Granny strikes again…
An interesting thing happened the other night. I decided to invite some of my girlfiends over for a get-together, to enjoy some of my turnip, brussel sprouts and onion soup, and to just let my hair down and have some riotous frivolity. Several showed up. There were sister Elviney, cousin Agatha, and neighbors Hester Grimple, Elspeth Darkmoor, Vespera Howler, Winifred Hawthorne and Esmeree Grimshaw.
After supper we retired to the parlor, glasses of witch’s brew in hand, and had a great time, sitting around the crackling fireplace and reminiscing, telling stories of when we were kids, talking about our favorite scary movies, and telling jokes. We laughed and laughed until our sides hurt.
It was a little after midnight when the party wound down and my guests headed to the door. As they were leaving, Esmeree turned to me and said, “Granny, that was more fun than being in a graveyard on a cold wet night!” Everyone laughed, said their goodbyes, and disappeared into the night.
As I was cleaning up the kitchen I kept thinking about what Esmeree had said and how it sounded so familiar. Where had I heard that before? It wasn’t until I was all snug in my bed that it dawned on me. Of course! Famed Hollywood gossip columnist Louella Parsons had said one of the movies she reviewed was, “More frightening than a graveyard on a cold wet night.” The movie? House On Haunted Hill.
House on Haunted Hill, released in 1959, was William Castle’s second creepy feature, the first being Macabre, released the year before. Macabre proved to be a box office success, mainly attributed to the $1000 insurance policy given to patrons of the movie insuring them against death by fright. Showman that he was, Castle was determined to outdo himself, and created “Emergo,” where the ghost would fly off the screen and into the audience. It didn’t quite work that way, either in actuality or practicality.
The “ghost” became an illuminated plastic skeleton that was supposed to “emerge” from a hidden box off to the side of the movie screen, fly over the heads of the audience – via a pulley system — up to the balcony, reverse direction and return to its box, everything being timed to match events onscreen. It worked in theory, but in practice, the poor skeleton often fell into the audience, was bombarded by various items from young, rowdy audience members, or didn’t move at all. Still, it drove people to the theater to see what the hoopla was all about. When it worked, it worked well.
My nephew, Crazy Gary, told me he saw it when he was nine in a theater in Cincinnati, Ohio. At the right time, a box to the right of the screen opened up, a skeleton lit up, and….and…and it just stayed there. When Vincent Price had completed reeling in the onscreen skeleton, the emergo skeleton went dark, and the door closed. Crazy Gary said he was, “underwhelmed.”
The movie itself delivered several horrific shocks, so was an effective thriller in its own right, with or without the flying skeleton. Vincent Price was his usual charming self and was surrounded by an effective cast. The hype worked and William Castle’s name became associated with a good time at the theater. My grandson, Big Abner, told me he found a few clips on YouTube that showed the Emergo effect being presented at modern-day revivals of HOHH. You ought to go watch them: Just type in “Emergo” into YouTube’s search box and view them. They are a hoot!
The 10, 30, and 60 second radio spots included here are very effective, with Vincent Price giving the most creepy delivery of the movie’s highlights. Also included are spots highlighting the “Emergo” effect for theaters that chose to – or had the ability to – feature the effect. So picture yourself in a graveyard on a cold wet night, with the voice of Vincent Price inviting you to spend one night in the House on Haunted Hill and see if you can take it. I’ll meet you there. BOO!
(ZC Note: These radio spots first appeared with the Deep Vision Studios’ House On Haunted Hill 3D blu-ray, courtesy of Granny Creech’s coven–I mean–collection. Scare up a copy if you dare.)
Do you have any radio spots you would like to share? Contact Granny Creech (aka Gary Fox) at [email protected].
Thank you for collecting these radio spots together in one place. There were a couple I had not heard previously.
Our pleasure, Dustin. Hopefully good old Granny will scare up more goodies for you. Just don’t drink her tea, just saying.