To be quite frank with you, I'm not really into horror movies at all. Though I wasn't held at gunpoint to see this movie, but I was persuaded by my friends instead. Let's get straight to the point by saying, that "The House on Haunted Hill" isn't remotely scary at all. In fact it is less scary than entering a haunted mansion at an amusement park. In fact if anyone wishes for me to see this movie again, you better pay me $1 million, because I just won't do it.<br /><br />Now that I got that out of the way, let me break it down by examining the plot. Five guests have to spend one night in a burned down, condemned mental hospital in order to earn a quick million. If anything should happen to the guests, the money would be split among the survivors. The sole aspect that freaked me out was that it was set in a condemned sanitarium.And even that was not entirely convincing. I wasn't expecting Oscar-winning performances here, but the acting was purely banal, with the exception of Geoffrey Rush, who always cashes in terrific performances. Even though Chris Kattan was right up there with the other moving mannequins, he at least had some humorous lines. Scary doesn't describe my feelings about the movie, uncomfortable is the right word. <br /><br />Many elements of the movie that I found distracting is that since the house brings all the mental patients together under one leader, why are they not inflicting pain on each other as well? Also why does the ghostly monster has to break down doors and floors in order to get to the heroes and yet the mortals get thrown through walls. It also bugs me that they must walk into a person's office when they're lost, especially since they know where it is and in spite of a few of them being killed along the way. And finally, with only a little time left to collect their cash winning prizes, the guests decide to make up their own quest by attempting to escape the house instead. <br /><br />With these nuances I am convinced that those who have not seen it, are actually doing themselves a favor. I wanted at least the phantom-like monster to be scary as well, but that didn't happen either. In the end I was utterly exhausted and very frustrated by the whole, movie. Those who've seen it, tell those who never saw "House on Haunted Hill" to avoid it all costs. It wasn't scary or satisfying.