The Haunted House Of Horror (aka Horror House) (1969)

It's swinging London in the 1960s and a group of thrill seeking youths bolt a dull party and go to a decaying mansion in the country that is supposedly haunted. They get more than they bargained for when one of them (Mark Wynter) gets hacked to death by a mysterious stranger. Or was it a stranger? Could one of them be a killer? Written and directed by Michael Armstrong (MARK OF THE DEVIL), the film is a bit of a mess through no fault of Armstrong's. American International disliked the original cut and the picture was turned over to the line producer who proceeded to rewrite it including new characters and shoot it. The film's stars, Frankie Avalon and Jill Haworth (EXODUS) were unavailable for the additional scenes which caused their characters to be absent from much of the storyline. Would the original cut have been a better movie? I don't know but the schizophrenic nature of the present film does it in. It does seem a forerunner of the teen slasher films of the 80s like FRIDAY THE 13TH. With Dennis Price (in a role meant for Boris Karloff) as a police inspector, George Sewell, Gina Warwick, Richard O'Sullivan, Carol Dilworth and Veronica Doran.