Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Calum Hutton It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Coventry Perhaps the titular house does not want to die, but sadly the same can't be said about my own personal interest and attention span, which didn't live to see the ending of the film. I'm usually a big fan of seventies' TV-movies because they're uniquely atmospheric and suspenseful in spite of their limited budgets, but "The House that would not Die" is derivative (or maybe I've seen too many?) and mostly dull. The lead characters are bland, the story itself is rather clichéd and predictable and the moments of genuine frights are scarce… Very scarce! The opening sequences are nevertheless promising, with ominous pan shots inside the house, ending with a view from behind the curtains as we see the new owners arrive in the driveway. Stylish elderly lady Ruth Bennett and her niece Sara move into the gloomy old Amish mansion and both of them almost immediately find new love interests. Ruth appreciates the charms of her new neighbor Pat, while Sarah meets college student Stan. For some reason I didn't quite understood, they all think it's a good idea to inaugurate their new home through a séance, after which – of course – a lot of strange and terrifying occurrences begin to happen. Both young Sara and neighbor Pat become possessed with restless spirits that previously lived in the house (dating all the way back to the Civil War) and several clues lead to something that is lurking behind the cellar door. "The House that would not Die" is overall very professionally accomplished, but sadly the subject material is just too unoriginal and forgettable. John Llewellyn Moxey directed some of the all-time greatest TV-thrillers (like "Where have all the people gone" and "Nightmare in Badham County), but even he struggles with the insufficient subject matter possibilities. Unless you're on a personal mission to track down all the legendary ABC Movie of the week features, I'd say skip this one.

Woodyanders Ruth Bennett (a fine performance by Barbara Stanwyck) and her niece Sara Dunning (a spunky and appealing portrayal by the pretty Kitty Winn) move into an old house that's haunted by the ghosts of the original owners. Director John Llewellyn Moxey, working from a tidy script by Henry Farrell, relates the engrossing story at a steady pace, does a solid job of creating and sustaining a spooky atmosphere, and maintains an intriguing air of mystery throughout. Moreover, there's a strong central theme about the need for closure. The sound acting by the sturdy cast holds the movie together: Stanwyck and Winn display a pleasing chemistry in the lead roles, Richard Egan has a few stand-out creepy scenes in which his character Pat McDougal gets possessed by a malevolent spirit, Michael Anderson Jr. does well as the amiable and helpful Stan Whitman, and Doreen Lang contributes a nice turn as sensitive medium Sylvia Wall. Laurence Rosenthal's shivery score hits the spine-tingling spot. Worth a watch.

moonspinner55 Barbara Stanwyck stars in this curious ghost story, produced for television by Aaron Spelling. She plays a secretary who, along with her college-age niece, moves into an old country estate she inherited from her hermit cousin...but an eerie, malevolent force presides in the house, and a spirit is unleashed (perhaps by a séance) that overtakes the girl. Henry Farrell adapted this teleplay from Barbara Michaels' novel, "Ammie, Come Home", which is rather top-heavy with wind-machine effects and centuries-old discoveries in dark rooms. The plot is laid out in a connect-the-dots fashion which mitigates against real suspense, although Richard Egan is scarily intense whenever his professor becomes possessed by a murderer. The young woman is played by a debuting Katherine Winn who, three years later (as Kitty Winn), dealt with possession and exorcism again as a cast member of "The Exorcist". Stanwyck is disappointing--she pretty much walks through this one--but Egan is a good romantic match for her and the finale is tied-up well.

carmi47-1 The House That Would Not Die is a solid TV-film that could have been stronger had screenwriters stuck closer to Barbara Michael's excellent supernatural suspense novel, "Ammie, Come Home." Michael's story is set in Washington, D.C.; Ruth, a Department of Commerce official, has lived in a Georgetown row house for some years after inheriting it from a distant cousin. There is no ghostly presence until Ruth's niece Sara moves in with her to attend a nearby university. Sara first hears a voice in the night calling "Ammie, come home," but aunt & niece decide it's a neighbor calling a lost pet. When Ruth meets one of Sara's professors, the adventurous son of a famous Washington hostess (a character based on Marjorie Merriwether Post), the ghostly presences intensify & become violent. By using entries in the family Bible and searching old newspapers & archives, the 4 major characters (Ruth, the professor--who becomes her love interest--Sara & her boyfriend) piece together the tragic tale of the house's original builder & his daughter, Amanda. During the Revolution, Amanda's father was a royalist but Amanda fell in love with a young officer in the American army. When her father discovered they were about to elope, he killed them & buried the bodies in the basement of his house. He lived there as a recluse until he was killed when the house burned. Relatives (Ruth's ancestors) inherited the land & built a new house, never knowing what had happened. After young Sara moved in, the spirits of Amanda & her father began to re-enact their tragedy endlessly. It is the disembodied voice of Amanda's lover calling, "Ammie, come home."Why the writers moved the film to Amish country in Pennsylvania is a mystery, unless they figured in 1970 Washington had enough problems & didn't need any more ghosts. Having Ruth occupy the house only as the film begins robs the novel's story line of a major point: that Ruth had lived there for some years with no sign of supernatural activity. The sudden appearance of a voice crying in the night is, in the novel, an unexpected, vaguely ominous occurrence,which Ruth & Sara assume is a neighbor. That there are neighbors in Georgetown highlights a second point in the novel that is weakened by the shift to Pennsylvania: a setting in highly civilized, urbane Georgetown makes supernatural events seem even more incongruous with everyday life than the film's rural setting in Pennsylvania, where the house's isolation, like Hill House in "The Haunting," seems to invite every ghost within shouting distance. (Why are these houses always 'way out in the country?) Despite inferior adaptation from the novel, performances & production values in The House That Would Not Die are exceptional in every way. Stanwyck & Egan are physically perfect for the characters described in "Ammie, Come Home." As the at-times-possessed Sara, Wynn must portray not only that modern young woman but the long-dead Amanda too, and she does a very solid job. Her boyfriend is portrayed by Michael Anderson Jr., who does not resemble the tall, slim, dark character in Michael's novel, but plays the role well. All things considered, this is a worthwhile TV-film that will repay a viewing. But don't deny yourself the chance to read the book.