst in the film Haruka and Yukie have a shootout with Satomi before Haruka succumbs to her wounds, Yukie then kills Satomi before she too dies, her final words are about how they all might have survived were they not so stupid.

I would have liked Yukie to win as I think unlike Noriko she is tough and more trusting of her classmates but unlike Mitsuko she is not ruthless. She has leadership skills, sense and charisma, until Yuko upset the balance the lighthouse girls had faith in her, enough to even allow Shuya into their domain despite their misgivings about boys and Yuko's insistence that Shuya killed Tatsumichi Oki. They believe in Yukie despite their depressing scenario and have faith that she might just save them.

Alas, despite her ability to inspire and lead it's not enough to sway Satomi out of her murderous paranoia when Yuka is poisoned and in Yukie's hesitation to act against Satomi and kill her, they are all murdered. Hesitation and too much faith in her friends is ultimately what leads to Yukie's downfall.

I feel if she had teamed up with Shinji with their combined charisma and intelligence perhaps they might have had victory, even having the advantage of extra numbers together might have helped their case as they could have had guards against Kazuo. However, they both shared the same weakness of shooting a warning shot at their foes when they should have made a fatal one (through luck Shinji's warning shot ended up being fatal) so it is improbable that Shinji would have been any more likely to stop Satomi.

Like Hiroki, Yukie maintains her sanity and her goodness throughout the Game, she does not play and she uses violence only as a means of self defence. She is optimistic and yet realistic too, she believes there is a way out of the Game and even in death maintains that they all could have survived, but she is not so naive as to think that everyone can survive and does not believe (like the girls with the megaphones) that the class can form an alliance as a whole.

Switching to The Hunger Games, although there are 24 tributes very few of them get any kind of character development in the book or film. There are the eventual winners from District 12- Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, Rue and Thresh from District 11, the nicknamed "Foxface" from District 5, (supposedly she was named Finch in the film), and the Careers, Cato and Clove from District 2, and Glimmer and Marvel from District 1. The District 6 male also received a name in the film, Jason. The rest of the tributes however are nameless.

Whilst I loved the Careers my favourite tribute was Foxface, quick, cunning, sly and greatly admired by Katniss to the point that Katniss resisted an opportunity to kill her. Foxface got by on her stealth and wiles in the Game to place an admirable 4th, just behind Cato (5th in the film behind Thresh). She lasted until Day 16, 2 days before the finale, and died by eating poisonous nightlock berries she stole from Peeta. Though she was emancipated she was shown in the film to have an expert knowledge of plants and so there is a debate over whether she died accidentally or committed suicide.

During the Games she managed to outwit the Careers, bypassing their booby-traps to steal some of their food, taking just a little so it's not noticeable. When the feast is announced Foxface hides herself at the Cornucopia and infiltrates the feast, getting the bag she needs through sheer boldness, she darts out, takes her bag and runs on thus avoiding a potential battle.

Even Katniss greatly admires her, she contemplates forming an alliance with her but then dismisses this idea fearing treachery. She wishes she had the same devious mind when she sees her taking from the feast and she even resists an opportunity to shoot her potential foe down such is her admiration. She later comments that Foxface was very clever and could have won, believing that if Peeta had been deliberately trying to trick her into eating the berries she wouldn't have fallen for it.

Of all the tributes she is easily the most clever and does not need a weapon to keep herself alive. It's possible that had she only lasted through her hunger she potentially could have placed higher, maybe waited through the showdown between Katniss, Peeta and Cato,or either joined in to take advantage, or taken advantage after as Peeta was severely injured and Katniss presumably would've been fatigued from being kept up through the night by Peeta, and Cato's screams.

The Haunting

I briefly touched on the two versions of these films in my previous post. Both based on the book The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, one made in 1963 starring Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson, and Russ Tamblyn, it is widely loved as one of the best horror films and is meant to follow the book closely whilst the 1999 remake starring Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta Jones, Owen Wilson and Lili Taylor was widely panned and said to only be a loose adaptation.

The 1963 has Dr. Markway travelling to Hill House to investigate the paranormal, he takes with him the heir to the house Luke Sanderson upon the owner Mrs. Sanderson's request, psychic Theodora and Eleanor, a woman who had a previous experience with a poltergeist, though she denies this. Eleanor narrates the film and from her thoughts we learn that she is convinced the house wants/needs her, this is complicated by her growing feelings for Dr. Markway. Later in the film Dr. Markway is revealed to be married when his wife shows up unexpectantly as she believes he is putting his career at risk, she is a sceptic and takes the nursey as her room upon Eleanor's suggestion, as it is supposedly the most haunted room. When Mrs. Markway vanishes Eleanor becomes convinced the house is taking her instead of Eleanor, she panics and is killed by crashing the car when trying to escape, Mrs. Markway runs out in front of the car but it is implied Eleanor killed herself, crashing the car into the tree where one of Hugh Crain, the first owner of the house's wives died.

The original was filmed in black and white and the scares kept to a minimum as the film used atmosphere and suggestion rather than revealing to build the horror. It included mentionings of cold spots in the house, loud banging against the doors at night, the words 'Help Eleanor Come Home' being painted on the wall and Mrs Markway vanishing only to appear suddenly through the attic trapdoor.

The exterior of the house was in fact Ettington Hall an allegedly haunted English manor, whilst the interior scenes were filmed at studios.

The 1999 version by contrast has a Dr. Marrow inviting people to the house under the guise of studying insomnia when he is in fact studying fear, he invites Eleanor, Theodora and Luke, who in this version has no connection to the house. The plot has Hugh Crain being a malevolent figure instead of a tragic one, kidnapping children to fill his house with them only to kill them so that he could have an eternal family as his own children all died during childbirth. Eleanor later learns she is in fact descended from Hugh's second wife and Dr. Marrow reveals that he was not the one who phoned Eleanor to invite her to the house.

In the end Luke is killed by Hugh's ghost via decapitation and Eleanor gives her life to help Hugh's spirit be dragged to hell and to free the spirits of the trapped children. Dr. Marrow and Theodora then escape as the only survivors. There is no mention of Dr. Marrow being married and only a very subtle hint of Eleanor having feelings for him.

The remake does stay true to some aspects of the original including the creepy staircase in the greenhouse and the Dr almost dying as it breaks as he climbs it to save Eleanor, the banging on the doors at night and the writing on the wall to Eleanor, in this case it says 'Welcome Home Eleanor' but there is no question over Eleanor being killed or choosing to die or how much of the haunting was in her mind.

The 1999 version had the best setting, the exterior and interior of the house were wonderfully imagined, the interior presenting a unique and fascinating maze like setting of gothic horror and mystery but it was let down by too much bad CGI, showing the horror outright instead of hinting at it.

Harlaxton Manor, another English manor, acted as the exterior for the 1999 version and also the billiard room interior whilst Belvoir Castle was for the kitchen scenes and other sets were built.






The novel The Haunting of Hill House was written in 1959 by Shirley Jackson and is regularly cited as one of the scariest novels ever written. In it the doctor is named Dr. Montague this time and Theodora is openly written as a lesbian whilst the original film was more subtle about that and the remake had her state she was a bisexual with a boyfriend and a girlfriend. When Mrs. Montague arrives she brings with her companion Arthur Parker and neither of them experience anything supernatural. The house itself is only 80 years old whilst in both films it seems to be much older. In the end, as in the 1963 film, Eleanor dies crashing into a tree in the car and it is unclear if she was compelled to do it by a supernatural source or was simply disturbed.

Personally I did enjoy both films though in the original the dragged out drama got boring at times and Eleanor became insufferable, though that was more to do with the character than the actress. It never really got there with the horror however, building and building but never quite reaching a true point of terror. Doors shaking, handles rattling, voices just unseen and mysterious hands grasping people in the night is all quite good and for the time it probably was terrifying but after so many horrors now it's hard to impress in this generation I suppose.

The remake had a good cast but unlike the original they weren't very good, whether it was bad direction, scripting or they just simply weren't on their game, despite the big names none of the cast really impressed. The film was let down by its underwhelming CGI, going for cheap, poor shocks instead of the original's suspense, and it never paid off. However, the scenery was breathtaking, the house is a gothic wonder.

The romance between the doctor and Eleanor was a good point never realised in the remake whilst in the original it was a plot point to push Eleanor into staying at the house rather than leaving it when she realises her love can never be realised and that there is nothing for her on the outside.

The overall plot of all three versions is madness versus reality, a plot also explored in The Shining, we establish thanks to other characters that the hauntings are indeed real but we don't know is how real, is it all real or is it some of it the madness of Eleanor? Do the spirits want her or does she want to be one with them? Is it both? It's a clever case of the unrealiable narrator (less so in the remake) but whilst it invokes anger and pity neither film really invokes fear.

Alice and Peter

It is easy to make the link between these two, both were inspired by real life people (Alice Liddell and Peter Llewelyn Davies) who grew to dislike their association with their fictional counterparts. The pair did meet once in real life, which inspired the play Peter and Alice. Their fictional counterparts were also linked to other people, Peter was said to be inspired by J.M Barrie's deceased brother who died just before he turned 14 in a skating accident and therefore was a boy who would never grow up, the drawing of Alice by Lewis Carroll did not resemble Alice Liddell and it was suggested her sister Edith was actually the model although Carroll himself said she was not based on any real child.

Arthur Rackham did illustrations for both, illustrating Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. Kathryn Beaumont voiced Wendy is Disney's adaptation of Peter Pan and Alice in Disney's adaptation of Alice in Wonderland (she revoiced both characters in the Kingdom Hearts series of games). Both have also received darker retellings in Zenescope's comic book world, in their series Neverland and their many series in their dark version of Wonderland.

The pair are whimsical and fun loving, one finds herself in Wonderland out of curiosity and as a way to avoid boring lessons whilst the other himself in Neverland out of abandonment and to avoid growing up. Alice and Peter are both happy with their situation, neither shows fear in these strange worlds and whilst Alice does eventually return to reality it is not through any real desire but rather a chain of odd events. There is a suggestion that Alice simply dreamed Wonderland whilst Neverland is very real but for most children only temporary, a pause before adulthood to enjoy adventures and make believe one last time. Wonderland is a chaotic world of random characters who seek to instruct with cynicism and scorn, whilst Neverland is a land of childhood imagination with the pirates, Indians, fairies, and mermaids of child's play brought to life.

Alice is a follower, chasing after a white rabbit in a waistcoat with a pocket watch whilst Peter is a leader, guiding Wendy, John and Michael Darling to and through Neverland. Peter is at home in Neverland with his companions Tinker Bell and the Lost Boys whilst Alice is just passing through Wonderland and finds herself more irritating to and being irritated by its residents though she makes an effort, having tea with the Mad Hatter, March Hare and Dormouse, listening to the Mock Turtle's tale and playing croquet with the Queen of Hearts.

Alice is a lot like Wendy in that she is a guest in this strange world, there for a once-off adventure though neither are certain that they will ever get home. Alice is dodging growing up but only temporarily whilst Wendy is actively avoiding it. Alice is the heroine, struggling through Wonderland alone she makes her own way in a charming and endearing manner whilst Wendy wavers between heroine and damsel, ending up a captive of pirates in the end waiting to be rescued by Peter. Yet for all her determination not to grow up Wendy cannot resist, particularly in the Disney version she evidently has a crush on Peter Pan, wanting an adult kiss from him instead of the childlike thimble version. She also demonstrates a motherly ability and in the end is the one who insists that she, Michael and John return home. Peter and Alice lack this adult quality, they have enough independence and bravery to survive alone in a strange world but they do not show any notions for romance or parenting, at heart they are both still very much children though one wonders just how old Peter should really be. In the end however Alice, like Wendy, goes back to growing up whilst Peter stays on as the eternal child.

Alice is a foreigner in Wonderland, a guest, an intruder, she never becomes a resident whilst Peter makes Neverland his home almost immediately but he is more than a main resident, he is the mascot of the island, a leader of it in a fashion (in Once Upon A Time he is the leader), the Indians respect him, the mermaids adore him, the fairies are friendly to him and the Lost Boys look up to him, only Hook and the pirates ever question his authority.

Alice and Peter are both able to challenge their older foes (Hook and the Queen of Hearts), and they boldly face them alone but whilst Peter puts Hook on the run ultimately the Queen of Hearts has Alice on the run. Perhaps this is why Alice has to return to reality, to grow and become stronger whilst Peter is already strong enough.

The Lure of the Haunted House

What is the lure of the haunted house film? There's certainly so many- The Haunting, House on Haunted Hill, Poltergeist, The Amityville Horror, The Haunting in Connecticut, The Conjuring, 13 Ghosts and many more. Based on books, true stories or simply just horror films in their own rights, most tend to be flops but a few succeed in causing a good scare in the film world and despite the critics even today the haunted house remains once of the most popular horror genres.

The Amityville Horror, The Haunting in Connecticut and The Conjuring are all based on alleged true stories, their connection are ghost/demon hunters Ed and Lorraine Warren, in 1971 they visited a house in Rhode Island owned by the Perron family and supposedly haunted by a 19th century witch, Bathsheba Sheran, this became the basis for the 2013 film The Conjuring, starring Ron Livingston, Lili Taylor, Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson. In 1975 they investigated the now infamous Amityville house, 112 Ocean Avenue, which was then owned by the Lutz family, this inspired the 1977 book by Jay Anson, The Amityville Horror: A True Story, which led to the 1979 film starring James Brolin, Margot Kidder and Rod Steiger. More novels and films followed, including a remake in 2005 starring Ryan Reynolds, Melissa George, and Chloë Grace Moretz. The Haunting in Connecticut is set in 1987 but focuses on fictional family the Campbells, allegedly it is loosely based on 1992 novel In a Dark Place: The Story of a True Haunting by Ray Garton, which is about the haunting of the Snedeker family's house in 1986. The film stars Virgina Madsen, Kyle Gallner, Martin Donovan, Elias Koteas and Amanda Crew.

The house in the Conjuring was cursed by a witch who killed herself after attempting to sacrifice her children. From then on the house was plagued with murder and suicides as the witch possessed women living there and through them killed their children.

The Amityville Horror is set in a house where a son went mad and killed his family, he later claims voices drove him to do it. Now, George Lutz seems to be driven to renact the events whilst his family are haunted by what happened to the house. The 1979 film suggested the house was built on an Indian burial ground and that a devil worshipper once lived there.

The house in Connecticut was supposedly a morgue originally and the family moved there because their son was suffering from cancer. In the film it is initially hinted that the drugs the son is taking for his cancer are making him see things that aren't there before it's revealed that the house was a mortuary. It was also suggested that the workers in the mortuary may have abused the corpses there.

The Haunting of Hill House is a novel by Shirley Jackson and widely revered as one of the best fictional ghost stories. It was turned into the film The Haunting in 1963 starring Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson, and Russ Tamblyn, which was in turn remade in 1999 starring Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta Jones, Owen Wilson and Lili Taylor. Set in Hill House, a house built by one Hugh Crain and plagued with tragedy. Both of Hugh Crain's wives died violently, his first wife died in a horse carriage accident in the mansion's drive, his second wife suffered an explained fall and Hugh and his third wife died away from the house in Europe, his wife from his consumption. Hugh shut Hill House in his absence and his daughters lived away from it with a cousin. When Hugh died his elder sister inherited the house, which caused much anger in her younger sister. The elder sister lived in the house with a female companion who then fought the youngest sister over ownership of the house before she was driven to commit suicide by hanging herself.

The 1963 film is set eighty years after the house was built by Hugh Crain and has a story in which Hugh's eldest daughter inherits the house and never leaves the nursery, staying there with a female companion. Her companion ignores her banging on the wall for help by spending her time with a male companion instead. The daughter, Abigale, died screaming and some even thought she had been murdered by the companion, who later committed suicide. The film features Dr. John Markway who has an interest in the paranormal, he brings with him the heir to the house, Luke Sanderson, the psychic Theodora, and Eleanor "Nell" Lance who was supposedly haunted by a poltergeist, though she vehemently denies this.
The house seems to target Eleanor driving her towards insanity. Eleanor herself spent her life taking care of her sick mother in her home only to be betrayed when her mother died leaving her sister everything. Eleanor admits that the night her mother died she ignored her banging her stick on the wall for Eleanor to help her. Eleanor falls for Dr. Markway only for his wife to appear. Dr. Markway's wife Grace spends a night in the nursery only to vanish, Eleanor is convinced the house is trying to take Grace in her place.
In the end Eleanor dies in a car accident, crashing the car when Grace reappears in the drive and causes Eleanor to lose control seemingly, though it is implied that some other force took control of the wheel.

In the remake (in which Haunting in Connecticut star Virgina Madsen has a small role) Luke Sanderson is not the heir but another participant, he, Theodora and Eleanor are lured to the house under false premises. Dr. David Marrow claims to be studying insomnia when he is in fact studying the reaction to fear. The story is that Hugh Crain built the house for his a large family of children but all his children died during birth and his wife later committed suicide before the house was complete. Eleanor learns that in his desire for children, Hugh Crain kidnapped from the local mills only to murder them and burn their bodies in his house thus trapping their spirits in the house. Eleanor then learns that Crain took a second wife whom Eleanor is a direct descendant of. Luke is killed by Crain's spirit and after Eleanor lures Crain's spirit to the doors of judgement where the spirits of the children grab his ghost and pull it to Hell. Eleanor is killed from the trauma of being pulled with the ghost but her spirit is then seen ascending with the ghosts of the children.

Stephen King initially wrote a screenplay for The Haunting remake, which became the miniseries Rose Red, released in 2002 it features the mansion Rose Red, which is investigated by parapsychologist Dr. Joyce Reardon with other psychics. The mansion has had many disappearances and deaths within it and was built on a Native American burial ground.

House on Haunted Hill was made in 1959, starring Vincent Price and Carol Ohmart. It features Price as millionaire Frederick Loren who invites five people to a haunted house party in honour of his fourth wife Annabelle with the promise that whoever stays the night will win $10,000. The five guests arrive along with home owner Watson Pritchard who disapproves of the party and they are all given a pistol for protection. Watson believes the house really is haunted and will kill anyone who stays in it.
The plot twist is that Annabelle is in cohorts with guest Dr. Trent, faking her death and then attempting to frighten guest Nora so badly that she will kill Frederick Loren in her fear. In the end, Nora does shoot Frederick and Dr. Trent comes to dispose the body in a vat of acid but the lights go out and a struggle is heard. Annabelle arrives and is haunted by a skeleton that comes out of the acid and causes her to slip and fall into it. It is revealed that the skeleton was an animatronic operated by Frederick who had armed his guests with blanks and thus wasn't really killed by Nora.

The remake in 1999 starred Geoffrey Rush, Famke Janssen, Taye Diggs, Ali Larter and Jeffrey Combs and set the film in an insane asylum. In 1931 the patients escape from their cells and kill all the staff, and set fire to the house. Insane Dr. Vannacutt who was experimenting on the patients, shuts the asylum down trapping himself, the staff and the inmates. Only five staff survive, as they were not present at the time of the fire.

Evelyn Stockard-Price wants the house for her birthday party and gets her millionaire husband to obtain it. Out of spite Steven Price shreds her guest list and types up one of his own but it is mysteriously altered. Five guests, the Prices and the asylum owner Watson Pritchett all arrive for the party. The ceiling falls through and Evelyn Price is almost killed and implies that Steven Price orchestrated it and invited the five on purpose. Watson desires only to be paid for the rental and leave but when he attempts to leave the building's gates are activated and the guests are sealed up as the gates cannot be activated for twelve hours.
It is revealed that Steven Price does indeed have a workman to film the occurrences in the house and trick the guests but he confesses that he did not activate the gates. Price offers the guest $1 million if they can stay the night, plus the million of each guest that fails to stay, and each of the guests are given a pistol for protection.
As the plot unfolds one guest Melissa vanishes, before she is killed we seeing her filming a seemingly empty room only for surgeons experimenting on a patient to appear on her camera. The other guests find her blood and her camera but cannot find her.
Later Evelyn is shown being subjected to shock therapy before she dies. Convinced that Prince is the cause, he is locked up in a chamber where he experiences disturbing visions after guest Dr. Blackburn turns on the chamber's machine. It is revealed that the patients were treated with insane images as it was believed what would drive the sane insane would thus drive the insane sane. Later Dr. Blackburn resurrects Evelyn and it is revealed that they are in a plot to drive the guests mad with paranoia leading to one of them shooting Price. Evelyn takes it one step further by killing Dr. Blackburn and framing her husband. Guest Jennifer Jenzen who is actually Sara Wolfe and stole her invite from her boss, does shoot Price but he is wearing a protective vest and survives.
Sara discovers that all the guests are descendants of the five staff members who escaped the fire and realises that the house is trying to kill them to claim back the five. The exception is Blackburn whose name isn't one of the five. Price throws his wife throw a wall unleashing a dark evil there that kills her, then Pritchett and finally Price after he pushes Sara out of its way. Sara escapes through the window before the shutter falls down. Final guest Eddie Baker screams at the entity that he is adopted before the ghost of Pritchett opens the shutter enabling him to escape with Sara. He and Sara then find the cheques for the million.
It received a sequel, Return to House on Haunted Hill in 2007.

13 Ghosts is a 1960 film, directed, like House on Haunted Hill, by William Castle. It stars Margaret Hamilton and Charles Herbert. Occultist Dr. Plato Zorba dies and leaves his home to his nephew Cyrus. Cyrus and his family find the house haunted by 12 ghosts and equipped with its own housekeeper, Elaine Zacharides. The house also supposedly contains buried treasure. The 12 ghosts need a 13th ghost to free them. The only way for the family to see the ghosts are with special glasses Dr Zorba, one of the ghosts, left them. Along with the ghosts there is also someone seeking the treasure, lawyer Benjamin Rush, who murdered Dr Zorba. Dr. Zorba's ghost catches Benjamin trying to kill Cyrus' son Buck and the sight of the ghost drives Benjamin to his death, thus becoming the 13th ghost. The ghosts vanish leaving Cyrus and his family with the treasure.

It was remade as Thirteen Ghosts in 2001 starring F. Murray Abraham, Matthew Lillard, Tony Shalhoub, and Shannon Elizabeth. Ghost hunter Cyrus and his assistant Dennis led hunters after a ghost called the Juggernaut. Cyrus is killed by the ghost though his team succeed in catching the ghost. Cyrus' home is left to his nephew Arthur, who is told about this by Cyrus' lawyer Ben. Arthur goes to the mansion with his daughter and son and their nanny and find that is made entirely of glass with Latin phrases etched on the panes. Dennis gives them a tour of the house. The lawyer picks up a case of cash assuming it is his payment, this sets off a mechanism that releases the ghosts of the house and traps everyone else with them, he is then killed by a set of sliding doors.
Arthur's son Bobby encounters several ghosts including his mother. Dennis shows nanny Maggie glasses to see the ghosts with. Arthur and his daughter Kathy are saved from a ghost by Kalina Oretzia, a spirit liberator who was trying to free the ghosts. Kalina explains was a machine designed by astrologer Basileus and built by Cyrus, it is powered by the ghosts to open the eye of Hell. To save his children and destroy the machine Arthur must become the 13th ghost, a ghost created out of pure love.
Dennis sacrifices himself to save Arthur and Cyrus is revealed to be alive and Kalina is his partner. Cyrus and Kalina wanted Arthur to become the 13th ghost not to destroy the machine but power it instead. Cyrus kills Kalina and activates the machine but he is thwarted by Maggie and Arthur and then killed by the ghosts. The ghosts are then freed.

Poltergeist is a 1982 film starring Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams. Featuring the Freeling family, who find their home haunted by a malovelent and unseen force that converses with their youngest child Carol Anne before abducting her through the closet. Parapsychologists visit the house and determine that there is more than one spirit at work. Home owner Steve discovers that his house is built where a cemetery used to be. A medium arrives and explains that Carol Anne has distracted the spirits from the light and that a demon has her and is using her to manipulate the spirits. Mother Diane goes through the portal in the closet and rescues Carol Anne. Later the demon attacks and attempts to abduct Carol Anne again, they escape to find the street littered with corpses and coffins. The family flees and the house implodes.
Two sequels were released and a remake has been planned.