Haunts of the Very Rich

Haunts of the Very Rich

Year: 1972

Runtime: 75 mins

Language: English

Director: Paul Wendkos

HorrorMystery

An eclectic group of affluent but deeply troubled individuals escapes to a secluded island resort, hoping for leisure. A sudden, life‑threatening incident forces each of them to confront their hidden anxieties, sparking an intense introspection about the meaning of their privileged lives and the purpose of their existence.

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Timeline & Setting – Haunts of the Very Rich (1972)

Explore the full timeline and setting of Haunts of the Very Rich (1972). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

Location

Portals of Eden

A mysterious tropical resort called the Portals of Eden hosts a group of affluent visitors. The island setting is lush and pampering, designed to offer paradise but quickly turns claustrophobic after a catastrophic storm. The guests are cut off from the outside world, making the resort feel like a trapped paradise that tests their fates.

🏝️ Tropical 🏨 Resort 🧭 Isolated

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 15:04

Main Characters – Haunts of the Very Rich (1972)

Meet the key characters of Haunts of the Very Rich (1972), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Ellen Blunt

Ellen is Dave's wife, a wealthy, needy presence whose clinginess strains her relationships as danger closes in. She endures a fatal reaction to a rabies vaccine, highlighting how physical frailty intersects with emotional turmoil under isolating conditions.

💖 Wealth 💁‍♀️ Codependence 🕊️ Fragility

Dave Woodrough

Dave is a successful, pragmatic guest determined to survive, but his expectations clash with the escalating crisis. He suffers a heart attack earlier, and his marriage to Ellen complicates his emotional priorities as hope ebbs away.

💼 Power 🫀 Struggle 🧭 Survival

Annette Larrier

Annette is a married guest who received unfamiliar sleeping pills from her husband, hinting at hidden marital tensions and possible deception. Her experiences with incongruent medication add to the sense of danger and mystery in the resort's crisis.

💊 Mystery 🧪 Poison 🧭 Relationship

Laurie

Laurie is a guest who recognizes the pilot Johnny Delmonico on a returning seaplane, deepening the tension as she interprets reality in a trap of illusions. Her car accident earlier frames her as someone who has faced danger before and now fears further loss.

🚗 Accident 🕵️‍♀️ Suspicion 🧭 Hope

Johnny Delmonico

Johnny is a singer presumed dead, whom Laurie recognizes on a seaplane, complicating the guests' perception of reality and suggesting a supernatural or illusory dimension to their crisis.

🎤 Celebrity 👁️‍🗨️ Illusion 🕊️ Hope

Reverend John Fellows

Reverend Fellows is the group's spiritual anchor who faces an existential test in the island's crisis, potentially drowning under the storm or in the psychological pressure of the situation.

🙏 Faith 🕊️ Mortality 🧭 Crisis

Seacrist

Seacrist hosts the Portals of Eden, a figure representing control and manipulation amid the guests' crisis. His role frames the mystery of the resort and the crew's attitude toward death and fate.

🏢 Host 🔎 Control 🌀 Mystery

Al Hunsicker

Al is a guest who discovers the peril of his own past mistakes, reluctantly realizing he may have fallen or died under suspicious circumstances as the island's pressures mount.

🧭 Past 🔍 Realization 🧯 Danger

Lyle

Lyle is one of the guests, a participant in the social dynamic of the group whose fate intertwines with the others as hope flickers and fear grows.

💼 Elite 🌀 Trust ⚖️ Fate

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 15:04

Major Themes – Haunts of the Very Rich (1972)

Explore the central themes of Haunts of the Very Rich (1972), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

🤔 Hope and Despair

The guests repeatedly receive hints of rescue and relief, only to have those hopes dashed, highlighting how fragile optimism is when confronted with mortality. The cycle of fleeting rescue signals drives tension and foreshadows grim outcomes. Their struggle to maintain belief in a better outcome comments on human resilience in the face of isolation and uncertainty.

💀 Judgment / Hell

The setting and events evoke a moral crucible where past actions weigh on the present. Each guest has experienced a brush with death, and the group begins interpreting the resort as a form of Hell where consequences are literalized. The storm, isolation, and apparent visitation of death serve as elements that test guilt, accountability, and fate.

💎 Wealth and Vulnerability

The vacationers are affluent, used to control and comfort, yet their vulnerability is exposed in the extreme conditions. The luxury resort becomes an environment where status cannot secure safety or answers. The story examines how wealth can amplify paranoia and dependency when confronted with life-and-death stakes.

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 15:04

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Explore Movie Threads

Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.

Purgatorial nightmare movies like Haunts of the Very Rich

Characters trapped in a seemingly idyllic place that reveals itself as a personal hell.If you enjoyed the psychological torment of Haunts of the Very Rich, you'll find more movies like it here. These films explore similar themes of characters trapped in deceptive retreats that become personal hells, featuring stories of existential horror and moral reckoning in isolated settings.

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Narrative Summary

The narrative typically begins with a promise of paradise or respite, which quickly devolves as the environment itself turns hostile or revelatory. Characters are systematically confronted with their deepest anxieties and moral failings, with the story arc focused on their psychological unraveling and the grim realization that there is no true escape from their circumstances.

Why These Movies?

Movies are grouped here for their shared premise of a deceptive, confined setting that serves as a crucible for psychological and existential terror. They create a coherent experience of claustrophobic dread, where the world itself is the antagonist, leading characters toward a bleak reckoning.

Movies with existential dread like Haunts of the Very Rich

A steady, oppressive buildup of psychological tension centered on life's biggest questions.Fans of the heavy existential themes in Haunts of the Very Rich will appreciate this collection of similar movies. Discover other tense, psychologically heavy films that explore existential crisis and philosophical horror with a steady, dreadful pacing and bleak conclusions.

existential dreadanxiousheavypsychologicaldesperateuneasyphilosophicalbleak

Narrative Summary

Stories in this thread avoid sudden shocks in favor of a persistent, growing atmosphere of doom. The plot steadily dismantles the characters' sense of reality and purpose, leading them through a harrowing introspective journey. The pacing is deliberate, allowing the weight of existential questions to fully settle on both the characters and the audience.

Why These Movies?

These films are connected by their shared emotional core: a heavy, pervasive sense of existential dread. They prioritize a specific mood and pacing—a steady, tense burn that leads to a psychologically crushing conclusion—making the viewing experience feel consistently oppressive and thought-provoking.

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Haunts of the Very Rich Summary

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Haunts of the Very Rich Summary

Haunts of the Very Rich Timeline

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Haunts of the Very Rich Timeline

Haunts of the Very Rich Spoiler-Free Summary

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Haunts of the Very Rich Spoiler-Free Summary

More About Haunts of the Very Rich

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