Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.

Wordiezett So much average

Logan Dodd There is definitely an excellent idea hidden in the background of the film. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find it.

Kinley This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Cristi_Ciopron A modernist, minimalist chiller, by someone with advanced cinema thinking, with an authentic art-house feel; a very enjoyable movie, exquisitely crafted, and also good-natured, the suspense is played straight, and this is one of the few horrors leaving the impression of having a director. 'They were evil in life, so they're evil in death.' 'Hanley' makes the impression of a movie that was actually thought out carefully, reasoned, crafted; and it's also a beautiful and heartfelt movie, much unlike anything else in the genre. The plot achieves a kind of reasonable quiet. The director has a very clear idea about the economy of the movie. The cast deserves our praise, they give likable performances, I enjoyed most the parapsychologist's, her character is knowledgeable and knows enough, but is nonetheless surprised by the turn of the events; the movie has an actual plot, and the use of the mundane and the casual is one of the strengths. To acknowledge that Louise Sherrill's movie is one of the best ever, is to be able to tell art from rubbish.

Woodyanders Five people decide to spend a whole evening at Hanley House, a creepy rundown abode with a notorious local reputation for being haunted. Pretty soon weird things begin to happen: Strange noises can be heard emanating from the basement, cars won't start, and otherworldly voices speak to a mental medium from the other dimension. Will our brave quintet survive the night and still be alive come dawn? Competently directed in a plain, straightforward manner by Louise Sherrill (who also wrote the tight, compelling script), with stark, grainy black and white cinematography by Claude Fullerton, acceptable acting from a game no-name cast, a spare, wonky, droning score by David C. Parsons, a suitably spooky atmosphere, and a groovy-rockin' R&B instrumental tune occasionally blasting away on the soundtrack, this fright feature makes for fun viewing. The dusty, desolate backwoods Texas setting adds some tasty regional flavor to the proceedings while the plot has a few nice twists and turns in it. While admittedly slow and talky in spots, the movie thankfully does improve and become more increasingly eerie and unsettling as it goes along. Fans of overlooked low-budget independent horror fare are advised to seek this one out.

mlevans At its best, 'The Ghosts of Hanley House' has the feel of a poor man's 'The Haunting.' At its worst, it has the feel of the forgettable Ferlin Huskey (old-time country singer for those who don't know) vehicle, 'Hillbillies in a Haunted House.' Part of this feeling was due to the guy who took the bet to stay overnight in the house (don't know the actor's name since even IMDb doesn't know who played whom!) sounds JUST like old Ferlin … which is to say a Hillbilly country singer stuck in a haunted house! Overall, I was pleasantly surprised. As others have said, the production values, at least as far as sound goes, are terrible! It sounds like a very, very early "talkie" from about 1929! I think the ghost was standing outside the house, holding the microphone in many scenes! The camera work, though, is quite good. The film almost seems to have a blue tint, as in silent film days…except of course the handful of somewhat overdone scenes of a man's silhouette standing outside the house with the picture in a gaudy blood-red tint. The house itself is wonderful. I suspect the availability of the house may have led to the movie. I can almost see Louise Sherrill visiting the house and going 'Dang! I've GOT to make a haunted house movie about this place!' Sometimes Ms. Sherrill gets a little heavy-handed on making sure we understand what we're supposed to see. We hear and see cars trying to start for 30 seconds to show that the cars won't start. We have at least two looks out the front door, each 20-30 seconds of panning every inch of terrain just to show that no one was REALLY knocking on the front door. A few other things that don't add up would be the painting of Mrs. Hanley looking NOTHING like the flashback image of her, the haunted house scenes at the opening bearing little or no relation to the crime that had been committed there, etc.Don't expect 'The Haunting' or 'The Shining.' If you like B horror, though, this one should be well worth viewing.

agamemnon3 This mediocre ghost story is made viable and creepy by a few subtle touches. The special effects are a mix of dry ice and what appears to be more dry ice, but the lighting is at times interesting. The cast members have stark and/or dark features, and the B&W medium in combination with dramatic lighting for scenes within the haunted mansion make for a very good effect. You usually come to 'like' a character in a movie, and in this movie there isn't anyone to like. It seems that everyone is a dumb creep with some kind of motive. Just how much that works to the film's advantage, however, is difficult to say because it might be lost on a more casual viewer, but I think that it makes the story interesting. There are a few sidelines to the plot which were either never developed or lost to editing, but they are minor enough to not affect the continuity of the film. The screams are great. Hollywood just doesn't have screamers like it used to. I would recommend this movie, if you can find it.