Excellent, a Must See

Disturbing yet enthralling

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Sheila Wayne (Kathy O'Donnell) has reoccurring dreams about an old, foreboding house. Recently married, she and her new husband move to Florida. Their house . . . well, it's the house of her nightmares. She quickly learns that this house is a place of evil, a place where bad things have happened. But how did Kathy end up in this house? How is it that her husband just happened to find this house? Who's crazy, who's sane, and what actually happened in the house?Terror in the Haunted House (or My World Dies Screaming - which i prefer) is like cross between Hitchcock's Rebecca and the dreadful The Screaming Skull. Unforutnatley, our movie has more in common with the latter than it does Hitchcock's masterpiece. I'll start by saying it's not the worst movie in the world. This isn't much of an endorsement, but you could certainly do a whole lot worse. But make not mistake, it's still pretty bad. Here's a quick list of some of the things that bothered me:1. Sheila Wayne - The screaming got old real quick. And for a woman in peril, she's not very sympathetic. After a while, I didn't care what happened to her. She was just so annoying and stupid.2. Acting - Some of it is plain old bad. In particular, William Ching gives a totally wooden and unnatural performance. No one talks like that in real life.3. Gerald Mohr - He's a decent enough actor, but he's miscast here. The New York accent really got in the way. No way was I buying the notion he grew up in Florida.4. Predictable - The director does everything he can to throw the viewer off the track regarding who's crazy and who's not. But it's all so obvious that it backfires. I could spot the baddie almost immediately.5. Psycho-Rama - Was William Castle associated with this movie? The constant subliminal images were about as annoying as Sheila Wayne.With all the problems I had with the movie, I think I'm being generous in rating Terror in the Haunted Hiuse a 4/10.

Although the practice of using subliminal advertising--that is, flashing messages on a movie or TV screen for a fraction of a second, too quickly to register with the human brain but capable of having a subconscious effect--was banned by television stations and by the National Association of Broadcasters in 1958 (and, years later, was claimed to be ineffective), it wasn't in time to prevent the first big-screen film from using the technique. That picture, originally released under the artier and more appropriate title "My World Dies Screaming," and years later, for home viewing, as "Terror in the Haunted House" (a somewhat misleading appellation), turns out to be an interesting enough little film that hardly requires this tiresome gimmick (presented as "Psycho-Rama" here!). In it, we meet a pretty newlywed, Sheila, who has been going to a psychiatrist in Switzerland to cure her of recurring dreams involving an old house, and, most particularly, of a flight of steps in that house leading to a cobwebbed attic. And when Sheila's new husband, Philip, brings her to America to stay at that EXACT SAME HOUSE, her nightmares become a living reality, and the viewer is thrown into a state of confusion about whether Philip is trying to help his new bride or, a la "Gaslight," perhaps drive her insane....For a cheaply made "B picture," "My World Dies Screaming" is surprisingly effective, and most of the credit for the film's success must surely go to Cathy O'Donnell in the lead. O'Donnell, who most viewers might remember from the 1946 classic "The Best Years of Our Lives" as well as for appearing in the cult item "They Live By Night" and the excellent film noir "Side Street" (both from 1949 and both costarring Farley Granger), is truly excellent here, lovely and appealing, and appearing in every single scene of the film. Gerald Mohr, playing Philip, gives a nicely ambiguous portrayal (many viewers will remember him from the following year's "The Angry Red Planet"), and the film's other three performers (Barry Bernard as Sheila's shrink, John Qualen as the house's uberstrange caretaker, and Bill Ching as Philip's cousin) are all fine as well. Harold Daniels directs his picture competently, eliciting chills on a regular basis, although it must be said that the film seems a bit eerier in its first half. Still, the mystery of Sheila's nightmares, and her familiarity with a house she's never been in, is a fascinating one, and keeps the viewer involved throughout; to the film's credit, the resolution of that mystery entails a surprisingly complex backstory that does manage to tie up every loose end. As to those subliminal messages, they ARE visible, although only a frame-by-frame viewing on your DVD player will reveal their contents. Basically, they consist of demon masks with the following captions: "Scream." "Scream Bloody Murder." "Prepare To Die." And "Die Die Die." (One message, very amusingly inserted by the DVD manufacturer, exhorts us to "Buy Rhino Videos Every Day"!) As I mentioned before, these flashes of...something become hokey after a while, and the film is good enough to stand on its own without them. It's nothing great, surely, but is an engaging entertainment nevertheless. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to wrap up this little review and run down to the grocery store. For some strange reason, I've just developed a sudden urge to purchase popcorn, Goobers and Raisinets....

This film deals with a young gal who has bad dreams about a haunted house which have put her in a sanitarium and her husband is trying his best to help her with this problem.The husband takes his wife to a house that looks exactly like the haunted house in her dreams and this is when the story becomes interesting with mysterious people making appearances who claim to be owners of the house and even the care taker of the house becomes a dark side to the story.Good acting, with plenty of surprises and great for a 1958 film classic. Enjoy.

I saw this movie years ago with a group of friends. It's been awhile but I can still remember what the basic idea of the film was. A guy we know swore on his life that this movie would scare the hell out of us because of the subliminal messages cut into the film. We realized about half way through the movie however that he may or may not have been high when he watched the film (he had a bit of a drug problem at the time). We found the movie more funny than scary due to the subliminal cuts being very noticeable and goofy looking, and the plot and overly dramatic dialogue was the standard fare for a 50's horror film. That being said though, I do remember the film being interesting as a technical ground-breaker for the genre. "My World Dies Screaming" would defiantly be worth a look to someone who was into the work of guys like Ed Wood (this film is better put together than Ed's work, but still unintentionally hilarious).