I must admit that I've never seen William Castle's highly praised original--a film that many dismiss as cheesy schlock. So I really didn't go into this film with any expectations, only great hope that it would be better than this summer's ludicrous The Haunting. Thankfully, it was.

Geoffrey Rush (Shine) plays a prankster entrepreneur who gets his kicks by scaring people to death with an assortment of amusement park rides. For his next trick, he assembles a group of individuals to spend a night in a spooky mansion that once served as, you guessed it, a mental institution. Anyone who makes it through the night will receive one million dollars.

Surprisingly, the film starts off promising, but then degenerates into a predictable barrage of special effects. It layers surprise upon surprise to a point where it's too easy to figure things out. However, it does offer some good scares that are reminiscent of moments in Adrian Lynne's Jacob's Ladder.

As expected, the performances are lackluster and the dialogue borders on ridiculous. It also doesn't help that this film flows poorly and feels rushed. Still, you could do much worse this Halloween.