Looking for good film depictions of the classic Victorian haunted house.

October 20, 2008 9:12 PM

Looking for good film depictions of the classic Victorian haunted house.

I want cobwebs, furniture covered with sheets, floating candlesticks, portraits with eyes that follow people around the room, secret passages, wrought-iron fences, creepy attics, thunder and lightning, skeleton keys, overgrown cemeteries—you get the idea. The classic formula, as parodied in Scooby Doo—but without the parody.

House on Haunted Hill is a good example, but I already have that. More!

posted by greenie2600 to media & arts (10 comments total)

Check out The Haunting. Excellent movie.

I dunno why, but two comedies popped in my head. Clue, a quite well-done murder mystery comedy, and The Private Eyes with Don Knotts and Tim Conway. I only mention the latter because I watched it as a kid and remember the Gothic/Victorian mansion creeping me out. (Even though it's a pretty lame movie, I now suspect).
posted by zardoz at 9:21 PM on October 20, 2008

The Old Dark House
posted by brujita at 9:56 PM on October 20, 2008

Keyword: Haunted House

The Uninvited is particularly good, although the house itself isn't as run-down as the ones in Scooby Doo.
posted by dhartung at 11:00 PM on October 20, 2008

The Legend of Hell House
The Ghost Breakers
posted by mandal at 12:57 AM on October 21, 2008

House of Usher
posted by greta simone at 3:27 AM on October 21, 2008

The Haunting (1963 film)
posted by bjgeiger at 3:55 AM on October 21, 2008

The Innocents doesn't have the more overt stuff like the floating candlesticks, but it's an intensely creepy film that takes place in a somewhat disused Victorian mansion. And, it's in Black and White!
posted by Doctor Suarez at 10:55 AM on October 21, 2008

The Ghost Breakers
posted by Dr.Pill at 4:47 PM on October 21, 2008

The Others film is a good depiction of the creepy old house. Very very creepy.
posted by sfkiddo at 9:02 PM on October 21, 2008

Cool—I'm just gonna stack up my Netflix queue with these suggestions, then. Thanks!
posted by greenie2600 at 10:00 AM on October 23, 2008