The Old Dark House
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Movie Reviews of The Old Dark House
Movie Review: Fine stuff, but it'll rot
Summary: 5 Stars
Not only is there an OLD DARK HOUSE, there's also a dark and stormy night outside said house, a heavy rain that causes mud slides and has turned the roads into quagmires. It's so bad that travelers Roger Penderel (Melvyn Douglas) and Philip and Margaret Waverton (Raymond Massey and Gloria Stuart) swallow their fears (how would YOU like it if your knock at the door of a scary old house was answered by Boris Karloff?) and seek refuge there. They are followed soon enough by portly and high-spirited Sir William Porterhouse (Charles Laughton) and fiery young Gladys DuCane (Lilian Bond). Nobody in their right mind would consider spending a night in the spooky old place unless forced by the sharpest contingency. Nobody in their right mind, we soon learn, inhabits the house, either. It's the residence of the Femm family, aged siblings Horace and Rebecca (Ernest Thesiger and Eva Moore) and a brace of unseen, but not unheard, relatives locked in upper story rooms. Boris Karloff plays Morgan, a butler or sib (never explained either way), who's scarier than all get out.
THE OLD DARK HOUSE is a horror movie, of sorts. It doesn't indulge in splatter-gore or supernatural head-twisting to shock and thrill. Rather, it relies on high shadows and sardonic dialogue, strange characters and menacing situations. The movie contains no character stranger than Karloff's Morgan, a hulking mute brute glowering from behind a bolshie beard and a few deep and delicately placed scars painted in by Universal make-up genius Jack Pierce. Morgan develops an overarching attraction to pretty young Margaret Waverton. Director James Whale makes Margaret undergo the only costume change in the film, a move that accomplishes a number of things. Undressing down to her slip, Margaret is at once sexualized and made vulnerable. It gives deaf old Rebecca Femm the opportunity to deliver lines at once darkly comic, sardonic, and deeply disturbing. As Gloria Stuart, who recently played the 100-year-old survivor in TITANTIC, tells us on the easy and informal commentary track, Whale wanted her to appear a `flaming dagger' when Karloff chased her about the dark mansion, hence the pink Jean Harlow-ish silk gown. Rebecca Femm, fondling the gown's silk, declares "Fine stuff, but it'll rot." Touching the young woman's skin beneath the gown, she says "Finer stuff still, but it'll rot, too!" Whale intercuts the scene with images of Margaret and Rebecca and Margaret looking at herself in an old and distorting mirror. It's a brilliant sequence, transcending and enhancing the horror simultaneously.
THE OLD DARK HOUSE is filled with twisted, dark comedy and grand performances. Whale, of course, had earlier directed Karloff in FRANKENSTEIN, and would work yet again with him in a few years on THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN. Thesiger would join them as the demented Dr. Pretorius. If you've seen that movie and enjoyed its singular brand of humor, you'll enjoy THE OLD DARK HOUSE as well. HOUSE lacks BRIDE'S humanity, there are no noble monsters in this one, but its comedy is more finely honed and definitely of a darker hue. And the ensemble cast is as good as it gets. I loved this movie.
Included on the Image dvd is Gloria Stuart's informal and personal commentary, a nine-minute stills gallery (button free, it runs on its own) and an eight minute interview with director Curtis Harrington, who was a friend of Whale's and the man most responsible for preserving, and restoring, THE OLD DARK HOUSE as it lay mouldering in the Universal vaults in the 1960s.
Movie Review: It was a Dark and Stormy Night ...
Summary: 5 Stars
Director James Whale deftly combined dry, sardonic humor with classic horror elements to produce the richly entertaining black comedy "The Old Dark House". By turns darkly witty and genuinely creepy, the film benefits from a razor-sharp script, moody cinematography, and uniformly fine performances in addition to Whale's creative directorial flourishes. Simply summarized, the plot involves a group of stranded travelers who take refuge in an isolated Welsh mansion owned by a dangerously eccentric family during a terrific storm; before the night passes, members of the group will encounter terror, romance and even death as the thunder, wind and rain rage outside.
Among a distinguished cast that includes such luminaries as Boris Karloff, Melvyn Douglas, Charles Laughton, and Gloria Stuart, the acting honors are stolen by Ernest Thesiger playing the pinch-faced, hollow-eyed lord of the manor. Thesiger manages the difficult task of being very funny and vaguely menacing at the same time; in his first scene he introduces himself in a sepulchral but prissy tone as, "Femm ... Horace Femm", and the effect is both marvelously silly and discomfortingly shivery. Eva Moore also makes a distinctive impression in the role of Thesiger's sharp-tongued sister whose begrudging hospitality to her guests does not include "beds ... they can't have beds!" She is particularly ominous as she fingers the fabric of Gloria Stuart's low cut evening gown, noting "fine stuff, but it'll rot", and then proceeds to put her hand on the exposed flesh above Stuart's chest, adding "finer stuff still, but it'll rot too!"
The Kino DVD offers a beautiful video transfer of this film which was once considered lost. After the film's negative was discovered moldering in a vault, and then painstakingly restored, a copy was shown a very few times on pay cable TV channels back in the early 1990's; unfortunately, that print was so dark that the movie was virtually unwatchable. The Kino version features correctly balanced contrast and a clearer, crisper soundtrack. As far as extras go, there is a wonderful photo gallery; excerpts of an interview with Curtis Harrington, a long-time acquaintance of James Whale who initiated the long search for the film's missing negative; and a commentary by film historian James Curtis. Best of all is a second audio commentary by actress Gloria Stuart who with great intelligence and charm reveals fascinating tidbits about the film's production, the other cast members, and the shooting of individual scenes, as well as general stories about Hollywood and her own career.
The 1962 Hammer remake of the same title, directed by William Castle, bears very few similarities with Whale's production; Castle's version is almost devoid of horror and emphasizes broad comedy which sometimes veers into the realm of slapstick. Both are entertaining films in their own ways, but I personally prefer Whale's original and heartily recommend that you add it to your home DVD library.
Movie Review: "They were all godless here..."
Summary: 5 Stars
The Old Dark House is one of the best horror films I've seen from this era; the acting is wonderful and the casting couldn't have been done any better. The plot flows along very well so I was never bored; it's not so scary for our times but it did give me the shivers every so often and that's good--it still works! The cinematography and the choreography reflect good forethought; and the script is brilliant. In addition, the quality of the print is quite good.
When the action starts, we quickly meet stuck motorists Philip and Margaret Waverton (Raymond Massey and Gloria Stuart respectively). They are traveling along with their friend Roger Penderel (Melvyn Douglas); but the roads are so bad and the avalanche behind them so scary that when they see a large old house along the road they decide to stop for the night and beg for shelter. It's not too long before that two more stranded motorists arrive unexpectedly at the old mansion--Sir William Porterhouse (Charles Laughton) and his friend Gladys Perkins (Lillian Bond); they too are seeking refuge from the intense storm outside with its thunder and lightning. Just like Philip, Margaret and Roger, William and Gladys want warmth, rest and shelter from the storm.
But rest, warmth and shelter are not what they're going to get. It starts when Margaret and Philip are met by the lunatic butler Morgan (Boris Karloff) who groans and mumbles a lot without ever actually saying a word in the entire film. Although they are not too happy to see Morgan--he's quite frightening for them to look at--they then get eerie greetings from Horace Femm (Ernest Thesiger) and his sister Rebecca (Eva Moore) who owns the house herself. Almost from the start, the scary, bizarre behavior of the Femms terrifies Margaret Waverton; and her husband Philip isn't exactly too comfortable, either. To make matters far worse, there's the dangerously drunk Morgan (he drinks heavily when it storms at night); and there are two more members of the Femm family who just might cause more trouble still! Margaret and Philip meet the 102 year old patriarch as well as Saul, the insane brother of Horace and Rebecca who would like nothing more than to set the entire house on fire--and then cause way more trouble than that!
The DVD comes with a few extras. I especially liked the interview with a man who, while he was a director at Universal Studios, made it his "personal" mission to locate and restore this classic early horror film; and it's great that he did that because this film is quite good. I also enjoyed the slideshow of drawings for how they wanted the sets to look before they began making this movie.
The Old Dark House was a fine vehicle for Boris Karloff and the other starring members of the cast; they all do an excellent job and that's grand. I highly recommend this film for anyone who likes classic horror movies; and fans of the actors in this film would do well to add this to their collections.
Movie Review: Excellent Offbeat Film.
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought the DVD edition of this film, here at Amazon, three or four years ago, a great buy by all means, and it's became a favourite film.
It seems that the film's rights were sold by Universal Pictures to Columbia Pictures, when they made an (inferior) remake in 1963, directed by William Castle (another favourite of mine). The copy I bought is the one issued by KINO-thanks a million to KINO.
"The Old Dark House" is one of director James Whale's most offbeat films along with "Bride of Frankenstein" (IMHO his masterpiece). It's based on the J.B. Priestley novel and it was filmed during the Pre-Code Era.
I'd say it's a mixture of horror film, spoof and black comedy/humor...in some aspects it's related to "Arsenic and Old Lace", although it has a "darker mood". By the way, both Raymond Massey and Boris Karloff act in the film; Karloff played the role of Jonathan Brewster (from "Arsenic and Old Lace") on the Stage and Massey played it on-screen.
In a very stormy night, a group of travelers find shelter in an eerie and scary welsh manor, inhabited by the "weird" Femm family, and there begins a quick chain of events (the film lasts only 72 minutes) which last until the very end of the film.
The weary and wet travelers include Raymond Massey and Gloria Stuart (who was nominated for an Oscar for her role of "old" Rose in the 1997 Blockbuster "Titanic" and looks ravishing in this film) as a married couple who are traveling through the country with happy-go-lucky friend Mr. Penderel, played by Melvyn Douglas.
Other travelers who arrive to this Huge House, are Charles Laughton, playing a rich businessman of humble origins with his lover, Lillian Bond, who's great and very sexy in her role of a joyous chorus-girl.
Then we have the Femms: Religion fanatic Rebecca Femm, who has an obsession with "sinners", expertly played by sinister-looking Eva Moore; her wishy-washy brother Horace Femm, played by the great Ernest Thesiger, who impersonated "Dr. Pretorius" in "Bride of Frankenstein"; 102 years old Sir Roderick Femm, who is played by actress Elspeth Dudgeon, who's listed in the cast as "John" Dudgeon (creepy character!) and "seemingly harmless" psychopath and pyromaniac Saul Femm, played by Brember Wills.
Mention apart deserves Boris Karloff, who impersonates the scarred butler, Morgan, who lusts after Mrs. Waverton (Gloria Stuart), perhaps because she gets to wear a sexy 1930s low-cut dress, the type which used to wear Pre-Code Jean Harlow.
Horror fans, Pre-Codes film buffs, this one's for you.
The DVD edition includes two audio-commentaries by Gloria Stuart and by James Curtis (author of James Whale's Biography) and a short-filmed interview by Curtis Harrington, who tells us how he rescued this film from Universal's Vaults, from permanent oblivion and ultimate destruction.
Movie Review: A CLASSIC NEARLY LOST
Summary: 5 Stars
In the 30's and 40's there arose a sub-genre of horror films that would be come to known as "old dark house" thrillers. The plots of these films varied slightly but always involved a group of people gathering at a creepy old house or mansion. Perhaps for a party or reading of a will and then strange things ensued in the house.
This film was not the first, but it became perhaps the definitive work. Directed by James Whale who also directed Frankenstein and Bride of FRankenstein, whale would be reuited with his Frankenstein star, Boris Karloff. This movie was thought to be long lost until a copy was found and restored in the late 1960's.
The story concerns 5 travellers who must take refuge in a creepy old Welsh estate when they are caught in a terrible storm. The Guests include Phillip and Margaret Waverton (Raymond Massey and Gloria Stuart) their travelling partner Roger Penderal (Melvyn Douglas) and Sir William and his friend Gladys Perkins (Charles Laughton and Lillian Bond).
The house is inhabited by a family that would make the Addam's family look normal by comparison. There is the matriarch Rebecca Femm...a hell-fire and brimstone religious zealot with disdain for the female guests especially. Then there is her brow-beaten, timid, prim and proper brother Horace (played deliciously by Ernest Thesiger). Upstairs is their aging father sir Roderick...bed-ridden and living in fear. Then there is whatever lies behind the locked and bolted door upstairs where Horace refuses to go.
Karloff gets top billing even though he has no dialog. In one of make-up artist Jack Pierce's greatest works, Karloff is almost unrecognizable under a thich mat of black hair, thick black beared, and scarred face as the hulking, brute of a butler named Morgan. Karloff merely grunts his way through the role and menaces Gloria Stuart at every turn.
The movie is thick with terror and threats as the storm deepens, the lights go out, and people begin disappearing at every turn. Douglas and Laughton throw themselves into their roles and seem to be enjoying things at the expense of the rest. Stuart does a great job as the threatened damsel and is quite beautiful although Massey is rather dull as her husband.
Whale gets in his usual bits of humor under the radar, such as when Gladys who travels with Sir William tells Penderal that William give her money but "doesn't expect anything" in return. And that he want's people to think of him as being "gay". And of course, laughton in real life was gay even though he was married to Elsa Lanchester.
The DVD is a good Transfer by Kino although the sound is a bit dim. The DVD comes with two commentary tracks, one by surviving star gloria Stuart, who although in her 90's still vividly recalls the details of making the movie.
Highly recommended!