Hell House

Season 1, Episode 17, Aired
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Episode Summary

Sam and Dean investigate the case of a maniacal ghost inhabiting a long-abandoned Texas farmhouse known as "Hell House." They believe the ghost is the spirit of a deceased Depression-era farmer who killed his family, but they soon realize it is something far more powerful.
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Fan Episode Reviews (64)

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  • One of the funniest episodes of the show

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By leofiregod, Oct 23, 2011 Report Abuse
    This episode doesn't have anything to do with the overall storyline of the show. It is a stand alone episode that uses even more comedy than we normally have on the show. The episode starts off with Sam sleeping and Dean placing a spoon into Sam's mouth and taking his picture. Then turning up the radio really loud to startle Sam. This kicks off a series of practical jokes between the brothers and carries on for the entire episode. It even spills over to other characters.

    The main bad guy of the story is created by a mystical symbol. So, this is new territory for the show. The show also touches on amatuer paranormal investigators like would be seen on shows such as Ghost Hunters. The two amatuers in this epeisode offer the best pop culture references. First of all, their last names are Zeddmore and Spengler. Both of which are names of characters from the two Ghostbusters movies. Secondly, they each complete a part of a sentence that when put together says "oh Lord of the Rings". This references the series of books by JRR Tolkien that the popular movies were based apon. And finally, WWBD. What would Buffy do? A reference to the long running WB series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.moreless

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  • Who ya gonna call?

    7.5
    "Good"
    By MovieMark, Oct 23, 2011 Report Abuse
    A suitably creepy episode of Supernatural with equal measures of humour sprinkled in to boot. Most of the laughs derive from the show's answer to Buffy's Trio, only it's a duo in this instance, and the homage is played wonderfully with a brilliant knowing reference early on into the episode ('WWBD? What would Buffy do?'). Sam and Dean also start up a prank war that leads to some amusing banter between the brothers. The ghost this week is the first of many, as it unravels as a typical haunting but turns out to be something entirely unexpected it's a spirit created by everyday people simply because they believed in it strongly enough, no thanks to the internet. The hour, perhaps, is a little too self-aware, and after an effective first kill, the story sort of dwindles till the credits roll (the brothers don't even kill the spirit in the end). A good episode, but not as funny as some fans would have you believe. (I think all of the adulation towards this one may have something to do with Sam draped in one scene with only a towel covering his glutes...)moreless

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  • A "different" episode.

    8.0
    "Great"
    By ZaleIsBackAgain, Jul 12, 2010 Report Abuse
    Although Supernatural still stays true to a lot of its roots, this feels like it came from a completely different series. The supernatural side of the show is still prevalent, but it dug deep into its humour side, and it's a bit refreshing. The little back and forth pranking that Sam and Dean were doing to each other really shows the comical and childish side to their characters, and the inclusion of those bozo twins ghost hunters just made the whole episode feel more like a comedy. What happens at the end, like how Sam and Dean's plan failed when the website crashed, and Sam tricking them into thinking they'll be heading to Hollywood for a movie, just really added the cherry on top.

    At the same time all these elements contributed to the actual main story, and the concept behind the ghost was pretty creative. Almost seemed like a one two punch. The ghost was created because the ghost hunters website that was posted up had people believing it was real, thus the ghost became real. In order to rid the ghost, despite burning the house down to prevent visitors and more fatalities, Sam tricks them into thinking they'll just been hired to do a movie for Hollywood. The writing is cleverly constructed and the humour was great too, but in the end the episode wasn't greater than the sum of its parts, and the reason for that is because although it was different, the change of pace really threw everything off. It couldn't decide if it wanted to be a comedy or a horror, and it's unfortunate; a balance between comedy and horror like this is nothing short of great writing. Nonetheless, a good episode.moreless

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  • this wasa good ep

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By cube2k8, Jun 06, 2010 Report Abuse
    in this ep of the show supernatural dean and sam are investagating this old farm house out in texas and they think its being haunted by this old farmer who killed his family there and is causing problems and more troulbe but thing is its way more then what they think it is and they dont know if they can handle it . this was a good ep i thought and it had its funny parts in it and its interesting stoy and that is why i gave it a 9 again like every other supernatural ep and i think it was that goodmoreless

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  • Review

    8.5
    "Great"
    By cavanagh15, Nov 20, 2009 Report Abuse
    Sam and Dean investigate the case of a maniacal ghost inhabiting a long abandoned Texas farmhouse known as "Hell House." They believe the ghost is the spirit of a deceased Depression-era farmer who killed his family, but they soon realize it is something far more powerful.

    I thought it was a good episode - I just didn't think the conclusion was really all that good or the devolpment of that particular supernatural storyline. The farmer came to life simply because someone believed in it? I thought that was pretty weak. I also thought the fire that they used to burn down the house was pretty weak. Everything else was strong. The humor was prtty strong.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

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    • The LP which Dean picks up when browsing in the record store, and for which we see the cover very clearly before he puts it back, is Point of Know Return, by Kansas. Kansas sing one of the show's most regularly used songs, Carry On Wayward Son. Edit
    • There are two instances where the brothers go into the house and the cops are outside watching the place. Both times, they manage to get the cops to go into the woods for something, to distract them from the house, while they go in and fight the ghost. There is no way that the cops wouldn't have heard all of the shotgun blasts, which should be heard from miles away. Edit
    • When the guys are in the restaurant, the laughing statue flip flops as if the film was reversed. In one shot the fish faces one way, but when Sam pulls the string the fish faces the other way. Edit

  • Notes

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    • Music: Fire of Unknown Origin by Blue Oyster Cult, Burning for you by Blue Oyster Cult, Slow Death by Extreme Music, Anthem by Extreme Music, Point of No Return by Rex Hobart and The Misery Boys, Fast Train Down by Waco Brothers Edit
    • International Airdates: Denmark: April 30, 2006 on TV3 France: January 22, 2007 on TF6 Portugal: January 29, 2007 on AXN Belgium: July 25, 2007 on VT4 Germany: February 25, 2008 on ProSieben The Netherlands: October 26, 2008 on Net5 Edit
    • In an interview in TV Guide, Eric Kripke, the show creator, admitted that he got so many requests from the viewers to see Jensen and Jared with "less on", that he added the towel scene in this episode for Jared to be shirtless. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • (Dean has put itching powder in Sam's pants) Sam: I think I'm allergic to our soap or something. (Dean starts laughing) You did this? You're a friggin' jerk. Edit
    • Craig's Friend: Ooh, look, it's the evil root cellar, where Satan cans all his vegetables. Edit
    • Harry: Yeah, so if you guys don't mind, we're trying to conduct a serious scientific investigation, here. Dean: Oh yeah? What do you got so far? Ed: Harry, why don't you tell 'em about EMF? Harry: (in mock modesty) Well... Sam: EMF? Harry: Electromagnetic Field. Spectral entities can cause energy fluctuation that can be read with an EMF detector (pulls one out from his bag). Like this bad boy right here. Whoa, whoa. 2.8--wow, it's hot in here. Sam: Whoa. Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Ed The power of Christ compels you! Referring to the 1973 horror movie The Exorcist, in which a young girl is possessed by a demon. The movie was written by William Peter Blatty, who also wrote the novel it was based upon. The priests repeatedly chant this line of exorcism while struggling to banish the demon from the girl. Edit
    • Ed: Sweet Lord... Harry: ...of the Rings – run!! Lord of the Rings is a fantasy novel series by J.R.R. Tolkien (and three movies based on it) concerning the adventures of a group comprised of humans, elves and hobbits to destroy an evil ring. Edit
    • Ed: I was thinking that Mordechai just had like a really super-high attack bonus. Alluding to role-playing games - an "attack bonus" is typically added to a die roll made to determine if you hit a monster, or to see if a monster hits you. Needless to say, a monster with a super-high bonus would be very tough indeed. Common to Dungeons & Dragons, Spycraft, Pathfinder, and other such games. Edit

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