The Legend of Hell House

Ailing millionaire publisher Rudolph Deutsch enlists physicist Lionel Barrett to investigate the afterlife at the Belasco House, which is believed to be haunted by the victims of "Roaring Giant" Emeric Belasco, a sadistic millionaire who revelled in acts of violence and debauchery. Barrett is accompanied by his wife, Ann; mental medium and spiritualist minister Florence Tanner; and physical medium Benjamin Fischer, the sole survivor of an investigation conducted 20 years earlier. The group convene at the Belasco House in the week before Christmas. During the group's first night at the house, Barrett disagrees with Tanner's assertion that the house is haunted, and Fischer describes some of the house's depraved history, including a 1929 search in which 27 people were found dead, though Belasco was not among them. The group hold a séance, during which objects clatter and fall and Tanner seems to channel a spirit who threatens the group. Tanner believes that the spirit is Emeric's son, Daniel. During another séance on the following night, Tanner manifests ectoplasm and afterwards confronts Barrett about his scepticism. After objects in the room seem to target Barrett, he accuses Tanner of harnessing the house's energy to attack him, but she insists Daniel is responsible. That night, the sexually frustrated Ann has a brief vision of an erotic statuette becoming sentient. She then drinks and reads from a book about "autoerotic phenomena". In an apparent trance, she tries to seduce Fischer and describes her vision of a drunken orgy among the three investigators and herself. Fischer breaks her trance, and she runs back to her bedroom, aghast. Tanner discovers a corpse in the cellar that she believes was Daniel. She and Fischer perform funerary rites, but her sleep is disturbed by the spirit's cries for help, and she is mauled by a black cat. Tanner tells Fischer that she believes Emeric Belasco is orchestrating the paranormal attacks and imprisoning Daniel's soul. Barrett later witnesses Ann making further sexual advances towards Fischer. Horrified and confused by her own behavior, Ann apologizes to Barrett, and the couple affirm their mutual love. The next day, Fischer expresses doubt about Tanner's theory and suggests that she guard her mind and wait to collect payment from Deutsch, as he intends to do. Barrett tells Ann that he plans to use a machine to de-energize the house, though Fischer warns him that the house will retaliate. Tanner yields to the spirit's sexual entreaties, believing that her love will allow Daniel to cross over to the afterlife, but she screams upon seeing the spirit. Fischer watches over her as she sleeps to ensure her safety. The next morning, Tanner is uncharacteristically flirtatious and insolent towards Fischer, but then expresses fear that Daniel is possessing her body. Fischer tells Ann and Barrett that he plans to leave the house with Tanner. Barrett says that the house is not haunted but has accumulated immense residual electromagnetic radiation from its depraved former occupants, which he intends to neutralize. On Christmas Eve, Tanner is possessed by the spirit and tries to destroy the machine, but Barrett knocks her unconscious. As Barrett prepares the machine, Tanner regains consciousness and enters the house's chapel to warn Daniel to leave before the machine dislocates him. She is crushed by a falling crucifix, realizes that the spirit tricked her into believing it was Daniel, and draws a circled B with her blood before dying. Barrett's machine initially seems to clear the house's energy, but he is killed when the spirit causes machinery to explode in his face and drops a chandelier on him. Convinced that Belasco is the sole entity haunting the house, Fischer confronts him in the chapel alongside Ann. Belasco tries to incapacitate Fischer, but Fischer subdues him with taunts about his illegitimate birth, deviancy, and fraudulent stature, the last of which Fischer deduced from Belasco's history of attacking bodily extremities. A stained-glass partition shatters, revealing a hidden door. Fischer and Ann enter to find Belasco's preserved body in a chair. Fischer discovers that Belasco used prosthetic legs to make himself taller and that he had the hidden room lined with lead to prevent future electromagnetic damage to his spirit. With the room now open, Fischer reactivates Barrett's machine and leaves the house with Ann.